Anyone using VOIP for phone?

[trof]

How's that work?
Thanks.

[MineralMan]

1. Most of the time it works OK, except when it doesn't.

When it doesn't, it doesn't work at all.

The one thing about having an old POTS line is that your phone works, usually even when the power is out. I keep one old-fashioned desk phone plugged into the POTS line at all times. We have a 5-station cordless system, but if the power fails, it doesn't work. We also have a VOIP phone line that my wife uses as her business number. It doesn't work during power failures, either. Usually the cell phones work when the power's out, unless the failure is a widespread one. The POTS line with the old 1980s phone plugged in? It always works. It has never not worked.

That's why I keep a POTS line.

[trof]

4. Had to look up POTS.

Thanks.

[Anon-C]

2. If you have a stable broadband internet connection with decent bandwidth, you are good.

If that VOIP phone is going to be your life-line phone, make sure it and your broadband modem have a battery backup in case of power outages.

[trof]

6. Battery backup. Good point.

Thanks.

[MineralMan]

7. You should always maintain a back-up.

Cell services is OK, but an old-fashioned POTS line is the best backup. Often, you can obtain something called "lifeline" service for it for a low rate. I especially recommend that for seniors, who may need access to phone service at any time.

[WeekiWater]

3. I went to it for a short period of time.

I did not like it. I was in an area with old and failing equipment and that was a big part of the problem. They aggressively sold this service in an area where they couldn’t provide service. Don’t think because your internet seems pretty reliable that it is reliable for the use of VOIP. To make sure if it’s good in your area it’s often as easy as talking to your neighbors about it. My dumbass didn’t do that and I found out arter the fact that two of my neighbors I’m friends with had the same problem before I even tried it. None of us have it anymore. I don’t know what it is like in areas with a better infrastructure in place.

[NutmegYankee]

5. Many were forced to use them. The telecom shut down the old system.

They work fine, though you need a battery pack to keep the modem online when power is lost. Those on vdsl systems still have service after a power outage because the vrad boxes have batteries. Cable on the other hand...

[TreasonousBastard]

8. I had a Skype phone for a while, and it worked well, but Microsoft stopped...

supporting the gadget that made it work.

I suppose I could still call someone from my computer if I needed to, but they had this nifty little thing you plugged into your phone and a network cable. Kinda like the Magic Jack gadget.

The cable company gives me cheap phone service, and there's the cellphone. With no long distance charges, there's little reason but some small savings to go VOIP because the voice quality isn't always so hot. If it works internationally, that could be a big reason to use it.

Sign up for a free Skype account and see how you like it.

[dembotoz]

9. u get what you pay for...not all voip created equal

it IS what you will have in the future

[Roland99]

10. NetTalk. Like $40-50 for the year!

And simply just to have a phone number to use for online or other things so I don’t get calls to my cell

[Hokie]

11. I have been using Google Voice with an Obihai 200 for over a year

It works fine for me. It cost about $75 for the Obihai 200 box and a wireless dongle. I just plug in the base unit of my cordless phones into the Obihai. I picked a local number on Google Voice. Google Voice is free. The reliability and voice quality are fairly good. I think a few companies might block calls from Google Voice numbers but I have encountered that only rarely. If I cannot get through I just use a cell phone.

Google sends me an email and a text message if I receive a voice mail. It even does voice to text and it's actually usually accurate. The caller ID could be better. It gives the number but not the party's name.

Google Voice does not include 911 calling so beware of that. You can add 911 calling using a paid addon service for about $30 per year or less. I figure we can use our cell phones for that.

I recommended the Obihai to a friend who moved and he has been happy with it too. My brother uses Ooma and he likes it.

I forgot to mention I have good internet service. It is via fiber and it's 100 MB down and 50 up. I have a UPS (uninterruptible power supply) on my router and modem and one phone that works using only phone line power for use during a power outage.

[Guppy]

12. I had two landlines

and moved and went with one voip and one landline. Voip has become quite good but any outage takes them down. As we all know the internet goes down and with that your voip goes down. I kept one landline just like mineral man did and did it for the same reason.

The biggest hassle was getting the landline installed. AT&T did not want to do it. It took me a month to get it in.

[trof]

13. Well, here's the deal...

I'm looking at cutting the 'cable'.
I get phone, internet and Dish from Centurylink for $200/mo.
Dish alone is $100.

With a Roku stick and a $40/mo. subscription to youtube tv, I'm getting all the channels I like and then some. youtube tv even has unlimited cloud dvr.

Thinking about cutting phone line too and going cell and VOIP.

Can get internet only for $45/mo.

[shanti]

14. That's what

I did for my elderly mother. She'd had cable Direct TV, internet and a landline bundled for over 20 years, and it was costing her around $250 a month. Mom only watches about 3 channels, it made no sense to keep the bundle, so my brother and I pretty much spent a day untangling everything. We settled with an inexpensive pay as you go flip phone instead of the landline, DirectvNow (streaming), and kept the internet. She pays around $100 a month for everything now.

Instead of a landline, I bought a cordless phone for myself and got Google Voice. It's free and I can use it for a number that's other than my cellphone. It never rings either, lol.

[KT2000]

15. Works fine for me

I am using Ooma and it is $5 a month - after the cost of purchase for the device. The plan is to get rid of all landline phones and everyone will have to go to VOIP and/or cell. Century Link stopped upgrading a block from my house so we all use cable for internet now.

[Bayard]

16. I have Vonage

For my home office. I hate when it goes down, sometimes for hours, because it puts me out of business during that time. But I'm stuck with it now. That number is plastered on all of my business correspondence, webpage, etc. Too much hassle to change all that.

[csziggy]

17. Having been through numerous hurricanes, I will always have a landline

Even the landline had problems after Hermine and Michael - even though Michael was not a direct hit here. But the power grid was so messed up it took nearly a week to get power back to the phone company's big box on the corner of our road - and the generator they had on it kept running out of fuel. This was east of Tallahassee, well out of the path of the eye of Michael

In the Panama City area many of the cell towers were out (and down) and in many areas the phone lines and cable lines were above ground on the power poles. On Thanksgiving days crews were out trying to restore telephone and cable service to many parts of PC - and that was still away from the worst damage from Michael.

On the other hand, as long as the phone company box had power, we had a landline that worked. Internet and CenturyLink's Prism TV were another matter since the unstable power from the portable generator kept frying circuit boards.

Besides, we get no usable cell signal inside our house, even on a good day so I keep my landline for very practical reasons!