I’m A VoIP Fool

Can You Hear Me Now?

Today our household took the final step in the technology race to enter the 21st century, but it wasn’t without a certain amount of trepidation. We signed up with Vonage’s VoIP (voice over internet protocol) service.

We decided this summer that we HAD to get our information and communication technology services costs under control—we were spending over $250 per month for only TWO PEOPLE. In addition to paying Adelphia for cable TV and broadband, we had two Cingular cell phones with more minutes than we could use each month and Bellsouth was charging us an arm/leg for local phone service with unlimited domestic long distance.

Last month we carved the Cingular rate plan down to something more realistic based on our actual usage since we moved to the island. Cellular service here could sometimes be likened to two coconuts connected by a string, but we hated to give up the Atlanta cell phone numbers we’ve both had for many years, so we stayed with Cingular. People got to be able to find you, you know?

Today I tackled the “landline” issue. Vonage has a pricing special running at the “big box” electronics retailers like Circuit City where they sell you the RJ-11 adapter box that connects to your router or cable modem, then they rebate the entire cost of the hardware by mail.

Such a deal.

I also came home with two new 2.4 Ghz portable telephones and within an hour of opening the boxes on my new purchases I had a dial tone coming out of my cable TV connection.

Gee whizzzz….(or in the words of Gomer Pyle…Shazam)

Next we contacted Bellsouth and gave them the bad news. We cancelled our unlimited long distance plan and reduced the local plan to the very minimum –a $53 monthly savings. We decided to maintain minimum “standard” phone service to keep the phone number continuity and as a backup service in the event that the hurricanes aren’t so kind to us next year.

Do you have any idea how pissed off I’m going to be if I can’t make a phone call after a storm—having THREE different phone technologies and FOUR different phone numbers?

If things work out well we may dump the Bellsouth service in the future. If you have broadband internet (cable or DSL) and haven’t looked into VoIP technology, you need to consider the possibility in the future. It’s CHEEP.

Meanwhile, I’ll keep you informed of our progress…