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The Best VoIP Internet Phone Service Providers for the Money

Packet8 Internet Phone Service

Packet 8 Review and 8X8 Company Information

Packet8 internet phone service is one of the best VoIP service providers in the United States and Canada. They are owned by 8X8, Inc., which is a U.S. company located in Santa Clara, CA. In business since 1987, 8X8 has made a significant contribution to the development and advancement of broadband phone technology.

VoIP (voice over internet protocol) phone service made its public debut in 1995, and 8X8 introduced Packet8 broadband phone service for residential use in 2002. In 2004, Packet8 introduced internet phone service for small to medium businesses, and was also the first VoIP provider to deliver video phone service. Using technologies that they have developed and patented themselves, Packet8 has become one of today’s best VoIP providers in terms of service, reliability, and market share.

Packet8 Internet Phone Service - summary of plans and features

Offering unlimited local and long distance service within the US and Canada for $24.95 per month, Packet8 is one of the most competitive internet phone service providers in the USA.  For the absolute best value for the money, consider the Packet 8 unlimited annual plan for only $199 a year.  The $199 fee has to be paid up front, but at this price you're getting unlimited calling for less than $17 a month + about $5 a month for taxes and fees. 

For those who make occasional international calls, their international long distance rates are extremely competitive.  Their unlimited international calling plan provides anytime calling to 40 countries as well as long distance within the US and Canada for one low price of $49.99 per month!  Most countries in Europe and Asia are included, as well as Mexico and Latin America.  For people with friends and relatives overseas, Packet8' unlimited global calling is a real money saver! 

Packet8 is the first VoIP company to offer a Videophone Plan, and even has their own video phone telephone that works seamlessly with the service.  Talk to anyone in the world with Packet8 video telephone and you can see each other too!  For home offices and small businesses, Packet8 offers a super Business VoIP Plan.  Packet8 "Virtual Office" is like having a full featured PBX system at your disposal without the high cost and hassle of using PBX.  With Virtual Office, even the smallest businesses can have all the features and benefits of a big company telephone system at a small fraction of the cost.  By switching to broadband phone service, small businesses can easily save thousands of dollars per year on telephone bills.

Great features like voicemail, voicemail to email, call forwarding, call waiting, caller ID, caller ID with name, call return, and call blocking are available for free; and this is just a small sampling of the free features they give you! Packet8 is continually adding service enhancements and new features, all designed to work seamlessly with their own Uniden whole house phone system as well as their videophone.

Further enhancements planned for 2006 is a new soft phone service called Packet8 Softalk. A soft phone is a PC-based telephone; most of the larger VoIP carriers are now offering softphone service due to the huge popularity of the service that Skype is now famous for.

Packet8 vs. Vonage, AT&T, and Cable Telephone Service

Packet 8’s main competitors are Vonage, Voip.com and VoIP service offered by local cable television providers.

• At $24.99 per month for Vonage unlimited residential service and $29.99 per month for unlimited local and long distance calling with AT&T, Packet8 is very competitive when it comes to price. As far as quality of service goes, Packet8, Vonage and AT&T are all known for excellent call quality as well as technical support. 
• Unlimited internet phone service offered by cable companies is currently averaging around $40 per month, depending on the cable provider. Cable VoIP is definitely NOT the way to go if you want broadband phone.  Why pay double the price for the same service?

All these VoIP carriers offer similar free features and unlimited local and long distance within the USA and Canada.

Vonage now includes free calls to Italy, France, Spain, UK and Ireland in their unlimited plan, which makes this service the better buy if you often call these countries. BUT...... 

Vonage May Be in For Hard Financial Times

According to a June 19, 2006 article in EWeek - Vonage Hit by Verizon Patent Lawsuit, it appears that Vonage is in for some rough financial times. In addition to being accused of patent infringement by Verizon Communications, their stock price dropped 44% since their May 2006 IPO price of $17 per share. Vonage recently acknowledged that they may never turn a profit, partially due to the huge amounts of money they have spent on advertising. 

Since telephone service is critically important to households as well as businesses, it's important to consider a companies financial strength when choosing a VoIP provider.  No one wants to suffer with the problems of bad quality, unavailable technical support and poor customer service that often result when a company starts losing profitability.

Best VoIP Providers for Home and Business