Vonage

[crouse]

Does anyone use an internet phone such as Vonage? I know you can keep your existing phone number. Any comments good or bad would be appreciated.

[VNMUS]

$24.95 a month for unlimited local and long distance. Keep your existing phone number and phones if you like. You have to list your residence for 911 calls as the IP you use could be from anywhere. Won't work during a power out.

[jgc61sr2002]

Have AT&T Call Vantage $29.95 per month.

1. Can keep your phone #
2. Unlimited calling anywhere US and Canada

Downside
1. No electricity no phone service.
2. No cable service no phone.

IMO the +'s outweigh the -'s.

[LordVader]

Plus you also require a broadband connection (DSL/Cable Modem).

[O's Fan Rich]

If you have a monitored security/alarm system AND WE ALL SHOULD!!! it may not work with Vonage or other internet services Check it out first!!

[cyclopsram]

Vonage the dog.... ask Jim Cramer about Vonage... it is the lowest of the low of the ratings for a company of its type.... bow wowwww...... RAM

[DarthMarauder]

I use Lingo get unlimited long distance in the US Canada and alot of Europe. I went this route cause a friend has Vonage and my mom is from England and she can call home all she wants for 22.00 a month. Same with needing a broadband signal and the other stuff mentioned about 911. Only lags if I am downloading a ton of music at the time I place or recieve a call so I limit my major downloading to later in the evening.

[RF Overlord]

crouse, although I work for one of the larger telecom companies, so I'm a little biased toward our product, you should know all the facts before committing to a possibly long-term contract.

To use Vonage, you need a broadband connection, either cable or DSL. A Vonage modem produces IP packets exactly like the ones your computer does, and these packets are treated exactly the same. If there are unusual latencies (delays) or packet losses, either you or the party on the other end (or both) will get "robot voice", stuttering, pops, clicks, dropouts, etc. Your computer doesn't notice these as it can request re-transmission of dropped or corrupt packets, something that can't be done with VoIP (Voice over IP).

The VoIP offerings from the cable company, however, can be identified as voice packets and treated with a scheme called DQoS (Dynamic Quality of Service) that allows the voice packets to be treated with higher priority, reducing the disturbances to a minimum. When a customer of ours buys Vonage, we won't know that and so we can't apply the same priority to those packets.

Another issue is with 911 calls. With Vonage, you have to register with them separately for 911 to work, otherwise any 911 calls made from your Vonage phone will go to their national call centre, which may delay the response time of emergency personnel. It's a small point, but one that can be very important if you neglect it. 911 calls made from a cable VoIP service are automatically routed to the local emergency centre nearest you, just like your wired phone.

Also, according to Vonage's web site, their service doesn't operate if there's a power outage. Cable VoIP service WILL operate during a power outage for up to 8 hours.

[CRUZTAKER]

I don't know much about Vonage...but I like their song.:P

Basically what everyone else said regarding the power outage issues. That is why your local phone company is so reliable. They do not require a/c to keep you live...they can go litteraly until they run out of diesel.

Is AT&T a dial tone provider in your state?
I should know that...:rolleyes:

If so...they have been offering $20/month unlimited local-ld with a package for quite some time now.

I have the whole gammit of service from SBC/ATT for $99 a month.

[MI2QWK4U]

RF is dead on with his information. I have been to a few informative training classes for Voip, Vonage, etc. That I know of, there have been lawsuits filed on behalf of victims of shortcomings of services like those. Problems included misrouted Vonage calls, unavailability of service due to power outages and not being informed that might happen. Some services will include a battery pack that may last up to 6-8 hours. Just be aware that several documented cases of delayed emergency response resulting in things ranging from serious injury all the way to death. Be sure to get all the facts before you pick a service.

Having seen some of shortcomings of this very young technology, I wont have anything to do with it. In 17 years of law enforcement I have seen the rise in technology. Enhanced 911 was supposed to be the ultimate upgrade, and took years to perfect. About 5 years ago the enhanced 911 was pretty much perfected, giving critical information as to where, who and a return number for every 911 call from a land line telephone. With the rise of cell phones and people using them for their primary phone at home has set back enhanced 911 years. Now the cell companies had to follow federal mandates to make Cell 911 calls able to give the Lat/Long of the caller. It took years, cost a bunch of money, and still isnt perfected. Onstar was probably the first company to have its network able to locate a vehicle to within 25 feet. When all the cell companies are phase compatible, we should be able to locate the cell signal that accurately. But we have found that cellphones malfunction, dont have a signal, batteries are dead, etc. Now we have the advent of Voip, and will take another huge step back with reguards to safety and reliability.

Nothing is as reliable and safe for 911 service than your good old fashioned hard wired landline telephone in your house. Viop can let you down, Cellphones can let you down. I will actually be developing a community relations educational progam to inform the residents of the various problems with cell and viop so they can make better choices. For me, its all about safety for my family. My children know that if something happens, use the house phone first, then the cell.

Sorry for the long post, a lot of folks dont know anything about these things, I would rather people know so they can make an educated choice.



crouse, although I work for one of the larger telecom companies, so I'm a little biased toward our product, you should know all the facts before committing to a possibly long-term contract.

To use Vonage, you need a broadband connection, either cable or DSL. A Vonage modem produces IP packets exactly like the ones your computer does, and these packets are treated exactly the same. If there are unusual latencies (delays) or packet losses, either you or the party on the other end (or both) will get "robot voice", stuttering, pops, clicks, dropouts, etc. Your computer doesn't notice these as it can request re-transmission of dropped or corrupt packets, something that can't be done with VoIP (Voice over IP).

The VoIP offerings from the cable company, however, can be identified as voice packets and treated with a scheme called DQoS (Dynamic Quality of Service) that allows the voice packets to be treated with higher priority, reducing the disturbances to a minimum. When a customer of ours buys Vonage, we won't know that and so we can't apply the same priority to those packets.

Another issue is with 911 calls. With Vonage, you have to register with them separately for 911 to work, otherwise any 911 calls made from your Vonage phone will go to their national call centre, which may delay the response time of emergency personnel. It's a small point, but one that can be very important if you neglect it. 911 calls made from a cable VoIP service are automatically routed to the local emergency centre nearest you, just like your wired phone.

Also, according to Vonage's web site, their service doesn't operate if there's a power outage. Cable VoIP service WILL operate during a power outage for up to 8 hours.

[Mad1]

I've had Vonage for almost 2 years now.

First off ... power outages are a minor problem if you don't plan ahead.

Buy a battery backup and plug your broadband router and vonage router into it ... then your phone, if it requires electricity too. I've had mine hooked up this way and it works even if the power goes down.

Switching your existing phone is fairly simple, but may take a while. (Due to foot dragging by the phone company mostly.)

I used to write professionally about telecommunications for a major publication and I can say Vonage is largely the best value out there. In fact, I was turned on to Vonage by my best friend, who is the head economist for the state regulatory agency that oversees phone companies.

BellSouth (soon to be AT&T) wants to sell me stuff (cellphones/DSL/Direct TV) that I don't want, in addition to their overpriced phone line that has less features and costs more.

Comcast ... Rolled out VOIP to compete with Vonage, except it is more expensive for less calling options. (I can call Europe now for free on Vonage in addition to U.S., Canada, and Mexico ... Gotta keep up Comcast!)

The 911 situation has improved and should largely be resolved now. Calls were not routed directly to 911, but to a "non-emergency" number at the local police department originally. Again this was largely due to extreme resistance from the established phone companies.

My favorite feature of vonage is being able to login and check voicemail and call ID logs over the Internet. (It makes keeping track of our teenage daughter a lot more fun ... No more sneaking late night calls to boys.) Also you have neat features like simultaneously ringing multiple numbers or forwarding to various numbers, plus you can plug your Vonage router into any highspeed access point and your phone works and rings at that location.)

What's not to love?

Jeremy
Mad1

[Dennis Reinhart]

Does anyone use an internet phone such as Vonage? I know you can keep your existing phone number. Any comments good or bad would be appreciated.


I tried it and it was a nightmare, if you call for technical or customer service it goes to India and you get some one that you can nether understand or speaks fluent English after 30 minutes on hold, if you have DSL you have to go to cable, it took them two months to get it right, so I could keep my # at home, then my daughter was involved in a bad wreck late at night and tried to make a collect call home, it was blocked you cannot make collect calls with Vonage, I called them and complained and I then dropped them, they charged me a disconnect fee that I have refused to pay, good luck.

[ap2003]

I tried it... Wife said she wanted to stay w/ SBC... I said no... we can save money:D

So, 2 years ago... I tried Vonage

Already had a broadband conenction for 4+ years


Got Vonagefor 21 days for free while ...

* Bought a specific UPS for the router attached the router to the UPS
* Did the 911 thing
* Explored the "free 21 day trial"
* Liked the online billing
* Liked the service
* Called everyone I knew...
* 21 days of perfect service
:cool:

Then there was day 22...
* The phone number was now switch...
* I disconnected from the Telco
* But service was a little glitchy... sometimes I could not be heard... sometimes I could not hear
* Communications were more like a walky talky than a phone
* Wife gave me grief
* Went on like this getting worse and worse...
* Spent hours on the phone with india... going through the same trouble shhoting scripts that they had to run through evertyime I called

Guess what... if your phone service is not working... how do you call for help...
Well first I tried the phone service... On hold for an hour... call dropped.. On hold for an hour ... get through... call dropped in middle.... etc you get the idea.. got a tech... did the troubleshooting thing.... OK for 15 minutes... back to missing voices... call tech support... on hold for 30 minutes... over and over :bigcry:

Yes... I was really desperate... I did not want to admit to the Wife that I did anything wrong...

On the phone for an hour again and again...

Finally moved to the mobile phone... started chewing up the minutes on hold... At least this way the call wasn't dropped... Go figure... a cell phone system that dropped less calls than a land based system...:banned:

After 9 days... I called SBC... got a free switch back and lower rate... Had a stable phone service by the end of the day....

Deleted my Vonage account online on day 10

NEVER AGAIN!:mad2:


Note... my neighbor has comcast... another has WOW cable with their perspective VOIP... occasionally the same problem with their systems too.. just not as bad.

Good luck to you if you try...

BR
Gus

[usafsniper]

I've been using Voice Pulse while here in Korea. No complaints at all. Good customer service and a lot of options. Cheaper plans than Vonage.

[vpalhories]

I've had Packet8 (8x8) for almost 3 years. I love it! It's the only phone I've had for three years in the house.

My phone bills used to be $150 every month with SW Bell. Went down to about $30.00 a month (which includes my long distance calls to Europe) after I signed up.

There were a few glitches in the beginning. Technology wasn't really all that mature. Things are different now. I will personally never go back to "Ma Bell". Quality is great. No one on the other end can tell the difference. It's always crystal clear from my end.

The reality for me is that if I know weather is going to be bad and there's a possible risk of a power outage, I carry my cell phone. Since it doesn't happen all that often, I feel that saving $120.00 or so per month far outweighs having to carry my cell phone in the house the dozen or so times a year I have to.