VOIP :: Voice Over IP Information

Your Guide to VOIP Telephone Technology and Services

We Recommend...

So you're thinking about signing up for VOIP but not quite sure it's the right thing? Let me tell you my story...

How much are you spending even for your basic telephone service? $25? $35? $45? More? I was spending about $45 per month for my basic local telephone service. Long distance was extra.

That's when I said to my wife, "Enough's enough. We're switching to Vonage." As the person in the house who uses the phone most, she said, "But is it really as good as the regular phone system? Will there be echos? Will I lose calls?" I had to honestly say, "I'm not sure, but we can save $50 per month and you can talk to your parents in Connecticut, your brother in London, and your sister in France for as long as you want for only pennies a minute. I say we give it a go."

She still was uncomfortable. So I said, "OK, let's try it out. I'll sign up and we'll keep our regular phone system for a few months (you can do that, because Vonage doesn't use your old phone wires). If we like it, we'll switch. If we don't, we're only out $30 -- only half of our regular monthly bill.

To make a long story short, VOIP worked great for us. The quality was as good as the regular old phone system, and my wife LOVED being able to get voicemails delivered through email. We don't talk on the phone THAT much, so the 500 minute plan is perfect, and

We turned off the other phone system and kept only VOIP. We didn't care so much about keeping our phone number. Actually, it was an opportunity to make a clean break from the old one which was bothered by telemarketers. Plus, I chose a phone number that was local to my family so they (who haven't switched yet) can call me for free. But if you want to keep your old number, you can.

We chose Vonage because they were the largest and most well developed VOIP service at the time. And they still are. They sent me required hardware in the mail for free, and setting it up was a breeze. Just plugged it into my cable modem and it was working.

Since then, I've added a second line for business. That was as easy as clicking a button on their website and in minutes I had a new phone number in the area code of my choosing. That way, I can have a phone number that looks like my office is in a big city instead of out here in the woods. It works for faxing and gives me that extra cachet of a business line.

Having been using Vonage for over a year now, for personal use and business use, I can wholeheartedly recommend it. There are new services popping up, but why take the chance? Vonage is what I recommend.