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I don't like advertizing my journal, so I'm not entirely sure about making this post. We recently got VOIP service, however, and we're pretty happy with it.
(VOIP is Voice Over Internet Protocal, where you use your internet connection for your phone service. Sometimes, that means you use a computer program and a headset. In this case, it means using your regular phone but plugging it into a device plugged into your modem instead of a wall jack.)
Compromise, then: If you're interested, check under the cut. US residents with a stable high-speed connection only. (If you want to test your connection for VOIP compatability, you can use this java program to run a simulation.)
The company we're using is Sunrocket. I chose them after doing research on a bunch of sites, including Cnet, Wikipedia, Epinions, and Consumer Reports.
So far, we've been pretty happy. Voice quality has been a little variable, but, as far as I can tell, that's our connection. We'd have the same trouble with any VOIP service. Most calls have been just fine. It's like a cell phone, really. Sometimes, you get a crystal clear connection. Sometimes there's a bit of static or something. Sometimes there are bigger problems, but they're rare.
We did have some trouble getting the system working. The equipment itself was easy, but they were having network problems the day we set it up. They got that fixed very quickly, though, and the support agent promised that he'd never seen it happen before. It hasn't happened again since.
We've also had some issues with the cable connection. Every once in a while, the entire connection would drop while we were making calls. Not just the call. The internet connection. I had to power cycle the cable modem to get everything up and running again.
It was discouraging. I thought we were going to have to cancel the service.
Sunrocket's customer service, however, has been really good. I've had little trouble getting through to a tech, and the techs I've spoken with have all been friendly and helpful. They took me through a few troubleshooting steps (first enabling MAC address cloning, so that the VOIP box would not appear as a seperate entity to the cable company and then limiting the upstream bandwidth).
Since then, everything's been fine.
You're probably wondering, though, why it all seemed worth the trouble. Slightly less reliable voice/call quality, all those calls to tech support, etc.
Mostly, it's the money. Sunrocket charges $199 per year for their plan. Everything you could want is included in that. There's no charge for the equipment. There's no charge for shipping the equipment. There are no taxes or fees. You get unlimited calling to the US and Canada. Calls to most well-developed/westernized countries (Western Europe, Israel, Japan, etc) are 3 cents a minute, and you get good rates to most other countries. Not only that, but there's a $3/month credit for international calls, which means you get up to 100 minutes a month free.
In short, unlimited phone service with good international rates and good customer service for about $17/month. Compared to the unlimited calling plan we had with AT&T ($60/month), we're saving over $500/year.
We lucked out even further. As I was doing research, I noticed that they had a sale going on. Buy the first year, get the second free. That's over with now (it expired mere hours after we placed our order), but it made the deal for us even sweeter.
They go out of the way to make sure you're willing to try it, too. There's a 31 day trial period. You don't like it for any reason, return the equipment and pay nothing. After that, if you decide to cancel service, you still get a full refund (minus the months of service you've used).
It comes with all the usual VOIP calling features, too. Call waiting, call forwarding, voicemail (which you can retrieve from any phone or through their website), etc etc. And it's one of the few companies that's E911 compatible.
It's still a good idea to keep a traditional landline (or at the very least a cell phone) available. E911 isn't as good as regular 911 service, and VOIP service won't work if there's a blackout or a cable outage or something. You also only get one phone jack. Easily overcome with a multi-handset portable phone system, but it is still a drawback.
Oh, and Sunrocket service isn't (yet) compatable with "soft phones." You can still have Skype or something on top of their service, but you can't make and recieve calls through your laptop unless you take the Gizmo (their name for their equipment) with you.
All in all, it's not perfect, but it works well and it's a darned good deal.
If you are interested, let me know. I've got a coupon code. It'll get you three months free. (And, coincidentally, get us referral points... But, honestly, I wouldn't be posting about it if we weren't actually happy with them.)
(VOIP is Voice Over Internet Protocal, where you use your internet connection for your phone service. Sometimes, that means you use a computer program and a headset. In this case, it means using your regular phone but plugging it into a device plugged into your modem instead of a wall jack.)
Compromise, then: If you're interested, check under the cut. US residents with a stable high-speed connection only. (If you want to test your connection for VOIP compatability, you can use this java program to run a simulation.)
The company we're using is Sunrocket. I chose them after doing research on a bunch of sites, including Cnet, Wikipedia, Epinions, and Consumer Reports.
So far, we've been pretty happy. Voice quality has been a little variable, but, as far as I can tell, that's our connection. We'd have the same trouble with any VOIP service. Most calls have been just fine. It's like a cell phone, really. Sometimes, you get a crystal clear connection. Sometimes there's a bit of static or something. Sometimes there are bigger problems, but they're rare.
We did have some trouble getting the system working. The equipment itself was easy, but they were having network problems the day we set it up. They got that fixed very quickly, though, and the support agent promised that he'd never seen it happen before. It hasn't happened again since.
We've also had some issues with the cable connection. Every once in a while, the entire connection would drop while we were making calls. Not just the call. The internet connection. I had to power cycle the cable modem to get everything up and running again.
It was discouraging. I thought we were going to have to cancel the service.
Sunrocket's customer service, however, has been really good. I've had little trouble getting through to a tech, and the techs I've spoken with have all been friendly and helpful. They took me through a few troubleshooting steps (first enabling MAC address cloning, so that the VOIP box would not appear as a seperate entity to the cable company and then limiting the upstream bandwidth).
Since then, everything's been fine.
You're probably wondering, though, why it all seemed worth the trouble. Slightly less reliable voice/call quality, all those calls to tech support, etc.
Mostly, it's the money. Sunrocket charges $199 per year for their plan. Everything you could want is included in that. There's no charge for the equipment. There's no charge for shipping the equipment. There are no taxes or fees. You get unlimited calling to the US and Canada. Calls to most well-developed/westernized countries (Western Europe, Israel, Japan, etc) are 3 cents a minute, and you get good rates to most other countries. Not only that, but there's a $3/month credit for international calls, which means you get up to 100 minutes a month free.
In short, unlimited phone service with good international rates and good customer service for about $17/month. Compared to the unlimited calling plan we had with AT&T ($60/month), we're saving over $500/year.
We lucked out even further. As I was doing research, I noticed that they had a sale going on. Buy the first year, get the second free. That's over with now (it expired mere hours after we placed our order), but it made the deal for us even sweeter.
They go out of the way to make sure you're willing to try it, too. There's a 31 day trial period. You don't like it for any reason, return the equipment and pay nothing. After that, if you decide to cancel service, you still get a full refund (minus the months of service you've used).
It comes with all the usual VOIP calling features, too. Call waiting, call forwarding, voicemail (which you can retrieve from any phone or through their website), etc etc. And it's one of the few companies that's E911 compatible.
It's still a good idea to keep a traditional landline (or at the very least a cell phone) available. E911 isn't as good as regular 911 service, and VOIP service won't work if there's a blackout or a cable outage or something. You also only get one phone jack. Easily overcome with a multi-handset portable phone system, but it is still a drawback.
Oh, and Sunrocket service isn't (yet) compatable with "soft phones." You can still have Skype or something on top of their service, but you can't make and recieve calls through your laptop unless you take the Gizmo (their name for their equipment) with you.
All in all, it's not perfect, but it works well and it's a darned good deal.
If you are interested, let me know. I've got a coupon code. It'll get you three months free. (And, coincidentally, get us referral points... But, honestly, I wouldn't be posting about it if we weren't actually happy with them.)