I keep looking over the Vonage phone plans, and I keep wondering if it’s as fantastic as it sounds. Anyone out there have it? Have any feedback on it?
It would cut our phone bill almost in half, and if we went with the top of the line plan we would have unlimited long distance. Very tempting…
11 replies on “Got Vonage?”
funny, i just read this in the boston globe today: http://www.boston.com/business/technology/articles/2004/09/13/is_this_call_for_you/
I have it and I’m pretty happy with it.
Our neighbors have a VOIP (not Vonage, I think it’s the cable co.) – she says it’s good, economical – every once in a while, a slight delay while talking, but nothing big. As her neighbor, my complaint is – every call I make to her is a toll call. She lives 5 houses away! She said all of the parents of her kids friends have complained about that too. So, check that out before you commit!
How ’bout a cell plan and get rid of your landline? Is that an option for you? Good luck!
Oh, another thought that is a little painful, but very thrifty – I use one of those MCI phone cards. You can get them at your local Sam’s Club, BJ’s, Costco, etc. – 670 minutes for $20. Yes, it’s a little bit of a pain to dial the numbers, etc., but boy is it cheap! And rechargeable too – and now that I’ve had the same card for a while, I’ve memorized the numbers …
I would make sure we still had the same number, so it wouldn’t be long distance for anyone. I was also considering getting a second number, one with a 713 area code, to guarantee that calls from downtown or the south side of town are not toll calls. (It’s an extra $5 a month, but that still makes it cheaper than our current phone bill.)
Since I have free long distance on my cell phone, I never use my home line, but I keep it anyway for emergencies. As a kid who grew up in Houston and in Hurricane country, I know that in times of flood and disaster, that even if the electricity is out, most of the time, the phone line still works along with one of those basic corded phones (remember those? I keep one in the closet).
Plus, I’ve had times when my internet access has died and I’ve been forced to use the landline and modem to dial out to work while I’m on call.
The Vonage phone and its kind depend on too many other things (internet connection, electricity) to make it a good substitute from my land line.
If you have a headset/microphone you can trial for free the same service (vonage is one of many SIP phone providers) by going to sipphone.com, downolading the software and signing up for a number. It’s free for incoming calls, although there probably isn’t a local number for you to test with. I tried it, then tried Vonage (and just tried AT&T callvantage as well) and I like the conference capabilities, voicemail to email, and follow-me services, and the fact that I can travel from office to office and my phone number comes with me automagically.
and someday I’ll remember to close my href tag….sorry!
Edited: It’s ok, WP closed it for you, and I fixed it! – Ch
RE: Vonage, it took about 6 weeks to get my number transferred from my old phone company to Vonage but Vonage was responsive and kept deducting from my bill until the service took effect. It does take a little motivation to set up the router etc… but not much more than hooking up DSL etc… Great customer service. Great online dash board to track your account and calls and who can beat 34 bucks unlimited local and long distance. Additionally their international rates are comparable to domestic long distance with ATT, Verizon etc… Go for it.
we have vonage & love it. we have a local number–you can even get numbers local to relatives in other places for an extra $5/month i think. as far as reliability goes, you can have it automatically forward to another phone (like your cell phone, for example) if your internet connection does go down. my husband works from home, and it is nice to be able to bring the phone with us on our long trips to visit the in-laws and he can just set up shop at their house… it confuses the hell out of everybody–they dial the regular number and get us up in NJ…
Thanks, I really enjoyed your blog.