Eliminating the Phone Bill with VoIP

Posted on December 21, 2005
Filed Under Personal Finances, Technology |

I expect I’m part of the majority when saying my communication costs seem to have grown exponentially. Expenses for phone, fax, cell phone, high-speed internet, cable, satellite, etc., have all combined to seriously raise the bar on what I can get done, but at a correspondingly higher cost. Seems like I ought to be able to get rid of something! I could get rid of my phone bill (landline) by relying on my cell phone. A lot of folks do just that and it works great for them. However, some of us still need something like a landline - usually for business…

Another alternative I’ve been watching evolve, is Voice over Internet Protocol, or VoIP for short. This basically means using the Internet to talk on the phone. This has been around for a while now, but until recently, required one or both parties to be logged onto a computer. It was kind of novel, and having free long distance was a definite plus, but for day to day use, was obviously a pain.

However, VoIP is finally coming into the mainstream, offering serious competition to traditional carriers by providing VoIP using your regular hand-held phone. Keep in mind you need a broadband connection to utilize these services - either DSL or cable, but since I’ve already got cable, it’s a no-brainer. Savings over my last phone bill is $64 a month, which goes way past what I need to satisfy my Starbucks habit! Even better, is since I bundled high-speed internet service with my existing cable, I cut that cost by about $30 a month. Yes, life is good!

Vonage offers their broadband service starting at about $15 a month for their Basic 500 plan. That includes 500 minutes of local and long distance calling throughout the U.S., Canada, and Puerto Rico, along with all the expected features like caller id, call waiting, call forwarding, yada, yada, yada. For unlimited calling, their Premium Plan costs about $25 a month. Plus, their plans offer decent international rates, and no contract commitment.

You’ll also want to consider Verizon VoiceWing and AT&T CallVantage. They both have plans similar to Vonage for about the same price, but with additional features. Existing customers can sometimes save more costs by combining other services. The reason Verizon and AT&T are worth a close look is that they are major players, and though a bit later entering this space, they bring serious credentials, which will translate into stability and reliability going forward.

One of the biggest motivators for me, after price and reliability of course, is that all these providers disclose all the taxes and fees up front on their websites – try getting that out of “ma bell” – like pulling teeth. And, those taxes and fees are minimal – like a couple bucks compared to over $10 with the “other guys”.

So get online and check ‘em out!

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Eliminating the Phone Bill with VoIP

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