by Derek—2005.04.04 @ 2009
We decided to go out on a limb and cut a few wires by going all digital with our phone service. Starting April 1, we will be using the Vonage telephone (VoIP) service. Vonage works by sending your phone signal over your high-speed internet connection, effectively releasing you from a traditional phone service. The real selling point -- to be quite honest -- was the price: $24.99 for unlimited nation-wide calling, both in the U.S. and in Canada (well, we don't call Canada that much, but the option is there...).
Considering we were already going to pay around $40/month for our high-speed connection, and another $40+ for regular phone service, using Vonage will be a cost savings. Our old phone service (with Verizon) was just a bare-bones service with local-only calling. Getting long-distance added would bring our base bill to $55 without taxes (with taxes brings the total bill to almost $90!).
What I really enjoy about Vonage besides the price is all the available features. Not only do we get all the long-distance we want, but we also have the features I've never wanted to pay extra for: caller ID, 3-way calling, call waiting, voicemail, etc. As an internet service, all of my calls are also recorded online, including my voicemail. I set up my account to e-mail me whenever I have a new voicemail. This feature (so far) has been great: while I am at work, I can see what calls were missed and can listen online to my voicemail messages.
The only draw back we've experienced so far is inherit with the service: it only works with the internet. When the internet is down, the phone service is down. For many, this is probably not a problem. However, we live in an area where we only have one option for high-speed internet and the signal has occasionally been dropped.
Relying on the internet also poses a problem with power outages. Traditional phone lines are self-powered and are capable of working even in a power outage. Today, however, most people use powered, cordless phones that do not work with a power failure anyway.
So, we're out a a limb, trying a new service and finding out if we can really live on the technology edge. If there is a disaster and we lose our internet and power, I guess there's always the cell phone.