Chat on the Cheap

   Well as fingers went to keys and my VoIP article was coming to life, (amidst cussing, coffee drinking, my cats coming in the office then out of the office, and a house full of teenagers savaging for food and “something to do ’cause we’re so bored”), what should show up in my RSS feed but this wonderful article by Jeff Bertolucci of PC World entitled, “Net Phones Grow Up” I really can’t replicate the wonderful lab that PC World has  – the budget for testing at Beck’s Cafe is pretty much limited to tasting the latest grind from Costa Rica, not testing the latest technology – but, I can add my personal experience with VoIP.

My rationale for using VoIP was to make business calls less expensive and, I admit, the cool factor was just “there” for me. The wonderful thought of being tres chic with my VoIP phone, bypassing the standard system, was alluring. Too bad the hype hasn’t lived up to the facts. Still, VoIP phones, when they’ve worked for me, have saved me alot of money. More on the “when they’ve worked comment” later in this post.

VoIP stands for Voice Over Internet Protocol. It is a way for your voice to be transferred over the same cable that you use to use the Internet for web surfing, IM or chat lines or cable TV even. VoIP Phones let you do useful stuff like check your voice mail from your computer (or depending on which one you use any web browser you can fin), hold conference calls, or even do video calls (but never, ever until after the first cup of coffee). But the main immediate benefit is cost. They are much cheaper than using a plain old phone.

Since we are all squeaky cheap, looking for the next bargain to stretch our fashion dollars, what can you save? Let’s look at a couple of examples. A standard local phone line (affectionately known as a POTS line, Plain Old Telephone System) costs roughly about $40.00 for a local plan from a standard phone company (like Verizon or Bell South). Long distance, U.S. calling will cost about .10 per minute. Let’s say you gab long distance (that is outside your local calling area) for two hours per month. That will run you about $12 more dollars per month, for a total charge of $52.00 per month for a local provider. This does not include high speed Internet (DSL or cable), this would be a dial up Internet connection line only – good enough for email and very basic Internet use.

Let’s say you try a standard national cable provider, such as Comcast. If they don’t offer phone service in your area, then you’d need to choose a local telephone company to provide that. A very basic bundle package of phone coverage and high speed cable Internet will cost you about $65.00 per month. Long distanceU.S. calling will again run you about .07 per minute. As in the above example, if you gab long distance for about two hours per month, you’ll spend another $8.40, brining the total package to about $73.00 per month. This is clearly a better telecommunications combo than a standard phone line. But can you do better?

Finally, let’s say you try a price aggressive, regional cable provider (like RCN). Just like national cable providers they not only have a cable business but also a TV and phone business as well (again through VoIP). since many cable providers not only are in the TV business, but now also in the phone business (yes, through VoIP phone systems). A very basic bundle package of local phone coverage and high speed cable Internet will cost you about $57.00 per month. Long distance U.S. calling will again run you about .07 per minute. As in the above example, if you gab long distance for about two hours per month, you’ll spend another $8.40, brining the total package to $65.40 per month.

But can you do better? Providing you can just get high-speed Internet access, the answer is likely yes.  There are a number of very good choices available to you…some better than others. The outstanding review in PC World “NetPhones Grow Up” is the place to look, so I’ll let you all peruse that on your own time. BUT, here’s my personal experience with two of the more famous ones out now: Skype and Vonage.

Skype is very interesting. Basically you download their software (for free) then you plug in a headset to your PC’s USB port or microphone in/speaker out jack and voila! You have a working phone through your computer! If you call others that have Skype then it’s free, and great quality. If you use your little Skype phone for calling others who don’t have Skype, you can buy time in 10 or 25 Euro amounts (which is about one U.S. dollar, give or take). The rates to call other countries is ridiculously low, generally .02 per minute in U.S. dollars. I’ve gone to other countries and used Skype from my laptop to call other countries and to call home. Skype works just fine on a wireless connection as well (so if you are in a coffee shop that has WiFi or maybe an airport with WiFi) so you can call anywhere as well. Again, there are no hidden charges or adders above the rate. Now the downside. When Skype works, it’s great. When it doesn’t (about 15% of the time) it’s terrible – you either get a bad connection or no connection at all. You have to keep trying till something in that great PSTN (public switch telephone network) in the sky “clears up”. I’d recommend Skype though for sure, it will save you a ton of dough.

Vonage is not what it’s billed to be. I found it harder to setup than Skype, more expensive than Skype and, to really make my coffee bitter, I found that every 10-15 minutes it would drop calls on me – even though my high speed cable was always working! Set up is a box you have to put into your house, and then you attach a regular phone too. This means you can’t take Vonage with you without hauling the box. To be fair, the box is small, about the size of a large paperback novel. Tech support was always helpful but never solved my problems (in contrast, I’ve never had to call Skype tech support). The rates are okay, you pay $14.95 per month for 500 minutes worth of calls in North America, then .03 per minute for calls everywhere else. In the end, you pay a bit more for what Skype costs, but you get less flexibility.

SO happy VoIPing shoppers!!

Educational Link-a-doo:

PCWorld.com “Net Phones Grow Up”

C/Net on Internet Phones

cute phone pic from http://www.stevenstoymaster.co.uk/