It used to be that anyone who wanted to place long distance phones calls to family or friends had to sign up with a long distance phone company. This service did allow us to place long distance calls but often brought with it very high per minute costs, making long distance calls an expensive proposition. It was a great relief, therefore, when the advent of cell phone service brought great change.
Cell phone plans gave us access to a certain number of call minutes for a set price plus, usually, free nationwide long distance on evenings and weekends. Of course, they also had disadvantages such as sometimes spotty service areas, dropped calls and, all too often, bad reception. Now VOIP is bringing us yet another option for long distance service, promising greater convenience and freedom. We can even consider combining cell phones and VOIP technology. Can these promises be fulfilled?
There are three types of VOIP service usually offered: computer to computer, IP phone and ATA. These services are all offered through your own computer at home. The simplest, perhaps, is the ATA (analog telephone adapter) mode, which allows you to use your existing home phone. You simply connect that phone to your computer and the VOIP service converts analog sound into digital data and vice versa. IP (Internet Protocol) service uses specially designed phones. These phones look like a regular phone but are set up internally to be VOIP compatible. IP phones can be cordless, giving you the convenience of moving freely through your home or office as you speak.
The most unusual option is computer to computer VOIP. For this your provider will give you special software to install on your computer. Long distance calls are placed directly from the computer. Instead of a phone handset you use a microphone attached to the computer to speak. All of these services can be useful and convenient but none offer the total portability of cell phones. Now the concept of VOIP cell phones is causing some excitement, offering a combination of appealing features with low cost long distance and portability.
Most people turn to VOIP because of the savings available. Normal VOIP service offers a great combination of features such as Caller ID, Call Waiting, 3 way Calling, free domestic calls and extremely inexpensive international calling rates. For all this you will normally be charged from $19.95 to $34.95. An additional charge, of course, is for your ISP which probably runs about $40 monthly for broadband access. Even ISP and VOIP together is still likely to be cheaper, however, than continuing with a conventional phone company. This may not be true, however, if you also change your cell phone to VOIP.
VOIP cell phone plans usually have both a per minute and a monthly fee. Someone who does not currently use all their allotted minutes in the plan they have will probably not realize any savings by switching to VOIP cell phone service. And if your Internet connection is frequently interrupted you will also experience the dropped calls that can sometimes plague traditional cell phones. Still, for someone with reliable Internet service who frequently makes international calls from their cell phone or exceeds their traditional plan minutes, VOIP cell phone service can be a great alternative.
Obviously, for some people VOIP is, even now, a great solution. All your services can be bundled into one communications package and the technology, while still young, is improving all the time. If you are constantly going over your minutes and/or make international calls from your cell phone it would make sense for you to consider a reasonably priced VOIP plan. If you don t need more minutes and don t make international calls then it probably makes more sense to wait while the technology improves and the service becomes even better.
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