Tuesday, July 14, 2009

VoIP services offer cheaper alternatives for long distance calls.

Nowadays, people looking for alternatives to the traditional phone companies for long distance calls, have an array of options to choose from thanks to the Internet. In an article written earlier this year, the New York Times found that by " using the Internet system to carry calls rather than the traditional phone lines, voice-over-Internet-protocol (VoIP) companies can offer even cheaper phone service with a wider range of supplemental features." Here is more from that article.
The least expensive VoIP services work only when your computer is on. Users of the online phone service Skype can call other Skype users around the world free, and pay a nominal amount (around 2 cents a minute) to make calls to other, non-Skype phones. Callers use either a headset connected to their PC or a Skype-enabled handset.
If you want to use your existing phone, connect it to magicJack, a $40 U.S.B. computer dongle that works with PCs and Intel-powered Macs to provide free calls over the Internet. The purchase price includes one year of free unlimited calls within the United States and Canada; after that, it costs $20 a year. The company reserves the right to terminate for excessive usage.
In tests of both services, Skype’s quality was spotty, with occasional voice delays and muffled sound. MagicJack’s connection did not always work, and required me to restart the computer or replug the dongle. Because both magicJack and Skype work only when your computer is on, they are poor substitutes for traditional landline service.
Better alternatives are VoIP services that allow you to use your existing telephones. To activate the service, you connect the phone to the company’s hardware, which in turn is connected to your broadband modem. The phone service works even when your PC is off.
Vonage, the best known VoIP service, offers unlimited domestic calling, plus free calls to five European countries, for $25 a month. The necessary Vonage hardware, called a V-Portal, costs $80, but the company gives a $70 rebate for a one-year service commitment.
Ooma, a similar VoIP service, charges a one-time $250 fee for its hardware, with no monthly charge. All domestic calls are free. International calls to Western Europe and Canada are around 2 cents a minute.
To hook up additional phones to Ooma, you use a smaller “Scout” unit; one is included in the box, each additional Scout costs $60.
Ooma also offers a Premier service; for $13 a month or $99 a year, you’ll receive a second line plus enhanced features like call screening, the ability to set up phone number blacklists, and the conversion of voice mail to e-mail.

For more, see NYTimes.com

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