How VoIP Internet Phone Service Saves You Money
Broadband phone service can typically save residential and business
users up to 80% on the cost of phone bills, depending on the type of
service and calling features currently used with traditional PSTN (public
switched telephone network) service (also known as a "land line" phone).
The cost of traditional land line phone service
Telephone companies like Bell South, Verizon, AT&T, Northeast, etc...
normally charge at least $30 per month just for basic calling.
Subscribers who want to expand their local service into a wider part of
the region often opt for "expanded" or "extended" service plans, which can
add another $15- $20 on to the cost of a dial tone. Add on a few
convenient features like voicemail, call waiting and caller ID and the
monthly cost of phone service is likely to be around $50 to $60 per month.
Users who make long distance calls easily see phone bills in the $80 to
$120 range on a monthly basis.
The cost of Internet Phone Service
With most VoIP (voice over internet protocol) phone service plans,
local and long distance calling is unlimited, thus totally eliminating
additional charges for long distance calls. "A La Carte" calling
features that you pay extra for with land line service are included free
with broadband phone service. This means that users get all the
extras like voicemail, caller ID, call waiting, three way conference
calling, call forwarding, call blocking, etc... for no extra money.
VoIP service providers charge anywhere from $17 (VoIP.com) to $40 (cable companies) per month for internet phone service, thereby
instantly reducing most consumer's phone bills by up to $100 per month or
more.
A broadband internet connection is required for VoIP however, which can
cost between $20 to $40 per month depending on the area you live in.
Even adding this cost into the savings calculation, most VoIP users see
monthly savings of $40 to $60 per month or more, depending on long
distance usage and cost of land line service, which varies. High
speed internet (broadband) is much cheaper today than it used to be, with
service in many areas costing only a few dollars more than dial-up.
For those who are still using dial-up internet service,
check your broadband choices before signing up with a local provider
and you may find an even cheaper service.
Because internet phone service utilizes the world wide web as it's
"telecommunications superhighway", and everything about VoIP is digitally
via the internet - internet phone service is cheap and efficient.
VoIP quality of service is excellent as long as you stick with a
well-known, reputable internet phone service provider like
VoIP.com, Lingo, Vonage
or Packet8.
Other high quality VoIP providers worthy of consideration are
Opex and
FonVantage.
Best type of Broadband for VoIP
Cable internet or T-1 is best for VoIP, because of the higher bandwidth and
also (most importantly for the most savings) because cable
internet or T-1 service will totally eliminate the need for traditional phone service.
Most users who subscribe to internet phone service have their POTS line
(plain old telephone service) disconnected entirely, using VoIP for
primary home or business phone service. The only way to do this is
to take the phone company completely out of the picture.
The type of broadband sold by phone companies is called DSL (or ADSL),
which is high speed internet over telephone lines. Although VoIP
works well over DSL, you normally have to keep your land line phone
service in order to have the DSL (crazy isn't it - phone companies
are missing the boat here). Most phone companies will not let you
disconnect your telephone service and have only DSL service on
their line. They require you to pay for an expensive dial tone
(that you won't need) in addition to the internet fee.
Many people with satellite internet (Dish Network, DirecTV, etc...)
are interested in getting internet phone service. VoIP over
satellite internet is not recommended due to the latency issues
regarding satellite internet signaling. Because the data signals are
not consistent, call quality of broadband phone service over satellite is
not that great. The sound will most likely be choppy and have a
"delay" to it.
Broadband Choices - Cable is not necessarily the cheapest or best
If you want to get internet phone service but do not yet have cable or
T-1 type broadband, check around before ordering high speed internet
directly from the cable company. Cable companies generally charge
the highest fees and in many cities there are other (less expensive)
options. A good place to quickly check to see what your local
options are for broadband service is via
Broadband National or
LaunchNet.
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Best VoIP Providers for Home and Business |
