Voice Over IP - A First Hand Perspective

[Jason Dunn]

<div class='os_post_top_link'><a href='http://www.devbuzz.com/content/vonage_voice_over_ip_pg1.asp' target='_blank'>http://www.devbuzz.com/content/vonage_voice_over_ip_pg1.asp</a><br /><br /></div>My friend Derek Mitchell over at dEVbuzz has written up a first-hand perspective of using the Vonage VOIP kit. I've always been curious about VOIP, but I don't do all that much long distance calling so I haven't looked into it. Curious about VOIP and the benefits? Check out Derek's article!

[Mike Temporale]

I've been looking at getting a VOIP phone. I don't make much in the way of long distance calls. The real appeal is the pick it up and go. Plus it's cheaper. In case you're wondering, Primus Canada offers VOIP phones. I hear that they sell a large amount of these to immigrant families. They buy two phones, both with a local number and send one back home. Which means all calls home are local.

[aristoBrat]

Vonage makes sense for even local calls. The cheapest 'unlimited' local phone service out here is around $45/month after taxes are added in (and this is a market with three major local phone providers competing with each other!) Vonage's 'unlimited local' plan is ~$27 after taxes, and comes with 500 minutes of free long distance.

We rarely used our land line, but weren't ready to ditch it. Vonage's $14.99 plan really works for us. It comes with 500 minutes, which can be used locally or long-distance.

Some other things I didn't catch in the review:
- You have to use 11-digit dialing for all calls, even local ones.
- When someone leaves you voicemail on Vonage, it can forward it as a WAV attachment to your email address.
- They have a 'Network Availability Number', which lets you have your calls automatically forwarded to a number of your choice in case your Internet connection is disrupted

The only problems I've had is beating my roommates off of eMule and Kazaa while I'm on the phone. Like Derek, I run my Vonage box BEHIND my router, which isn't QOS-aware. When there's not enough bandwidth for Vonage, the sound gets really sketchy really quick. Doesn't happen often, and I have a pretty busy network connection (2 roommates + 5 hosted websites). :D

[aristoBrat]

Ah, one thing I forgot -- many modems don't work over Vonage, which can make your DirecTiVo very bitchy. :)