Any recommendations re: economy internet phone service- Vo..

Archived from groups: comp.dcom.voice-over-ip (More info?)

anna <annabaum100@yahoo.com> wrote:
> Any recommendations re: economy internet phone service- Vonage / Skype?
>
> I have heard of Vonage, Skype etc?
> Which is most economical?

They have very different pricing models. Vonage is based on a higher monthly
fee that includes a base number of minutes (or, depending on the plan,
"unlimited" minutes), whereas Skype is pay-as-you-go.

Also, Vonage uses normal telephones, while Skype uses your computer.

And you cannot receive calls from normal phones with Skype - you need to
keep a regular phone line as well.

Another one to look at is Broadvoice, which has a wider range of plans than
Vonage but still lets you use a normal phone.

> We make between 6 and 12 hours of long distance calls per month.(mostly US)

At 3 cents a minute, 6 hours would cost you about $11 a la carte. 12 hours
would cost you $22. So a plan that cost much more than the average (say,
$16) would of course not be economical in your case.

miguel
--
Hit The Road! Photos from 35 countries on 5 continents: http://travel.u.nu

Archived from groups: comp.dcom.voice-over-ip (More info?)

Miguel Cruz wrote:

> anna <annabaum100@yahoo.com> wrote:
>
>>Any recommendations re: economy internet phone service- Vonage / Skype?
>>
>>I have heard of Vonage, Skype etc?
>>Which is most economical?
>
>
> They have very different pricing models. Vonage is based on a higher monthly
> fee that includes a base number of minutes (or, depending on the plan,
> "unlimited" minutes), whereas Skype is pay-as-you-go.
>
> Also, Vonage uses normal telephones, while Skype uses your computer.
>
> And you cannot receive calls from normal phones with Skype - you need to
> keep a regular phone line as well.
>
> Another one to look at is Broadvoice, which has a wider range of plans than
> Vonage but still lets you use a normal phone.
>
>
>>We make between 6 and 12 hours of long distance calls per month.(mostly US)
>
>
> At 3 cents a minute, 6 hours would cost you about $11 a la carte. 12 hours
> would cost you $22. So a plan that cost much more than the average (say,
> $16) would of course not be economical in your case.
>
> miguel

There's also VoiceWing and CallVantage, which is a flat fee with
unlimited long distance!

Archived from groups: comp.dcom.voice-over-ip (More info?)

Wolfgang S. Rupprecht wrote:

> mnc@admin.u.nu (Miguel Cruz) writes:
>
>>At 3 cents a minute, 6 hours would cost you about $11 a la carte. 12 hours
>>would cost you $22. So a plan that cost much more than the average (say,
>>$16) would of course not be economical in your case.
>
>
> And 3 cents/minute is already kind of high. Heck, you can get POTS
> long distance for 2.75 cents/min from ECG.
>
> There are quite a few places offering 2 cents/minute, and one or two
> offering 1-cent-and-change. (off the top of my head gafachi and
> nufone are 2cents, simple telecom is 1.7 is cents.) The important
> thing to look for is folks that don't want you to buy a locked-up ATA
> or phone that you can only use with them.
>
> In my opinion, the best low cost, true voip, phone is the Grandstream
> Bugetone 101 for ~$70. (While the sipura-841 for ~$85 has a much
> nicer LCD, the sound quality just isn't there.)
>
> -wolfgang

Does the "VoIP Phone" you speak of include the TA (telephone adapter or
the ATA , analog telephone adapter) ? - RM

Archived from groups: comp.dcom.voice-over-ip (More info?)

Miguel Cruz wrote:
> Rick Merrill <RickMerrill@comcastTHROW.net> wrote:
>
>>Wolfgang S. Rupprecht wrote:
>>
>>>In my opinion, the best low cost, true voip, phone is the Grandstream
>>>Bugetone 101 for ~$70. (While the sipura-841 for ~$85 has a much
>>>nicer LCD, the sound quality just isn't there.)
>>
>>Does the "VoIP Phone" you speak of include the TA (telephone adapter or
>>the ATA , analog telephone adapter) ? - RM
>
>
> They are complete devices - basically, physical telephones with ethernet
> ports.
>
> www.grandstream.com
>
> miguel

So can you plug them into your LAN and make calls to one another? What
happens if one user is transfering large files from one computer to
another? (i.e. how is QoS (quality of service) maintained?) -- RM

Archived from groups: comp.dcom.voice-over-ip (More info?)

If you'd prefer a non-voip, toll-grade LD provider at a mere 2½¢ per
minute total (US-Domestic), with no fees, no connect charges, no
membership, no lost/unused minutes and NO TAXES, you might want to look
into One Suite <http://www.onesuite.com>


In article <1107710135.771870.217940@z14g2000cwz.googlegroups.com> "anna"
<annabaum100@yahoo.com> writes:

>Any recommendations re: economy internet phone service- Vonage / Skype
>?
>
>I have heard of Vonage, Skype etc ?
>Which is most economical ?
>
>We make between 6 and 12 hours of long distance calls per month.(mostly
>US)
>
>What service/plan is best for us ?
>
>Any companies to avoid ?
>Are all calls equally clear ? in terms of static ?
>
>Also what headsets do to get. Would like to get a headset/phone that
>gives clear reception. Prefer to avoid the static on the line.
>
>Any help would be highly appreciated.
>
>Thanks
>Anna

Archived from groups: comp.dcom.voice-over-ip (More info?)

Wolfgang S. Rupprecht wrote:
> Rick Merrill <RickMerrill@comcastTHROW.net> writes:
>> Does the "VoIP Phone" you speak of include the TA (telephone
>> adapter or the ATA , analog telephone adapter) ? - RM
>
> It is like a normal phone but instead of an rj11 for your 2-wire
> analog phone signal it has an rj-45 that you plug into an ethernet
> jack.
>
> http://www.grandstream.com/y-bt100.htm
>
> The advantage over one of those ATA's is you can get better sound
> quality. Talking between a pair of true IP phones quiet and clean
> with no far-side echo.
>
> -wolfgang

I use an ATA-486 from the same company and so far the call quality has
been excellent. I have had 15+ minute conversations with friends in the US
that are indistinguishable from normal landlines in terms of quality.

The advantage over the phone you mention is I can plug any analogue phone
into it, such as a cordless handset. I can also plug a normal answering
machine or a fax machine in and use it as normal.

Ivor

Archived from groups: comp.dcom.voice-over-ip (More info?)

"Ivor Jones" <ivor@despammed.invalid> writes:
> The advantage over the phone you mention is I can plug any analogue phone
> into it, such as a cordless handset. I can also plug a normal answering
> machine or a fax machine in and use it as normal.

The down side is that you end of having two ratty-old telephone hybrid
transformers in series with hour audio path (one in the phone and one
in the ata). Each of them introduces a bit of echo and distortion.
With a voip phone you can eliminated all that.

-wolfgang
--
Wolfgang S. Rupprecht http://www.wsrcc.com/wolfgang/
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