voip providers offer a lot of value for a small price
There are so many benefits to using
broadband phone service that it's hard to pick the best one.
VoIP is by nature inexpensive because calls are routed over the
internet. So perhaps the major benefit of VoIP is the low
price! Most VoIP providers charge a fraction of the price
traditional land line phone companies charge, and most offer a choice
of plans ranging from a fixed number of local and long distance
minutes per month to unlimited. With an internet phone,
unlimited local and long distance will generally cost between $19.95
per month to $24.95 per month depending on the VoIP provider you
choose. You cannot even buy a dial tone with a local phone
company for this price!
Voip saves you money
and gives you features for free!
VoIP providers normally offer a ton of
free features that you always have to pay extra for when using
a land line phone company. For an extremely low monthly service fee, you
not only get a dial tone (with cheap unlimited local and long
distance calls if you wish), but you also usually get free
voicemail, caller id, call waiting, call forwarding, voicemail to
email, online account management, etc...
An Example of Savings with VoIP:
If you typically average 100 minutes of
long distance calls a month and opt for all the added telephone
features that are offered with a traditional land line phone company,
you will pay an average of $105 per month for your phone. If
this same scenario applies to you and you are using VoIP internet
phone service with an unlimited local and long distance calling plan,
you will pay an average of $25 per month - Thats it! The
savings and benefits you get with VoIP are UNBELIEVABLE!
benefits of voip
Here is a rundown of
all the great benefits you’ll have with broadband phone service.
Because all VoIP providers have their own plans and features,
you may find more or fewer benefits depending on which internet phone
service provider
you choose. The VoIP benefits below are based on my personal experience with
Packet8. A friend of mine uses Vonage internet phone service and
feels the benefits are equally as good. The list is in no particular
order, because it's hard to pick a favorite!
As with any service,
there are pros as well as cons. The disadvantages that I have
discovered with VoIP broadband phone service are listed after the
benefits of VoIP.
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Benefits of VoIP internet phone service
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Low Price - For around $20 a month
you
get everything you need and more! |
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You can't even buy a dial tone for $20
with a regular phone company. |
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Unlimited local and long distance
calling, including Canada long distance! |
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I can talk as long as I want, whenever
I want - for no additional long distance fees |
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Great call quality - sounds and
acts just like a regular landline phone! |
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I don't know what I was expecting, but
it's just like having a regular phone |
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Video phone calling - you can
use a video phone to see who you're talking to! |
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All you need to buy is a video phone.
The other person has to have a video phone too. |
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Better, faster customer service
than with the regular phone company! |
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I emailed my VoIP provider with a
question, and had an answer within minutes! |
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Easy, quick setup! |
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I connected everything, activated by
dialing a special phone number and made my first call within 15
minutes! I wish everything technical were this easy! |
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Internet phones are portable -
take your VoIP phone with you when you move! |
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If you move or are traveling, just
plug the adapter into any broadband internet connection and you
have phone service! You keep the same number unless you want
to change it. |
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"Virtual Numbers" are available
if you want one |
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You can get extra phone numbers in
different states so friends and family can make a local phone call
to talk to you! Also great for small business owners who
want to establish a local presence in other states. |
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All the features you could ever want -
free! |
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I would never pay extra money for the
phone company's "optional features" (like call waiting, voicemail,
etc...), but it sure is great to have all the features for free
with VoIP! |
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Here are some of the free features
I like best with my Internet Phone Service:
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- Caller ID
- Call forwarding
- Voicemail
- Call return
- Voicemail to email
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- 3 way conference calling
- Call Blocking
- Call waiting
- Online account management
- Follow me, find me
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As I mentioned
earlier, every VoIP provider offers their own
service plans and features, and prices vary - although all internet
phone calling is cheap compared to traditional land line phones. These comments are my
own personal opinion of the benefit of VoIP internet phone service,
based on my experience with Packet8. There are many great service
providers, and you should review the pricing and benefits of each in
order to make a choice that is right for you. To see a comparison
chart of some good VoIP broadband phone service providers, see my "Compare
VoIP Providers" page.
disadvantages of VoIP
As with everything
there are disadvantages, and VoIP broadband phone service is no exception. In my opinion, the
negatives are few and the benefits of VoIP far
outweigh the few minor inconveniences. VoIP technology is still
relatively new
and getting better every day; and there will soon come a time when all
the bugs will be worked out. Here are the disadvantages as I see
them, and some ways you might overcome them:
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Disadvantages of broadband internet phone service:
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VoIP will not work if your power is
out or if your internet connection is down. |
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If these are common problems for you,
you should probably not use Internet Phone Service as your only
phone service.
- You could use a UPS battery
backup device which would provide power for a limited time
- If you have a cell phone you can
use as a backup phone, this may not pose a problem
- If you don't have a cell phone,
and want to get one check out Wirefly (below) - you can compare plans
and get the cellular service that is right for you!
For inexpensive cell
phone service: Shop By Rate Plan |
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You need a broadband internet
connection in order to use VoIP |
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Cable internet is best (and
recommended), although you can use DSL or Satellite but may
experience poor sound quality.
- Although cable internet costs up
to twice as much as dial up service, you will make up this
difference with the phone service savings you get with VoIP.
If you need broadband service,
check here before calling your local cable company or phone
company - it just might save you a lot of money:
compare broadband providers here |
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Occasionally you may get a bad
connection |
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Every once in a while, call quality is
bad. It's similar to getting a bad connection on a cell
phone.
- Every time I have had a bad
connection, I have hung up and redialed. Then the call was
perfect. This is just one of those things that happens.
- In my experience, this is not a
frequent occurrence and poses little problem.
- If possible, move your broadband
modem if it is sitting right on top of your computer or right
next to your VoIP router. Your broadband modem, VoIP
router and computer should be at least six inches apart if
possible. Sometimes the electronic interference created
with these devices will affect other nearby devices, causing bad
connections and echoes on VoIP phones.
- Try a broadband booster, which
is designed to balance IP signals on your home network.
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Occasionally you may lose your dial tone |
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When I first set up my system, every
week or so there would be no dial tone.
- This is easily corrected by
turning the adapter off, then on again. It resets and dial
tone returns. I believe this problem (for me) was caused
by my cable modem's DHCP server refreshing the adapter's IP
address.
- To correct this issue, assign
the VoIP router a static IP address. You may need to
install a separate router and set it to assign the same IP
address to the VoIP router. If you need a home network
router, check here
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E 911 service is not available in
all areas |
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E 911 is designed to register your
phone IP address and your home address with local emergency
services personnel. It automatically provides the 911
operator with your information. Without E 911 service, you
would have to tell the operator your address so they could route
your call to local emergency service. This is an issue with
cell phones as well.
- As internet phone technology
expands, so does the coverage area for E911. If this
service is not available in your area it will be eventually.
If you don't feel comfortable having a phone that does not work
with local 911 services, you may want to keep your land line
until the service is available to you.
- While some internet phone
service providers offer E 911 service for free, others charge a
small monthly fee. If you have this service you are paying
for it one way or another - either through an additional
separate charge or through higher costs in other services.
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For additional information on E911 and VoIP in general, please see
the sidebar links.
PC PHONES
Make broadband phone calls from
your computer using SoftPhone internet phone service.
Click Here to go to my SoftPhone page.
If you are
interested in trying VoIP internet phone service for free (to see what
it's like), consider trying a PC-based internet phone service provider
like Skype. You can download the software for free and use your
computer to make calls. As long as you call other Skype users,
all the calls are free. Otherwise you'll have to pay buy the
minute - but it's very inexpensive. All you need is a computer,
an internet connection and a headset (very inexpensive). With
Skype you can make free calls over the Internet.
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E
911
For information
and the current status of E 911 service, see the
FCC page here. |
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Packet8
VoIP
service - $19.95 a month for unlimited local and long distance.
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SunRocket
VoIP Service - $199 per YEAR for unlimited local
and long distance calling. This works out to
less
than $17 per month! |
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FonVantage
broadband phone
service. $24.95 per month. 99.9% network uptime
guarantee! |
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