| gabriel rosenkoetter on 12 Jul 2004 23:56:02 -0000 |
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I thought we already had a thread about VoIP (I say "voyp" or "voice over IP" depending on how much of a hurry I'm in) services, but maybe that was the Swarthmore (College) LUG mailing list. I'm a Vonage subscriber, and I'm quite happy with it. It's the same service you could pay Verizon for but for half the cost, which I like since I was paying for SDSL either way, so I don't need to have a regular phone. I've a couple of friends with Packet8 service, and their equally content. I don't understand what the concern over 911 is. With Vonage, you have to actively state that you want it, and your call goes to an emergency services dispatcher rather than 911 (the main difference being that they don't know your address based on your phone number), and I understand why this would be a concern in the "maked intruder in home" context, but I'd much rather have my privacy. You have to actively ask for the phone number to be listed with VoIP, and I've had zero sales calls since switching over. What's more, you can pick up the router box and take it with you to any IP connection (with sufficient bandwidth) in order to take your home phone along (on vacation, when visiting out of town family, whatever). One of my Packet8-using friends, who is a network infrastructure consultant, recently spent about a month with his parents-in-law (and wife), taking his Packet8 phone box along. He was able to function as if he were working from his home office. I think those suggesting that you must still have a land line are being silly. Many people get along just fine with only a cell phone these days. Land lines are on the way out, and it's not that much to be scared over. -- gabriel rosenkoetter gr@eclipsed.net Attachment:
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