Internet phone calls

daedong · May 17, 2004

In US do you have cheap internet phone calls

MikePA · May 17, 2004

In US do you have cheap internet phone calls 
Yes, Vonage.

wroughtn_harv · May 17, 2004

Why do you think the telcos are trying to get out of the dial tone business?

Verizon and SBC are both starting large fiber to the premise projects. They understand their big competitor is going to be cable. Fiber is quicker than coax. Quicker is better.

Eventually pots (plain old telephone service) is going to be comparable to pay phones now.

One of the things telcos have tried to get forever has been picture phones. I can see within five years where we can have a conversation over the interet with live cam and in perfect sequence.

Of course **** will be a driver for this service. /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif Phone sex will take on a whole new meaning.

But then, as sad as it's true, we all benefit from the advances we've got in the internet from ****'s needs.

Eventually telcos as we know them will be gone. We will have many options to pick from for our conduit to the internet. The world wide web will be just that.

MikePA · May 17, 2004

I considered Vonage but a few things prevented me from switching;

1. Calling 911 - When I looked at Vonage a few months ago, e911 wasn't fully implemented. Perhaps it is now.
2. DSL Reliability - Depending upon DSL to get to the Internet is one thing, depending upon DSL for all voice communication is another thing entirely.
3. Family Training - /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

GerardC · May 17, 2004

( In US do you have cheap internet phone calls)

I use the AOL instant messaging phone. Talk to my friend in Florida all the time for FREE! G

daedong · May 17, 2004

The reason i asked about cheap internet calls is because there is this new internet phone company here in oz. i joined up on the weekend seems to work reasonable.

There is no join up fee, just pay in advance and on average to most countries its about 5c per min.

https://www.freshtel.net/

If anyone wants to chat for a few min send me your number (PM) and i will give you a ring.

MikePA · May 24, 2004

Well, I signed up for Vonage last Friday. Received the hardware today. Connected the device to my network, plugged a phone into it and within 45 seconds was making phone calls. Asked my wife to call her mother, didn't say anything else, didn't mention the call was going over the Internet. She talked to her mom for 23 minutes (according to the Vonage web site), neither of them noticed anything different. We're at the border between 2 phone companies and almost everyone we call is long distance even though we're in the same area code. For $25/month we have unlimited calls to anyone in the area code. /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif The phone I used is cordless and it's sitting on the end table at my wife's end of the sofa, i.e., where the light is the best for her needlepoint. I instructed her that she should use this phone for all outgoing calls. We'll see at the end of the month how well she does. The plan is that our typical $100 phone bill shoud drop to $25, which should result in a net savings of $50. We'll see. /forums/images/graemlins/smirk.gif

dmp437 · May 25, 2004

Another happy Vonage customer here. My previous phone bill from the local company plus long distance was about $50 a month. My Vonage bill is $16.97 a month resulting in a $400 savings per year. There are two other Vonage users in the same office here and they also are very happy with it.
VOIP is the future /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

PBMAX · May 25, 2004

We use them in our office to make 4 digit dial calls between our 4 locations 2 in CA and one in texas. I'm in B,ham... Works great until lots of folks get on the line and fill up the band width... Which it then sounds like the old cell connection, but then clears up fairly quick... happens more often some times than others but ......

Over all works great...