Internet telephone

1528 Views 10 Replies 9 Participants Last post by tank3544, Sep 26, 2005

Phil Washburn

Discussion Starter · Sep 25, 2005

has anyone here used internet telephone yet? i have 2 phone bills, plus my tracfone, and i would like to lose them. SWB is the sorriest company i have dealt with, and it irritates me to no end to have to give them my money. i am just not sure about the versatility and reliability of internet telephone

Save

1 - 11 of 11 Posts

Dano

· #2 · Sep 25, 2005

Phil, it irritates me to give my money to a lot of Co's., compared to service LOL

I don't care much for any phone CO. I understand the , "can you hear me now " phrase. I can't hear phone calls most of the time. LOL. We use SWB and finally got on a L. distance plan just to get them to stop asking. After two months, they up the price and it wasn't worth it. We canceled L.D. plan. Now they started charging $3. bucks a month just so we can have L.D., use it or not. Myself, I can't stand the phones for many reasons. Got rid of
my cell phone a few years ago. My wife still has one. She want let me touch it. I'll throw it in the fire. LOL.

I'm not sure what internet phone is, unless your meaning something like call wave or cell phone internet. Internet is something else I don't surf. Its BOC for fun, looking up laws, business, puter repair is all I do on internet. I'm not a member on any site except BOC and if it wasn't for BOC and puter stuff, I wouldn't have internet.

Save

tspergin

· #3 · Sep 25, 2005

the internet phone service works just like the phone co but uses your broadband service you hook up a regular phone to a modem and it goes thru your internet service it costs 24:00 a month and that includes unlimited long distance anywhere in the US and canada,voice mail call forwarding with ID,call waiting conference calling and etc,I have had it for over a year and it is great you can also get a 800 number for 4:00 extra a month or multiple numbers for 4:00 each,if you want to check it out go to vonage.com

Save

TDawgNOk

· #4 · Sep 25, 2005

The reliability of internet phone service, depends on the reliability of your broadband, NON DSL internet service. It is just as clear, if not clearer than regular phone service. One drawback that a lot of people have with internet phone service is that they are unable to have more than 1 connection. IE 1 phone connected. However, with the new expandable cordless phone systems you can have several phones all using one "BASE" that is connected to the phone connection.

Another drawback with the internet phone service is that right now, Uncle Sam hasn't started regulated fees associated with the service. How is that a drawback? As VOIp (Voice Over IP) becomes more popular, there is a high probability that Uncle Sam will start charging fees similar to what are charged by your current local telco.

All in all, VOIp service is becoming the "new" phone service. It works very well and has many features that are not available with regular local service. One such feature lets you have voicemail, that is automatically converted to text and sent to you in an email, and follow me service. You can setup 5 or 6 numbers, and if it is an emergancy, the person calling enters a code, and it trys the 6 different numbers in order trying to reach you for the emergancy call.

Two different companies that offer VOIp are:
Vonage
AT&T

there are more companies, I just don't remember who they are off of the top of my head.

See less See more

Save

centralcalcat

· #5 · Sep 25, 2005

Phil,
I do computer tech support for a company called dlink. All of our phone systems are Voice Over IP or internet phones. They can be good, but it really depends on the reliability of your Internet Service Provider. Like our service can be good at times, but other times it is scratchy and difficult to hear, because our server is no twhat it needs to be. One other thing to consider with VOIP phones is make sure that if you get one you have a cell phone or a local telephone line in your house. If the power goes out and someone is hurt you cannot dial 911 with a VOIP phone.

-Brian

Save

Dano

· #6 · Sep 25, 2005

Quality and service, something you can put in the history books for a while until they get r all ironed out... LOL

Save

joesf

· #7 · Sep 25, 2005

I have vonage with 911 enabled. Works really good with my my broadband service and vtech wireless phones. Only drawback is that we don't have a local service so anyone that calls us from a land line get charged long distance. This is not a big deal to us because most of our calls come from people with cell phones or we call them back.

Save

Dano

· #8 · Sep 25, 2005

Guess ya got a love cell phones. :glare:

Save

Dreadnaught

· #9 · Sep 26, 2005

when I saw this it kinda reminded me of those solar powered flashlights that the japanese came out with years ago!!! good idea but kinda defeats the purpose.

Save

rodpod

· #10 · Sep 26, 2005

I have not used vonage or any other VOIP services before but I used a program called Skype. www.skype.com It works real well if you have a headset on your computer and want to talk to people over the internet with broadband. They have some plans to dial out to real telephone numbers and also something to let you pick your own phone number in any location that have available to let people call you. Not sure how well it works though. To dial out and have your own number it costs money.

Save

tank3544

· #11 · Sep 26, 2005

i second that on skype .. used it a little bit .. works pretty well

Save

1 - 11 of 11 Posts

This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.

Top Contributors this Month