Review: VoIP Offers Low-Cost Phone Service

SALINAS, Calif. — When I signed up for Internet phone service from Vonage in 2003, the company’s reputation for quality, reliable connections had finally accorded respectability to a technology previously associated with weird beeps, echoes and static. I needed a low-cost second phone line and, I admit, my inner geek was intrigued by VoIP, or Voice over Internet Protocol. The basic plan cost $27 a month and included unlimited local and regional calls, an allotment of domestic minutes and low international rates.

A few days after signing up and selecting a phone number, a box arrived with an adapter to connect a regular phone with my Internet router. I got a dialtone in seconds.

I wasn’t saving much until a few months later, when Vonage introduced a $14.99-a-month deal for 500 domestic minutes. More recently, Vonage cut the price for unlimited calls to anywhere in the United States and Canada to $24.99 a month.

Throughout, I’ve kept my old phone line both as a backup and for emergencies. Vonage offers 911 service, though it requires registration before you use it.

Beyond the cheaper calling, Vonage’s more advanced features are what keep me as a subscriber.

Though I live in the 831 area code, I signed up for a number starting with 408 so friends and family who live in the San Jose area don’t have to pay long distance to dial me here in Salinas.

The voicemail system can be sluggish, but generally works well. As with other VoIP services, I can have voice messages automatically forwarded to my e-mail inbox as sound files. I also can check them on Vonage’s Web site or by phone.

Online, I’m able to pull up my call history, view Caller ID info and make such adjustments as turning off international calling, forwarding calls to another phone or disabling call waiting.

On the rare occasions that my DSL or electricity goes out, so does the Internet phone. More recently, I’ve noticed an increasing number of outages at Vonage’s end. When that happens, callers aren’t forwarded to my alternative number or to voicemail. They just get dead air.

At least once a week, I try to make an outgoing call but get nothing but a rapid busy signal. But I have bigger issues – with Vonage’s love affair with one-time fees.

Even when you’re adding features that will boost your monthly bill, there’s a $10 charge for every change to the account.

I asked colleagues who get VoIP service from others for brief reports. Here’s what they found:

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AT&T CALLVANTAGE

The plan I signed up for costs $19.99 per month, with domestic long-distance 4 cents a minute extra. The unlimited long-distance plan is $29.99 per month. I currently save at least half off my previous land line service, which was also provided by AT&T.

I use it basically for regular phone service, and so far the only special add-on that I use and enjoy is an e-mail notification of when I get new voicemails at home.

One downside: With my answering machine turned off now that I use the VoIP provider’s voice mail, it’s not as easy to tell when I have new messages. I either have to call the voice mail number to see if I have messages, check my inbox online or consult a tiny little light on the box that provides the phone service. It blinks when I have new messages.

Seth Sutel, AP Business writer.

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SPEAKEASY INC.’S VOICE OVER IP/HOME

I stared at the box for a week, terrified that installation would be complicated, or might mess up my DSL. But once I mustered the courage, setup was an utter breeze.

The calls are clear, and the line reliable. In fact, not long after I connected the Speakeasy service, my regular phone line went down and I used the VoIP line to request a repair.

Pricing is very competitive, with a caveat. Unlimited calls within the United States and Canada cost $23.95 per month, with a long list of extra features included at no additional charge, but you can’t get the service unless you also subscribe to Speakeasy for your DSL line.

Speakeasy boasts that as both DSL and VoIP provider, it can ensure sound quality by prioritizing transmission of voice packets over data traffic.

This may be true, but Speakeasy’s entry-level DSL offerings are pricier than most: $55.95 a month for so-called "naked" DSL if you no longer buy regular phone service from your local Bell, or $39.95 a month if you do.

But a higher price comes with uniquely attentive customer service. It never took more than a minute or so to get a live, knowledgeable person on the phone, and e-mail queries also drew a rapid reply. If there’s ever a problem, the person who fields your call becomes your single point of contact until the trouble is resolved.

Bruce Meyerson, AP Business Writer

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8X8 INC.’S PACKET8

I pay $19.95 per month for unlimited calls in North America and haven’t lost a single call or failed to get a dialtone in three months of service. (Of course I’ve suffered no DSL outages and that’s the key).

We’ve got voicemail, caller ID, call-waiting, call-forwarding and three-way calling (conferencing). And you can choose your area code regardless of your location.

For me, the three-way calling is the charm. When my wife was on a trip to Peru, where most of her relations live, I brokered a bunch of conference calls between her and our two kids at U.S. colleges using Packet8. All I paid was 4 cents a minute for the connection to Lima.

By comparison, the cheapest dial-around plan we found for calling Lima on the traditional phone network costs $1 for the first minute and 10 cents for each additional minute.

I even tried Packet8′s videophone, which costs $19.95 per month for the same service I get, plus $99 to buy the phone. The video was clear, at up to 30 frames per second depending on your bandwidth, and I might have valued the service more had the person using the other videophone been a long lost relation rather than my AP collaborator Matthew Fordahl.

Packet8 also offers 911 service but it will cost you $1.50 per month plus a $10 activation fee.

We’re still keeping our Verizon traditional phone service for emergencies, but only the skeletal plan without long distance. So all told, we’re saving about $40-$50 a month.

Frank Bajak, AP Technology Editor.

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CABLEVISION SYSTEMS CORP.’S OPTIMUM VOICE

My wife and I wanted to try VoIP but keep our old phone number and this proved to be a bit of a hassle, though it wasn’t Cablevision’s fault.

It took Verizon a few days to release our number. After it did, Cablevision called back to say Verizon also had to release the number from the associated DSL account that we were also closing.

Somehow, no one at Verizon had thought to mention this to us, causing another delay of a few days before Cablevision could come out and set up the service.

The sound was mostly crystal clear, but we had a problem the first few weeks during just about every call: the voice on the other end would drop out or turn inaudible for several seconds.

Customer service recommended plugging the phone cord directly into the back of the modem, rather than the phone jack on the wall. We followed this advice, but the problem persisted.

Then customer service recommended trying a different phone. But a few days later, the problem resolved itself.

We’ve had a little static here and there since – but with the money we’re saving, we can live with that. It’s $29.95 a month for unlimited local and long-distance, compared to $55 plus taxes and fees for Verizon’s traditional non-VoIP offering. Both services include caller ID, call waiting and voicemail.

Cablevision’s bundled deal gives us phone, high-speed Internet and cable TV for about $116 a month, including taxes. And having all three on one bill is very appealing.

Michael P. Regan, AP Business Writer