VOIP - Anyone currently using it or looking into it?

~Melissa~ · February 11, 2009

VOIP is Voice Over Internet Protocol and it looks considerably cheaper than what we're paying right now with Embarq. All our long distance fees sure do add up and since we have long distance out of the country to Canada getting an unlimited plan on our cell phones are not an option.

So I've heard about VOIP and how it has unlimited long distance to both Canada and the USA and it almost seems too good to be true. For $20 a month including all the features it's looking like a definiate possibility for us.

Does anyone have VOIP right now or any other phone service like this?

Bisha · February 12, 2009

We've been using Vonage for 4 years now and never had a regular phone line. A few of our friends have the same and love it. You do have to have a high speed internet connection for it to work properly though.

~Melissa~ · February 13, 2009

Thanks for your input, I really appreciate it.

Do you know if we have to purchase a special adapter for our phones?

MikkiStreak · February 13, 2009

Hey Mel, we used Sunrocket for a few years until they went out of business. We loved VoIP... way cheaper and better features (like remote ability to turn features on/off). The thing to be aware of, is that your internet connections affects your quality of service. So, even if you have 1.5mb download, if you only have 386k upload... what happens is that you hear the caller great, but they hear crackling from you.

Other thing to consider is whether you have your home line hooked to a monitored house alarm system at all. If you do, you'd want to get a UPS with at least a half an hour of backup power supply. Most home alarm systems will trigger the monitoring company if the phone line goes dead and they'll send someone to investigate if they don't get a response when calling you, and since VoIP is powered by the electricity of the PC... when your power goes out, so does your phone line.