We made the switch to VOIP almost two years ago and haven’t looked back. At that time, we got our local phone bill for almost $40 with nothing except local calls on it. Taxes were the big killer, but the phone company was charging a pretty penny for their plan as well. We were pretty nervous about switching over to VOIP because it sounded too good to be true. This is one case where it is true!
Voice Over Internet Protocol (VOIP) uses your existing Internet connection to send a compressed digital packet from one port to another. Lost? Simply put, it’s like bundling your calls with other people’s and sharing the cost. No, they don’t get mixed up. The speed is near instant so you won’t tell the difference between a regular phone line and VOIP. Scott has a more extensive explanation over in the Computing blog if you’d like to know the nuts and bolts of it.
I use SunRocket. I know there are a lot of other VOIP companies out there, but we’ve been very pleased with their service. We haven’t had any dropped calls or crossed lines. The only problem is that when we lose power (or Internet), we lose the phone, too. Since we’re in a rural area where it does happen, we have a cell phone that is our backup. It hasn’t been a problem, and the occasional outage is actually a nice break from a phone that seems like it’s always in use. We have friends who are happy with Vonage, but Vonage is more expensive because they advertise a lot more. SunRocket has relied on word of mouth and promotions.
Right now, they have a current promotion going on that gives you “3 Months Free”. That makes it closer to $12 a month. For unlimited domestic calls (and a credit toward international). They’ll also ship you the phones and related equipment. If you are tired of high phone bills, this is a good time to do something about it.