Re: VOIP

[Nomen Nescio <nobody@xxxxxxxxx>]

Crash Gordon said:

>For the average homeowner who doesn't travel the globe and need to stay in
>constant touch with Aunt Edna...sell me VoIP. I still don't get it.

Assuming it worked as advertised, where VOIP starts making economic sense
is if you already have cable modem service.

If you are already paying for the cable, and will have the high speed
connection no matter what kind of phone service you have, then you have two
options:

1.  Pay the phone company for a land line, and pay them an additional
monthly fee for each extra service you want:  voice mail, call forwarding,
etc.  Plus, you get to pay for the toll calls you make.  It all adds up,
even if you buy a package of services.

2.  Pay a flat monthly fee for VOIP service, get all those special services
for free, and make toll calls at no extra charge.

Personally, I prefer to have a real telephone line, instead of depending on
the cable company for everything.  But it costs me more to have two
separate providers.

You can see the economics are not as good if you are using DSL and are
paying for a phone line anyway.