Product Trends Magazine

About the company: Founded in early 2004, SunRocket is changing an industry, bringing you new choices, better value, and ultimate control of your home phone service. Powered by the Internet and designed to replace the overpriced, obsolete services from your old phone company, SunRocket Internet Phone Service harnesses your home high-speed connection to deliver a radically better suite of customized features at an amazing value.”

The big pitch: Turn long distance calls into local calls, with no contracts, no hidden fees, and no gotchas.

Everyone has busy lives filled with daily obstacles; reliable phone service should not be one of them. When you travel, you want to be able to make and receive calls without having to think about it. Sun Rocket seems to understand that, and has created Bottom-Line Pricing, so you pay no more than they say you will, free of hidden charges, add-on fees, and other rude surprises that normally show up on your phone bills monthly.

SunRocket utilizes the new technology of Voice-Over Internet Protocol (VOIP), which takes voice conversations and converts them into data that can be transferred across the World Wide Web. The data is then converted into a signal that the telephone system can deliver at the other end, turning your long distance phone call into a local call. After you connect any touchtone phone to your SunRocket gizmo, make and receive calls to any phone in the world, just like you do with a traditional phone, and you won’t be charged any more than a local call. It’s that simple.

Using this technology, SunRocket passed on these savings to customers so they will never be confused with complicated rate plans, or price increases when you’re not looking, or charge outrageous prices whenever you need to place an occasional international call. The concept of local calling zones is removed, so you no longer need to understand confusing boundaries between calls that are free and calls that are not.

Other benefits are also included for customers that you can get with traditional phone services, including:

Enhanced Voicemail: which allows you to manipulate all of your messages and receive instant notification

Call Logs: which keeps track of all your calls from your account

Find Me: which will automatically call various phone numbers in trying to locate you.

These are just a sample of the extensive services that would be available to you with a SunRocket account. The Signature Service includes unlimited calling in the US and Canada, free international minutes, a free extra phone number with the area code of your choice, over 10 enhanced calling features, two free directory assistance calls per month, and a free Uniden cordless phone worth over $100.

If you’re unsure of whether this will work for you or not, SunRocket allows customers to try the service risk-free for 31 days. After that you can cancel the service and receive full credit to your account and never incur a penalty, or you can select your Signature Service; either sign-up for the Annual Edition, or the Monthly Edition. Each option offers the same all-inclusive service, they’re just giving the customer more options.

If you have questions, no problem, a 1-800 number is provided so that you can get you answers from a real human being. The only problem is that they are only around from 8am-Midnight, though they are available seven days a week.

The Product Trends rating: SunRocket was named 2005 DigitalLife Innovator by Ziff Davis Media, and we agree with their assessment: Five stars. If you are looking for the best service and outstanding customer service, with no hidden costs, optional plans and a money back guarantee, then SunRocket is the service for you. —Reviewed by Denise Seegobin

To try SunRocket for yourself, click the image below: