SBC has tried to hit me up for unauthorized charges the last few months (for example, if I don't use a calling card, why do they think I'd want to pay for a CardSaver Plus calling plan? And if I call them up to complain one month, why do they think I'll change my mind the next month?) and it's getting to be annoying enough to make me think about dropping them. So I've been researching some VoIP services, and generally seem to have decided to make the switch to Vonage.

The reviews I found are generally good (for example Cnet), and by siging up for their residential 500-minute plan I probably save about 50% on my phone bill. International rates are good, too, and I even stumbled across a promotional coupon that would lower the switching costs. Set-up seems a breeze, and if my broadband connection goes down, I'd always still have my cell phone.

So, my question to y'all: Does anyone already have any experience with this or similar outfits? Any advice or feedback would be appreciated.

 

What are you talking about??? Sorry, but if those initials have something to do with telephone and internet service, I am not familiar with those carriers.

 

POTS = Plain Old Telephone Service

VoIP = Voice Over I(internet) P(rotocol)

Basically using your existing broadband connection to make telephone calls (and not just PC to PC, but from your phone to any other telephone. You even get to keep your existing phone number).

Click on the link to Vonage above for a better explanation.

 

I thoght all forward thinknig folks had dumped home service for cellular by now. I haven't had a house phone in years. Absolutely worthless. The cost of a house line is about the cost of a cheap cellular plan anyway, without the long distance charges.

I knew some folks who did the VoIP thing some years ago when it wasn't nearly as polished a product. Should be pretty cool now. But I don't know that in times of crisis, I'd leave my phone service at the mercy of the cable company.

 

Cell reception is pretty crappy in my house, and quite often the phone does not ring when people call (my favorite is when I get the notification that I got a voice mail 24 hours after the original call), so I still need a more reliable land line. Besides, for international calls cell service is (a lot) more expensive...

One of the cool things with VoIP is that you could get a second phone number with a different area code for $5/month. If you have a poor friend or relative who can't afford to call you, you can get it set up so it's a free local call for them.

 

^ Yep, cell phone reception is bad and not at all reliable in my house also. Will not discontinue land phone until it gets ALOT better! Can't help you with your prob, though. Good luck!

 

I've been using VoIP (SIP based - with full multimedia) for a number of years now - but I work for a manufacturer - so I have some advantages . I work from home often and use my IP phone for work purposes.

I still have my POTS line at home because I am waiting for a specific type of VoIP service to become available (SIP based). With SIP based, I get video calling, IM, web push, file collaboration etc....

I do believe in the next few years...your POTS is going to be very different!

 

The only downside of voice over IP that I've run into is that if you're using the internet while you're on the phone you can get splotchy voice. Overall it seems good.

Of course, landline is generally very reliable and can even work during a power failure.