# Why Voice over IP?



## Steve Mehs (Mar 21, 2002)

Why is voice over IP becoming so popular, looking over the Vonage website and Time Warners digital phone page, I can't really see any advantages of VoIP over what I currently get from my land line or cellular service. Folks here that have it, why do you?

Don't mean to sound so blunt, just something I've been wondering


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## RAD (Aug 5, 2002)

It's CHEAP! I have Vonage and for $24.99 you get unlimited local and long distance calling, even Canada is free. Plus look at all the features you get, like a page if you get a voice mail. SBC would do that for me only if I also had their paging service. 

Other advantages is that it works wherever you have a broadband internet connection. Folks have been know to take the box overseas with them to be able to make free phone calls back home.


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## juan ellitinez (Jan 31, 2003)

The telco's love it because they dont need as much switching infrastructure. Which means less manpower..less costs.


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## Steve Mehs (Mar 21, 2002)

I guess that's why I don't see the advantage. My last land line bill from Verizon was just over $15 and that includes all the taxes and fees, and $6.50 for caller ID. We barley make 20 calls a month, last year when I had dial up our phone bill was constantly around $40 with over 300 calls a month. We don't make many true long distance calls, but due to where we live some calls are considered local long distance, for that we just use the cell phone since we have free long distance with Nextel.

Being able to take it with you is cool though.


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## BobMurdoch (Apr 24, 2002)

If you make a lot of calls it will save a lot of money.

HOWEVER, be aware of the risks....

1. 911 does not work
2. Like everything else internet based you are vulnerable to hackers (Wired had an article on this recently)
3. Reliability could be an issue when internet traffic is high.

Then again, if you have a phone bill that is more than $100 this could be the greatest thing to come along in a long while for you.


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## Tusk (Nov 14, 2002)

I haven't switched to Vonage yet due to issues with my alarm system and dialing in with the DirecTivo's. As far as costs, we have a SBC landline with unlimited nationwide long distance, and with taxes and fees, it runs $70 a month. The same service is available with Vonage for $25.


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## ERSanders (Apr 24, 2002)

Remember VoIP will give your rock solid phone line the reliability of your cable system! Isn't that one of the reasons we went to Dish / DirecTV?


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## mini1 (Jan 25, 2004)

BobMurdoch said:


> If you make a lot of calls it will save a lot of money.
> 
> HOWEVER, be aware of the risks....
> 
> ...


1. Wrong, Vonage supports E911. All you have to do is tell them where you are actully located.
2. Vonage is only as good as your Broadband service.
3. Steve, Vonage has a $15/month package. REMEMBER Vonage can NOT be taxed for the random reasons a land-line can. My local land line has 7 or 8 taxes put on it. Vonage only has two low costs taxes in any state. Look at the features you get for FREE in any Vonage package. 
Voicemail Plus, with e-mail notification.
Caller ID with Name
Call Waiting on/with Caller ID
Call Forwarding
3-Way Calling
FREE In-Network Calls, no matter where the other Vonage sub is in the world!
FREE Traveling with Vonage, say you go to a hotel on Vacation. Bring the small portable phone adapter with you. All your calls will be routed to your hotel room if you like, and you won't have pay overpriced hotel phone sucharges to call local.
Area Code Selection
Call Transfer
Click-2-Call
Call Return
Caller ID Block
Repeat Dialing
International Call Block
Ring Lists
Call Hunt
Call from your computer service. just type in the number and Vonage will dial for you!
Vonage now has the rights to over 90% of the area codes in the country, so you CAN keep your existing phone number.
Vonage international rates are so low, they can't compare to anyone.
If you have an at-home business you can get an 800 number for $4.99/month.


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## elbyj (Jan 9, 2003)

Just to add a comment -- I signed up Monday for the AT&T equilivant of Vonage. Price a little bit higher, but I went with the Business office option for two lines since they offer fax and modem capability. This will be the best for pluging into the back of the 501. Very similar features as Vonage. I am very eager to read the "easy home installation" instructions to adapt the system into the existing house phone wire. I have done a lot of checking for this type of system and the AT&T was the best for us, especially since we already had AT&T Local service in the house. Guaranteed number transfer! Only issue I see at this point is when the cable goes out and we loose phone service. However, the do offer the ability for the calls to be routed to one of our cell phones in that case.


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## RAD (Aug 5, 2002)

elbyj said:


> Only issue I see at this point is when the cable goes out and we loose phone service.


Don't forget, if the power goes out, and your cable modem and AT&T adapter (and whatever else you need for the network) isn't on a UPS, you'll also loose your phone.


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## waydwolf (Feb 2, 2003)

ERSanders said:


> Remember VoIP will give your rock solid phone line the reliability of your cable system! Isn't that one of the reasons we went to Dish / DirecTV?


 A cable system which never needs snow and ice cleaned off to eliminate signal loss as I did for a relative today who has DirecTV. Six of one, half dozen of the other.

VoIP goes wherever there's TCP/IP and as time goes by, that's a big coverage area. When newer wireless IP data nets go online covering metropolitan areas and even wide regions like modern cell, you'll probably even see wireless VoIP devices which do everything from home to travels.


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## mrschwarz (May 8, 2004)

I've been with Vonage for about 8 months. I'm paying $16 per month instead of more than $40 and have a lot more features. Unlike TV reception, my cable connected internet connection is rock-solid. Voice quality is the same as a land line. My Dish receivers and alarm system don't have a problem. 911 works, too.

If you're interested and want to get a free month, PM me.


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## Jason Nipp (Jun 10, 2004)

Steve Mehs said:


> I guess that's why I don't see the advantage. My last land line bill from Verizon was just over $15 and that includes all the taxes and fees, and $6.50 for caller ID. We barley make 20 calls a month, last year when I had dial up our phone bill was constantly around $40 with over 300 calls a month. We don't make many true long distance calls, but due to where we live some calls are considered local long distance, for that we just use the cell phone since we have free long distance with Nextel.
> 
> Being able to take it with you is cool though.


I agree with the below Steve, in most cases it is a cost thing. My average Verizon land line bill was around $75. We use cell most of the time. We had call waiting but no Call ID or anything else. With Vonage you can get VoIP unlimited for $25 a mo, with forearding, ID, etc... you can get a dedicated fax/data line for $9, and you can get virtual phone numbers in area codes were your friends or family live so your always a local call for them. Or you could get an 800 number.

More options for the money = VoIP... If you do a search you will find many companies offering service. SBC, Verizon, AT&T, etc.... Your not limited to Vonage...but very few offer data/fax connectivity and a dedicated line like Vonage.


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## mini1 (Jan 25, 2004)

Jason Nipp said:


> I agree with the below Steve, in most cases it is a cost thing. My average Verizon land line bill was around $75. We use cell most of the time. We had call waiting but no Call ID or anything else. With Vonage you can get VoIP unlimited for $25 a mo, with forearding, ID, etc... you can get a dedicated fax/data line for $9, and you can get virtual phone numbers in area codes were your friends or family live so your always a local call for them. Or you could get an 800 number.
> 
> More options for the money = VoIP... If you do a search you will find many companies offering service. SBC, Verizon, AT&T, etc.... Your not limited to Vonage...but very few offer data/fax connectivity and a dedicated line like Vonage.


I have yet to see a lower price then Vonage for the $24.95 or 14.95 package, which both includes every possible service you could want and unlimited calling in the more expensive pack. Most people could easily use the lower priced package, and never go over the minutes limit.


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## Spruceman (Nov 21, 2004)

And I suppose the ability to have just about any area code for your number is just the thing for "movers." Would be great if they had Canadian area codesavailable for people "moving" to Canada for ExpressVu or StarChoice.


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## n0qcu (Mar 23, 2002)

They do but you need a canadian address to get one.


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## kwajr (Apr 7, 2004)

RAD said:


> Don't forget, if the power goes out, and your cable modem and AT&T adapter (and whatever else you need for the network) isn't on a UPS, you'll also loose your phone.


actually it will forward your calls to a number you have set


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## RAD (Aug 5, 2002)

kwajr said:


> actually it will forward your calls to a number you have set


This is true, but if the phone you forward it to is with your spouse for example you won't know if someone is trying to call you. The bottom line is that your VoIP service will not be working on your 'landline' phones if you loose power and have not backup supply for it.


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## Lord Vader (Sep 20, 2004)

RAD said:


> Don't forget, if the power goes out, and your cable modem and AT&T adapter (and whatever else you need for the network) isn't on a UPS, you'll also loose your phone.


As opposed to tightening your phone?


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## Mark Holtz (Mar 23, 2002)

:shrug: If it works for you, more power to you. I almost exclusively use my cell phone for voice communications because it is much cheaper and more convient for me. My DSL is piggybacked to my mom's line, and right now my speed is 1mb/128kb. I'm hoping that shortly, I'll be upgraded to 3mb/768kb.

So, how much bandwidth is required for uplink?


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## RAD (Aug 5, 2002)

Mark Holtz said:


> So, how much bandwidth is required for uplink?


Vonage's high quality setting requires a 90Kbps uplink, but you can lower the quality setting to reduce that requirement.


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## waydwolf (Feb 2, 2003)

Two biggest reasons for the offering of VoIP:

1. It gets a piece of what the telcos have had almost a monopoly on for years and people will always prefer talking to texting inevitably.

2. No "five nines" SLAs mandated by law as with standard phone.

Money and lack of responsibility. The great American dream.


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## kwajr (Apr 7, 2004)

Plus if you live s omewhere in a small town you might not det a major telco you get some one like http://www.lexcominc.net/index.htm my bill was almost 57 bucks for basic with caller id and call waiting. but vonage works anywhere there is broadband


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## Bogy (Mar 23, 2002)

Well, you guys had convinced me that VoIP was the way to go. I've had my local and long distance through Cox in a package with TV and internet. But we will be moving soon, and phone service is not offered through the cable co. where it looks like we will be going. Last night I spent some time looking at some of the companies who offer the service. Not going to work for me. It would be a long distance call for anyone in town to call me. That doesn't work for a minister.

On the other hand, the church will be paying my local phone bill, and using VoIP for $20 or $25 a month for our long distance might be the best deal. Then my problem is that we have just changed over our phones from the 2 line phones we had when we had 3 teenagers in the house and needed that second line, to a base station and 6 handsets. I had figured that this would work great if we got VoIP. We still have all the 2 line phones, but according to the companies I was looking at, 3 phones is the limit for wired phones. Otherwise we are stuck with needing two phones in each room. 

Anybody got a suggestion? Otherwise it looks like we are back to using our cell phones for most of our long distance calling. (Another whole problem, transferring our numbers to that area, unless we buy out of our current contract and switch to a carrier with better coverage in that area.)


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## Danny R (Jul 5, 2002)

_A cable system which never needs snow and ice cleaned off to eliminate signal loss as I did for a relative today who has DirecTV. Six of one, half dozen of the other._

hehe... of course here in the south, if you are cleaning off ice and snow from your dish to get reception, odds are you don't have power anyway. If a tree branch didn't take out a line somewhere, one of your neighbors plowed his SUV into the utility pole. :lol:


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## cdru (Dec 4, 2003)

Bogy said:


> Well, you guys had convinced me that VoIP was the way to go. I've had my local and long distance through Cox in a package with TV and internet. But we will be moving soon, and phone service is not offered through the cable co. where it looks like we will be going. Last night I spent some time looking at some of the companies who offer the service. Not going to work for me. It would be a long distance call for anyone in town to call me. That doesn't work for a minister.


Where are you moving to? I was under the impression that Vonage offered VoIP numbers pretty much everywhere in the ConUS.


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## Bogy (Mar 23, 2002)

A small town in the center of Iowa. I won't say exactly where yet, because it isn't finalized. I think it was with Vonage that I could get a Mason City number, which would be in the right area code, but it would be a long distance call from where I would be living. At least that is the way I understand it. A couple of the companies don't offer any area codes in Iowa. You can have a number from anywhere in the country, IF they have bought a block of numbers in that area.


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## kwajr (Apr 7, 2004)

Bogy said:


> A small town in the center of Iowa. I won't say exactly where yet, because it isn't finalized. I think it was with Vonage that I could get a Mason City number, which would be in the right area code, but it would be a long distance call from where I would be living. At least that is the way I understand it. A couple of the companies don't offer any area codes in Iowa. You can have a number from anywhere in the country, IF they have bought a block of numbers in that area.


with vonage nothing would be long distance for you as for the area code if its the one for the ciity then they should bhe able to call you free if not then it would even be long distance on a landline i think


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## Bogy (Mar 23, 2002)

kwajr, if I have interpreted you correctly, this is what I have been saying. I would not have to pay long distance charges, but anyone in the town who wanted to call me would have to pay for long distance. Not acceptable for a pastor. As I said, I won't have to pay for my local phone charges anyway, the church will pick that up, its a matter of figuring out the best arrangement for long distance service, plus not having to have two phone systems in the house.


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## DonLandis (Dec 17, 2003)

Outbound long distance- I use an ATT calling card prepay- $50 for 1500 minutes. Then I just program all the numbers into a speed dialer. Been using that for almost 2 years now. For me, it lasts about 4-5 months, plus I max out my cell phone 1000 minutes each month. So cheap I don't woprry about LD cost anymore. My wife has free weekends and night on her cell phone so I finally got her to call her parents and brothers out of state during the free time.


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## MikeW (May 16, 2002)

I've got Broadvox Direct. Works great. $20.00/month for all the features including a second phone number. My wife calls family in Mexico. It used to be about $.30/minute and it is now $.05/minute. A one hour call that used to cost $18.00 is now costing $3.00. Do that twice a month and the service pays for itself. I've kept the POTS for now. Basic service w/Caller ID=$27.00/month.


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## Bogy (Mar 23, 2002)

We've gotten spoiled. We get unlimited LD through our package with Cox. Nice, because we have family from New York to California. The phone bill is MUCH smaller than it used to be. Still trying to decide what is going to be our best option when we move.


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## Scott Greczkowski (Mar 21, 2002)

Does anyone know a VOIP server that lets free calls or cheep calls to Equador? My wife has an employee who spends hundreds a month calling her parents in Equador.


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## cdru (Dec 4, 2003)

Scott Greczkowski said:


> Does anyone know a VOIP server that lets free calls or cheep calls to Equador? My wife has an employee who spends hundreds a month calling her parents in Equador.


Define cheap. Vonage starts at .16 a minute. VoiceWing (Verizon's VoIP) is .16-.20. Both are significantly better then the .33+ typical with the major international providers (ATT, MCI, etc).

Remember though that if she doesn't already pay for VoIP, she'll have a monthly service charge on top of that for just the basic plan. But still, if she does indeed spend several hundred a month, cutting her per-minute charge in half would more then make up for it.


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## lee635 (Apr 17, 2002)

We picked up an offer from MCI for unlimited long distance for $25 a month and it works on your landline as opposed to VOIP. You may want to check what traditional LD providers like MCI have in the way of all you can eat long distance plans....


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## Bogy (Mar 23, 2002)

There are a lot of new options out there. As LD has moved to cell phones and now VoIP the traditional carriers have been forced to offer alternatives.


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## Steve Mehs (Mar 21, 2002)

Thanks guys for keeping this thread alive. I was thinking about VoIP again the other day. As much as I'd love to join in the VoIP 21st century technology, even the $15 limited plan won’t save us much. What got me thinking about this was possibly getting Digital Phone from Time Warner but even with the digital cable and Road Runner discount it still would be $40 a month for the same thing Vonage provides for $25.


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