Voce (Italian for ''voice'') was a premium

Mobile Virtual Network Operator A mobile virtual network operator (MVNO) is a wireless communications services provider that does not own the wireless network infrastructure over which it provides services to its customers. An MVNO enters into a business agreement with a mobil ...

(MVNO) using the

AT&T AT&T Inc., an abbreviation for its predecessor's former name, the American Telephone and Telegraph Company, is an American multinational telecommunications holding company headquartered at Whitacre Tower in Downtown Dallas, Texas. It is the w ...

GSM The Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) is a family of standards to describe the protocols for second-generation (2G) digital cellular networks, as used by mobile devices such as mobile phones and Mobile broadband modem, mobile broadba ...

network sold by

Neiman-Marcus Neiman Marcus is an American department store chain founded in 1907 in Dallas, Texas by Herbert Marcus, his sister Carrie Marcus Neiman, and her husband Abraham Lincoln Neiman. It has been owned by Saks Global, a spin-off of the Hudson ...

and created by Japanese company Faith Communications. During the month of January 2008, ownership was transferred to SunCal Midwest. The service launched November 2005 and subsequently shut down February 1, 2008 with no official announcement, which caught most customers and some company executives completely by surprise. The MVNO targeted individuals who desired a mobile phone with unlimited calling, plus an included

concierge A concierge () is an employee of a multi-tenant building, such as a hotel or apartment building, who receives and helps guests. The concept has been applied more generally to other hospitality settings and to personal concierges who manage the e ...

service. The initiation fee was $500, with a recurring $200 monthly charge (excluding tax). Included was a free customized Voce handset with damage insurance, free trade-in replacements every twelve months, and free accessories, unlimited domestic calling and roaming, unlimited

directory assistance In telecommunications, directory assistance or directory inquiries is a phone service used to find out a specific telephone number and/or address of a residence, business, or government entity. Technology Directory assistance systems incorporate ...

SMS Short Message Service, commonly abbreviated as SMS, is a text messaging service component of most telephone, Internet and mobile device systems. It uses standardized communication protocols that let mobile phones exchange short text messages, t ...

, and WAP, personalized setup and training, and unlimited access to a concierge for travel assistance, technical support, and other services. The original plan was for a $1500 sign up fee and $500 monthly charge, but with new handsets every four months.Get a new phone every four months with Voce
/ref> Handsets available were the Motorola KRZR,

Nokia E61i The Nokia E61 is a mobile phone from the Eseries range, announced as part of the new business-focused line on 12 October 2005 along with the Nokia E60 and E70. The Nokia E61 is a 3G-capable smartphone running the S60 3rd Edition platform of ...

Nokia N95 The Nokia N95 is a smartphone produced by Nokia as part of their former Nokia Nseries, Nseries line of multimedia mobile phones. Announced in September 2006, it was released to the market in March 2007. The N95 runs S60 platform, S60 3rd Editio ...

, LG Prada, Nokia 8600 Luna, Sony Ericsson W880i. Voce was available in

Arizona Arizona is a U.S. state, state in the Southwestern United States, Southwestern region of the United States, sharing the Four Corners region of the western United States with Colorado, New Mexico, and Utah. It also borders Nevada to the nort ...

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

Florida Florida ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders the Gulf of Mexico to the west, Alabama to the northwest, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the north, the Atlantic ...

Nevada Nevada ( ; ) is a landlocked state in the Western United States. It borders Oregon to the northwest, Idaho to the northeast, California to the west, Arizona to the southeast, and Utah to the east. Nevada is the seventh-most extensive, th ...

New Jersey New Jersey is a U.S. state, state located in both the Mid-Atlantic States, Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern United States, Northeastern regions of the United States. Located at the geographic hub of the urban area, heavily urbanized Northeas ...

, and

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

. Controversy arose in January 2008, when many Voce clients were double billed on their last statements. Following this, on February 1, 2008, cell phone service was disconnected. Voce has never provided an official statement to its customers regarding the status of its network, but all company phone numbers are disconnected and Voce has now taken down their website. Following the elimination of cell phone service, many Voce customers complained to Neiman Marcus requesting refunds or store credit. Neiman Marcus did not issue any such credits, but referred existing customers to preferred vendors to replace their service. Most customers were referred to AT&T for cell phone service, and to Red Butler for concierge services. Company executives have reported being fired via text message, or simply having their phones turned off, confirming that the company abruptly went out of business.Voce flames out, another MVNO casualty - RCR Wireless News
/ref> RCR Wireless News reports that, the former COO, Roy Kosuge, discovered that he'd been fired when his phone line was disconnected, he told the Los Angeles Times.

References

Mobile virtual network operators Defunct mobile phone companies of the United States Telecommunications companies established in 2005 Telecommunications companies disestablished in 2008 2008 mergers and acquisitions American companies established in 2005 American companies disestablished in 2008 {{US-telecom-company-stub