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 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 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 “Net
Phones 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/