Should I Switch to VOIP?
My internet provide, the Seattle based Speakeasy, has been sending me literature about VOIP phone service. We have two lines: a home line and my business line. I've been using SkypeOut for my international business calls -- and that has worked fine. But their latest campaign which asks me to Do the Math has me thinking.
They now have free international calling to 22 countries (not including mobile phones). Yes! Some nice additional features. Downside is with two lines, they have a little disclaimer that the second line may suffer depending on local in my home network. Some days that might be an issue.
Have you gone VOIP? What do you think? Should I do it? Should I give Qwest the boot?
Categories: VOIP, Speakeasy, Qwest
EDIT: January 2013. Speakeasy is now Megapath. I'm no longer using their service (I've switched to Google Voice -- see blog post here.) If you are interested in Megapath --> www.megapath.com/ "Speakeasy (Now MegaPath)"
posted by Nancy White at 12:41 PM 
4 Comments:
I've been using Vonage for VoIP for quite a while now, and I've been very pleased. I've kept my regular land line for some purposes, but do most of my calling on the Vonage line.
For me, I have a cable modem instead of DSL, so there is no relation between my landlines and my broadband usage.
I've been very pleased with Vonage, but I believe there are companies that provide better international pricing.
So, I would say that getting VoIP probably makes sense.
Pricing was great but there were constant problems between my Linksys router and Vonage which caused frequent internet outages and hours on the phone with Linksys...which is its own kind of hell. Vonage customer service was non-existent; either you couldn't get through or when you did the person didn't have any idea what to do. Finally, after Vonage sent a new Linksys phone router it improved for a few months and then the outages started again. After a year, I couldn't take it any more for any price and switched service. I haven't had a single outage since. It was always especially endearing to call Vonage for help and be told to visit them on the web for faster service since I was calling because I didn't have internet access.
Hi, Nancy.
I have two Vonage lines - one for personal and one for biz. We have the biz class cable service which is somewhat faster than home service for an additional $20 or so a month. But I'm saving well over $100/month on the two lines plus their associated long distance combined.
vonage service sucks, and the number transfer can be dicy. We get outages, of course, if/when cable goes down, but my phones transfer to the cell, so it hasn't slowed me down.
the new services - like VM -> email and simul-ring of cell and landline are GREAT!
bill
Thanks, everyone, for this feedback. VERY helpful!
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