Advantages And Disadvantages Of Broadband Phone Service
by Jon Arnold
Broadband phones, also known as "VOIP" are catching on faster than
ever. And no wonder, since the monthly cost of broadband phone service,
including long distance, is probably cheaper than what you pay to your
phone company for just a dial tone. Yes of course you need a highspeed
Internet connection that you connect your broadband phone to, but a
majority of homes have that anyway, so this is just another service
that takes a minimal amount of that speed away, and only uses it when
you are having an active conversation on that phone.
Yes,
broadband phone service is extremely popular. In fact, about a year ago
the number of new phone activations in the US that were broadband
phones or VOIP phones surpassed the number of new traditional phone
services for the first time in history! Yes, there are advantages, as
well as some neat features offered by some (not all) of the broadband
vendors. But there are also some disadvantages, so let's take a brief
look at both angles.
The Advantages
As stated earlier,
broadband phone service is significantly cheaper than traditional phone
service. Most broadband phone services include "unlimited" long
distance calling in the continental US, as well as locally. With
traditional phones, you either pay a huge premium for the unlimited
feature, or even with a discount long distance plan, you are still
paying about 2.5 to 3 cents per minute (or more) for long distance
calls.
There are many vendors and companies offering residential
broadband phone service, it seems like everyone wants to get in on
this. But from what I have observed, the most expensive place to get it
is from your cable company! Yes, your cable company, the same one who
provides you with cable TV and maybe also cable Internet service, will
typically offer you broadband phone service for almost TWICE what you
can get it for elsewhere. It pays to be a knowledgeable shopper!
Yes,
almost everyone has heard of Vonage, and this service can be purchased
at places like Best Buy, Circuit City, even Walmart. But again, you are
paying about 20% more than you need to, if you realized what else is
available out there.
For long distance, some broadband phone
plans include Canada for the unlimited calling area, and some also
include Puerto Rico. Some like Packet8 have separate plans to allow you
to call Europe and/or Asia. Be aware of where you want to call and
verify if that is included in the carrier's plan.
A word
regarding the "unlimited" part - it's not really unlimited, at least
not according to the definition of unlimited that I read in my Funk
& Wagnall. Most carriers allow about 3000 to 4000 minutes per
month, then they may call you and ask you about such excessive usage,
maybe thinking you are a business (higher rate) or using some kind of
auto-dialer (a strict no-no).
The Disadvantages
Remember
that with broadband phone service, you make and receive you calls via
your highspeed Internet connection. You need to have a GOOD connection,
not on the fringe areas of DSL. And if all you can get is satellite
Internet, then hang it up, because VOIP on satellite is not going to be
pretty at all.
Since you are using your Internet connection, it
should be stated that if your Internet connection goes down, so does
your broadband phone. That's right, so if you need phone service and
your Internet connection is not reliable, you may want to think twice
about VOIP phone service.
Do you run part of your business from
your home? If so, is fax any part of that? Today, from virtually any
carrier on the planet, fax is not reliably supported, sending or
receiving, via a broadband phone connection. If fax is important to
you, you will want to have a phone line from the phone company
dedicated to your fax machine, or subscribe to one of the online fax
services.
Broadband phone service can save you a bundle, but you
need to understand your usage requirements and needs before selecting
which carrier is best. It is more, MUCH more than different carriers
just having different pricing. You need to look at the whole package to
ensure you are getting what you think you are paying for.
Information About The Author
Jon is a computer engineer and long-term world traveler who maintains many websites to pass along his knowledge and findings. You can read more about VOIP and a comparison of popular VOIP offerings at his web site at http://www.broadbandphoneinsideinfo.com
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Related Links :
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Broadband_internet
http://compnetworking.about.com/od/dslvscablemodem/a/speedcompare.htm
