LAW OFFICE COMPUTING
December 2005

Winton Woods

I promised a few months ago that I would give you more information about the way I use the voice over Internet protocol (VOIP) service from Vonage. Since that time, there have been a number of improvements in both Vonage and some of the other competitors such as Verizon and ATT.

What is VOIP?

First let me explain what voice over Internet protocol is. In simplest terms, it is the process of sending voice over the Internet just as you would send e-mail. Because voice files consume a lot of space you must have a high-speed Internet connection, either DSL or a cable modem, to handle it. About a half a million Arizonans have high speed access to the Internet, and I expect that VOIP will become a very common form of Internet usage in the next few years. There are basically two ways that VOIP can support a voice connection. One of them is a direct computer to computer connection. That requires a microphone and headset on both ends of the conversation. The other is to utilize a service such as Vonage to access the Internet directly without having a computer connection at all. All you need to have to utilize that kind of service is a high speed Internet connection and a small portable box that can hook up a standard telephone to the Internet. I will talk a little bit about both in this article. But since the cost of trying out this service is so low I really recommend that you invest a couple of dollars and see whether or not VOIP can be useful for you. Go to www.Vonage.com for more information.

Vonage and other Providers

The Vonage service costs $14.95 or $24.95 a month. They provide you with the Magic Box that allows you to connect to telephone directly to the Internet and use it like an ordinary telephone. There are several options ranging from free to less than $100. All you do is to run a cable from your high-speed Internet modem to the Magic Box. You then plug your telephone into the Magic Box and you are off and running. The $15 service provides you with 500 anytime minutes a month. You can call any place in the United States or Canada for no charge. Most European and other North American telephones can be reached at a cost of less than $.10 a minute. The person that you call does not have to have a VOIP service because Vonage sends your voice over the Internet to the hardwired telephone service you are calling. The $25 service provides you with unlimited anytime calling, and the same inexpensive per minute charge for international calls. In addition, because Vonage and the other VOIP providers are not regulated by the FCC those substantial surcharges that you receive on your Qwest bill do not occur. The total cost of your telephone service is remarkably inexpensive.

Vonage provides you with a full range of supplemental telephone services at no extra cost. You get voice messaging, call forwarding, and other standard add-on services such as Caller ID, Call Waiting, 3-Way Calling and a lot more, for free! I have my phone set up so that when I am unable to answer a call it forwards my voicemail to the Internet and sends it to me as an email attachment that plays in Windows Media Player. I would pay much more than $25 a month for that service alone. There are some other advantages that are worth considering. The Magic Box contains your telephone number so that wherever you plug it into the Internet you have your home number available to you from the Magic Box. If you're in London, and you have your Magic Box hooked up to a high-speed Internet connection at the hotel all calls to your home number will ring in London. And if you have the rollover to an e-mail attachment feature activated you will either get your phone calls directly or via e-mail. The box is very small and weighs just a few ounces. It does have a power supply that weighs more than the Magic Box itself and of course you have to have a telephone available to plug into it. You can't do it yet, but in a few months Vonage and some of its competitors will offer you a wireless phone that will allow you to utilize VOIP anyplace you can find a wireless Internet connection. In short, this is a service that can dramatically expand your productivity, while at the same time, saving you a lot of money. Go to the Vonage web site and check it out. I guarantee that you will be impressed.

Quality Issues

A few years ago when VOIP first became easily accessible to non-techies the quality left a lot to be desired. Now, I find that my service is absolutely as good and absolutely as reliable as my landline phone. If you think about it for a minute a very large percentage of our telephone time today is spent on a cell phone, and we have learned to tolerate a very low level of quality and lots of call interruptions and disconnects. VOIP quality, at least from the major providers, is far better than a cell phone and far more reliable.

The second bad rap that VOIP got was the lack of a 911 service. That has now been solved, and most of the larger VOIP providers are now able to provide 911 services, at least to the place where the phone service is based. There have been some problems and if 911 capability is critical to your needs you will want to check on the status and functionality of the 911 service on the VOIP system that you choose. Obviously a fully functional 911 service cannot be provided when you are traveling with your Magic Box, anymore than it could when you are traveling with your cell phone. But for me, 911 is not a deal breaker, even if it did not work at all.

There are VOIP options now available from large traditional phone companies that are attempting to break in to this new market. From my investigation Vonage is far better and far cheaper than any of its competitors. You can check out the options www.voipproviderslist.com. If all you want is VOIP service through your computer, it is available for free from an outfit called Skype which was recently purchased by eBay. Skype has just come out with a telephone-like device that plugs directly into your computer through the USB port and allows you to dial calls all over the world for free. Skype doesn't offer the kinds of high-end services that Vonage does, but still, as we used to say in Indiana, free is good. You can check out Skype at www.skype.com.

I think if you try the Vonage service you will want to stick with it. You may not want to give up your landline completely, but VOIP does allow you to have a second and third phone number at minimal cost. And, by the way, Vonage offers a service called “virtual phone number”, which for $4.95 a month gives you a telephone number in any area code that you wish in North America and Great Britain. Do you want to establish a virtual office in San Francisco or London or Mexico City? All you need do is to get an area code number from Vonage and all of your friends and clients who live in that area can call you at no cost. And, you can list those numbers on your business card if you wish. You can have your virtual office in London for only $4.95 a month!
off and running. Don’t leave home without it!!