Wednesday, February 16, 2005

VoIP

There have been some extra serious topics going around and I thought Ill write about something more generic for people to chew on. Last week I picked up a Vonage broadband VoIP phone connection at home. Have to say it was long time coming. I usually like being ahead of the curve but this one I got in late. Neverthless, it has been a good experience until now. I got a 500 minutes package for 15 dollars a month which includes all the call features including Caller-Id for free and also 800 and 911 calling.I got my Activation fee waived too which was definitely nice and a Linksys router with phone ports that needs to be returned when I disconnect my service. Best of all ,you get to use your old phone and not the headset and computer speakers that are otherwise associated with VoIP.

No wonder the CLECs and RBOCs are not happy. There are already reports of local service providers blocking VoIP service in the fear of losing their revenue streams. Vonage is complaining to FCC about local operators blocking its service and its getting nastier by the day. Meanwhile, elsewhere Skype, while getting good deals under its belt is having Customer Service issues.

For Indians in the US, there are VoIP providers offering unlimited calling to India for 35 dollars a month. And for people who need more than 500 minutes a month, Vonage offers a 24.99 unlimted calling plan. And then there is AT&T CallVantage which has garnered good reviews but is a tad more expensive than Vonage.

All in all, we have a good bunch of options to choose from and with competition hotting up, things will only get better. And in that note, Ill wrap up.

Shameless Plug: If you decide to take a Vonage connection, let me know and I can refer you :)

Update: Pradeep has a good writeup on the overall VoIP picture here.

7 comments:

saranyan r said...

can you take these phone ports anywhere. I mean, since its through the internet, shouldn't it be possible to use your phone from anywhere, and not just from your living room?

How is the voice quality?

someday I will get a landline... will ask you to refer me :-)

The Last Blogger said...

Saran

Your primary phone port is in your router. You can use a cordless for that and that is your phone. If you have your ethernet router anywhere else in the house, thats where your phone unit plugs in.

Voice quality is good. No difference at all from a conventional phone service.

The Last Blogger said...

Jagan
Imagine a spl router in your house with two phone ports in addition to your eth ports. Thats all it is..and yes, you need a data connection.

Anonymous said...

Ah, good things about Vonage. Encouraging.
http://phantasmagoria.rediffblogs.com

saranyan r said...

dude, I'll rephrase my question.
can you take that spl router, connect in your office and still use the phone? I'm just wondering if it can be used anywhere in the US, as all it needs is an internet connection.
Or, is it associated with the switch in the local area, and hence cannot be removed arbitrarily?

The Last Blogger said...

Saranyan
You are given a number in the area you ask for and you can work in that area with the router in any place.

If you want to use it anywhere, Vonage offers you a softphone addon (9.95 a month), which allows you to use your phone from a web interface from anywhere in the world.

The Last Blogger said...

Phantasmagoria
Thanks for stopping by and yes, Vonage is good tidings.

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