Was going to put this in the random section, but thought this was better suited to be addressed here.
I am contemplating ditching my cell phone and going with Vonage, or some similar program for my phone needs. Anybody use these, or know somebody who has? Any recomendations?
Any good or bad things you've heard or encountered?
I've never seen a reason to switch to Voice over IP. The sound quality isn't as good, it's not really much cheaper, you may have to change your existing phone number, you don't have a phone if there's a blackout, and (for some VoIP services), you have to be able to tell the operator your location if you call 911. It may never happen, but if I have to make an emergency call, I'd like it to go as smoothly as possible.
Having said all that, I do work for a phone company that has a substantial number of people using traditional phone lines, and is just starting to face local competition from VoIP providers, so I could be very biased.
We have been using Vonage for some time now - 25 bucks a month, got to keep our old number.
It's fine 90% of the time. If the IP is having trouble (see: Insight is hateful), then it doesn't work. But everything else is good. LD is awesome, Mrs AWA talks to her Dad daily now.
we have a wireless speaker phone that works great that we use with it.
It's the same cost as my old phone before LD charges, so that was a wash. If you're dumping cell, I think it is a great choice.
(edited by AWArulz on 3.12.06 1255) We'll be back right after order has been restored here in the Omni Center.
We had Vonage in San Diego when Lise was there and I was in Oregon. We talked every night for a long time, so I've probably been on the receiving end of Vonage as much as anyone.
About half of the time there was a slightly annoying echo of my part of the conversation. Only I could hear it. Still, compared to what we would have paid for even a $.02 per minute plan, it was a huge benefit for us that it was unlimited long distance.
Towards the end in San Diego that cleared up, and I've not heard it since. We brought the Vonage unit up here to Oregon with us and we still have our San Diego number active on it, so it is a local call to us in Oregon for any of our San Diego friends.
We have a local number here for people who are here and keep the Vonage line for calling out on long distance. With our family all over, it is worth it for us just to know that our LD bill will only be the $25 Vonage bill each month.
I've considered keeping only one line, but with the power and internet here less reliable than you would find in a major city, I'm hesitant to do it. I'd be OK with it only because we have two cell phones as backup, but I wouldn't get it as a single line with no other option.
Have you considered Skype?
BTW - you can generally keep your old number unless you live in a small Exchange. We couldn't do it here, but we could have in San Diego.
I did some research and everybody I talked to hates Skype. Mostly because they said the sounds quality was terrible.
I looked at a consumer comparison website and they rated Vonage number on in sound, but Sunrocket was ranked number one in value. SO, I am thinking of going with Sunrocket.
Free phone, free equipment, and its 200 bucks a year for unlimited calling, with all the features included. And if I cancel before the year is up, they refund the balance of my 200 dollar payment.
Funny, i like skype. the voice quality is no different than if you're using a cellphone. The trick is to use an actual USB phone handset, as opposed to a computer microphone.
Hello everybody, hello Dr. Nick! Ok, now with that joke out of the way, I'm here to bring information that might be important to those of you using anti-virus software.