VOIP Telephone Service

Just thought I would comment today on how much I love my new telephone service. We used to have regular ole' telephone service (i.e., Verizon, BellSouth, MCI), but have recently switched to a VOIP service. For those of you not in the know, VOIP stands for Voice Over Internet protocol. Basically what this means is your telephone is connected to your broadband internet connection instead of the phone jack that's on your wall. All you do is connect the VOIP phone adapter that you get from your VOIP provider to your cable or DSL modem and then plug your phone in to the adapter. After that, you go through a relatively simple setup procedure and then you are able to use your telephone like before. Of course this a fairly new technology and it does have it's hiccups, but by and far it was worth the investment for me.

The main reason I decided to go this route is because of my Wife. Since she is German, and her entire family is from Germany, our phone bill was getting rather expensive. That's when I decided to make the leap. I did my homework and checked out several different providers to see what was available. Now I'm paying about $45.00 less than I was when using the traditional phone service.

I do recommend that people who are interested in VOIP, be sure to educate themselves before making the change. There are several different providers for VOIP with assorted pricing and features. I think the number one thing to watch out for is the 911 service the VOIP service provides. People should familiarize themselves with the policies and functionality of the 911 service that a particular provider has in place. I myself still have a basic phone line in place in order to use my DSL service, so I can still use that line to contact my local 911 Service. For those people who use cable internet, and want to completely cut the cord with their traditional phone service, should pay particular attention to the 911 service of the VOIP provider they are interested in. Another thing to keep in mind, when your broadband internet connection goes down, so does your VOIP telephone. If you still have a traditional land line or a cell phone, then your safe. If not, you will be without any kind of telephone service.

So far, I am very pleased with my service. My calls have so far been crystal clear, I have an abundance of features, and my service has yet to go down. Of course, the quality of your VOIP service greatly depends on how well your internet connection is running.

Here are few of the VOIP providers:

Vonage
Lingo
Packet 8
VoiceWing (Verizon)
CallVantage ( AT&T)

If you are using Cable Internet, you should also check with your cable provider to see what they offer for telephone service.