Vonage Voip Voice Over Internet Phone By halcammom on - Updated Oct 15, 2011
For a few years, we did without regular phone service and only used cellular phones. At times, we found it inconvenient, especially when a tower was not working. When we moved, we opted for Vonage VOIP, which stands for Voice Over Internet Phone. The price of Vonage is what attracted me to this service. For $24.99 plus tax per month, you get unlimited free long distance to anywhere in the United States, France, United Kingdom, or Italy. You can call any Vonage customer anywhere in the world and also pay no additional fee. If you call China, Sweden or selected cities in other countries, you can get rates for only .01. Where else can you get rates so cheap?
In order to use Vonage, you must have digital internet service. You will be sent a Vonage router that connects to your digital modem. Setup is simple and only takes a few minutes.
Voicemail is included with your Vonage Service. Everytime someone leaves you a voicemail, you are sent an email notifying you. You can then click the link in the email and listen to your message right there on the computer. This is great for checking you voicemail while you are out of town! You can also view your calls on their website allowing you to see if someone is calling you without leaving a message. Of course, you could check that with caller ID available on most phones, but not while out of town!
We were also able to get a security system routed through our Vonage system (another carrier, not serviced by Vonage). I was always under the impression that you had to have a landline phone to have a security system but I was wrong.
I do have a couple of issues with Vonage. It is not always 100% reliable. First, because it uses your digital internet to work, Vonage will NOT work if the electricity if out or if your digital internet is down. Also, when there are storms in the area, the reception sometimes has static. On a few occasions, the person on the other end could not hear me even though I could hear them. Still haven't figured that one out!
Overall, I am happy with Vonage. The price is great and fits my budget!
About The Author:
Vonage Voice Over Internet Phone Purchased at: Vonage Price: 24.99/mo
We have Vonage too and I have never had any problems with the sound or quality but I have had times when the power has been out or my cable provider was down for some reason and I was without service which was inconvient.
The reliability issue is what I am most skeptical about with these services. Thanks.
Like you I use my cell phone for long distance and it isn't alway convenient. I have heard of vontage but wasn't sure how it worked. Thanks for the great information! It really helped.
This doesn't sound bad as long as you would have a cell phone for backup. I have heard, as you said, that Vonage can be unreliable.
Good summary of the services. thanks for the information.
I like that you get an email when you have a message. I think that would be very helpful when you are on vacation !
The oine time you might need a phone and it might not work is a bit of a drawback. Price is right though. Can you only talk to other vonage customers or to anyone?
Yeah if it went out that would really start to annoy me. I do like that you get emails though.
I think that these are so iffy... I work as a 911 operator and these rarely give the correct address. I would be very careful.