I have to say that Voice Over IP (VOIP) is awesome. I'm in Shanghai right now and can, very cheaply, call anyone I want to. Of course no one is up right now, but I've left my parents voice mail and myself a practice voice mail to make sure it works.
I'm using Skype. Are there better ones out there? Does Google Talk let you dial regular numbers like Skype does?
Menlaan
Voice Over IP
Moderator: Dictators in Training
Skype is about to be bought out by Ebay. I wouldn't get too attached to it in it's current form. I haven't a clue about Google Talk.
I had ATT VoIP and currently have Vonage and I think it's great.
I had ATT VoIP and currently have Vonage and I think it's great.
Inside each person lives two wolves. One is loyal, kind, respectful, humble and open to the mystery of life. The other is greedy, jealous, hateful, afraid and blind to the wonders of life. They are in battle for your spirit. The one who wins is the one you feed.
Re: Voice Over IP
Menlaan wrote:I have to say that Voice Over IP (VOIP) is awesome. I'm in Shanghai right now and can, very cheaply, call anyone I want to. Of course no one is up right now, but I've left my parents voice mail and myself a practice voice mail to make sure it works.
I'm using Skype. Are there better ones out there? Does Google Talk let you dial regular numbers like Skype does?
Menlaan
I still don't really understand most of the hype for VoIP, despite the fact I'm working on deploying a network for it to run on
voice quality wise it ranges from as good as POTS, to quite a bit inferior
Ease of use is about the same
No power = no VoIP (unlike POTS)
the Long Distance price has some difference, depending on your carrier, but it's usually pretty comparable
the only benefit really, is that you can receive calls anywhere on the same number (kind of like a cell phone)
I dunno, there really isn't much of a compelling reason to switch for the average person
for a consultant, or frequent traveller, I can see the attraction to always having your home phone with you, but I'd rather have a Cell phone than have to worry about finding a good broadband connection to go with it all the time
I switched because with a landline we were paying $80 a month and with Vonage we pay $25.
Inside each person lives two wolves. One is loyal, kind, respectful, humble and open to the mystery of life. The other is greedy, jealous, hateful, afraid and blind to the wonders of life. They are in battle for your spirit. The one who wins is the one you feed.
I had vonage though we didn't use it enough to even justify the 15/mo we were paying. That was far less then we were paying for SBC's minimum POTS service of $35/mo which had 0 long distance included and limited local calling.
VOIP can work great if its set up correctly and you dont plan on doing any bandwidth intensive things while your on the phone. The down side of course is 911 service is limited to the location that you register with the company, dont forget to change it when you move and dont assume that jsut becasue you change your billing address with and tell them your moving that they will actually make the 911 changes for you, and the whole no power no phone thing sucks also.
VOIP can work great if its set up correctly and you dont plan on doing any bandwidth intensive things while your on the phone. The down side of course is 911 service is limited to the location that you register with the company, dont forget to change it when you move and dont assume that jsut becasue you change your billing address with and tell them your moving that they will actually make the 911 changes for you, and the whole no power no phone thing sucks also.
For to win one hundred victories in one hundred battles is not the acme of skill. To subdue the enemy without fighting is the acme of skill.