Vonage Voice over IP
Terry Traub
I recently disconnected my business line and signed up for a Vonage account for $15 a month. Taxes make it about $17.50, actually. This is VoIP, or voice over internet protocol, technology. Essentially it's like a regular land line but it uses whatever broadband connection you have, DSL or cable typically.
The advantage for me is that for a miniscule price I get 500 minutes of long distance to anywhere in the U.S. per month, plus voice mail, caller ID, call forwarding, call conferencing, web page access to email and call records, simultaneous ring-and-forward, call waiting, and unlimited calls to other Vonage customers. All of these features are extra with Verizon, so I decided to jump ship and give this a try. If it works out well I may bump the service up to the $25/month unlimited to U.S. and Canada plan, but I'm a little surly about the $9.99 service fee they charge to do so. Hello? I want to give you more money. Don't penalize me for it!
I couldn't keep my old number, which is a bummer, but the phone company graciously agreed to inform people of my new number for the next three months (probably blissfully unaware that it's the competition that's providing the service). Verizon's not totally out the window, however; I still pay them $35/month for the DSL broadband that Vonage uses, and then there are our two Verizon Wireless cell phones. I can see a day in the not too distant future when urbanites may not use cell phones because of massively available wireless networking. Well that's another topic. Anyway, in some areas Vonage is able to transfer old numbers but apparently not in our neighborhood because the switches are too low tech.
If you're interested in getting Vonage, contact me and I can refer you; that way, you get a free month and I get two free months. Such a deal!
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