Bryan Kellar

I have been using Vonage as a secondary business line and for my fax line for about four months now, and I have had few problems with it. I do a fair amount of business "long distance" (especially in Canada) and appreciate not having the LD charges.

The big disadvantage is the connection is dependent on the DSL line working properly. It doesn't work in the night when the ISP is down for maintenance for a few minutes. Since I get my connection through DSL and not the cable company, I can't get the local phone company out of the equation. So I have to keep the local phone line, anyway.

It does surprise a lot of people, though. I had a nice long conversation with a client in Australia yesterday. He was getting worried about the time on the phone and the charges. I knew I was paying 4 cents per minute, he didn't.

And the phone does work on my son's cable broadband internet connection -- just take the router and plug it in. Te features have made it a good choice for me.

Bryan

mrloofer

Yeah that's the only problem I have right now, is whether to cancel my landline or keep it. It's that small unreliability factor that's preventing me from doing so. The 1-2 problems I've had have been with the DSL connection not with VoicePulse. I had a seperate AT&T long distance package that was costing more than the VOIP line so cancelling that certainly was beneficial. I've found myself using the Bellsouth line occasionaly when the cable modem was down and I had to make an urgent call but I guess I can still use my cell phone for making those types of calls. I'll give it another month then probably cancel my Bellsouth line if I find myself using it less.

Bryan Kellar

One thing about hte Vonage service -- they have a feature (look for "Network Availability Number" in the Features section of the online dashboard) that should forward your incoming calls to another phone (I use my cell phone) if the Internet connection goes down. It has seemed to work in the past. Without that, I probably wouldn't keep it because of the reliability issue.

Bryan

dunroving

Wanted to bring this back up - how do you like Lingo after you've been using it for a while?

pinKaboo

Just wanted to say thanks for this VoIP thread. I've been toying with going ahead with Lingo for a while now and as it seemed too good to be true have been very suspicious of its offerings. I'm now pretty much convinced.

From my research it seems that the two major drawbacks to VoIP seems to be that the phone won't work in a power cut (obvious, but something to consider) and that calls to 911 generally have to go through an interim call centre because the 911 system can't grab the location of VoIP callers because the phone number could be virtual. (A bonus becomes a drawback here)

Still, the ability to be able to cheaply call my friends and family back in UK just by picking up the phone far outweighs those two points in my mind.

Lingo seems to be the only company I've come across that does unlimited calls to Western Europe as well as the US and Canada. It's frustrating that most of the others only include the States and Canada in their plans. If you're using the internet I don't see why the distinction exists.

I also checked out what Clark Howard (Atlanta based US consumer advocate - http://clarkhoward.com/) had to say about VoIP and found him to be very positive. He seems to be all for it and thinks that the reason it's slow to take off is just the general public's reticence to embrace new technology, especially with the dominance of traditional phone companies.

Anyway, I think I'll be taking the plunge and have my fingers crossed that sound quality and connection will be as decent as their prices.

veryfunny

Just like when you have a cable company responsible for your phone connection, if the system is down you are screwed right?
Not worth it yet, needs more time to get it right.

Muswell Hill

I have been using it for a while now and love it. The call quality i would say is about 98% of a land line but i always get through, and have had no problems. I also have free voicemail, call forwarding, caller ID and all the other things that normally cost $15/month.

I cannot recommend it highly enough. I have also spoken to customer/technical services a few more times and they now seem to operate out of a Washington DC area. I have spoken with Americans every time.

Last point: one guy at lingo said almost 2000 people a day sign up!

pinKaboo

Well, I signed up and am now awaiting delivery of my broadband splitter. I'm very excited that soon I should be back in touch with friends and family I miss terribly.

"Just like when you have a cable company responsible for your phone connection, if the system is down you are screwed right?
Not worth it yet, needs more time to get it right." - veryfunny

Actually, it occurred to me that a lot of phones we've become accustomed to using in the home are like that anyway. My existing phone runs the same risk as it is cordless and needs to be charged.

I remember having a terrible time with my Nanna and Grandad and their phone too. The family plugged together and bought them a fancy phone system with the extra large buttons for the elderly and partially sighted and with several handsets so they could always be in reach of a phone if they needed anything. Sounds great, except that when they did have a power cut and needed assistance they weren't able to call for help because the phones didn't work. Frightening.

So, still a negative aspect to consider, but it's entirely possible that a normal landline isn't going to work without power either.

*shrugs*

dunroving

- similar issue with cell phones. When I was home in the summer, the only place you could get a cell phone to work in my brother's house was either at the end of the back garden or in the attic. Even then, the reception was dreadful. Regardless of what system you use, there will be times you are unable to use it unexpectedly. A phone line can go down in a storm just like a cable line can go down, etc. Most landline phones use electric these days anyway. I'll be next in line to get Lingo.