For the last 3 years I've used nothing but a cell phone. Paying $30 a month for a landline didn't seem worth it anymore. When I called to cancel the person from the phone company tried every trick in the book to have be stay with them. They said I needed a landline for emergencies. When the power goes out there's a possibility my cell phone won't work. I've never tested my cell phone during a massive power outage. Notwithstanding, there are some cell towers that have independent backup power supplies. At any rate, I canceled my land line and haven't thought much of it. Things have been fine.
In the last month I've had a landline installed in my home. The most bare bone package they offered was a basic local package for $13 a month. This didn't seem like much and it would be nice to use a real phone every once in a while. When the bill finally came it came to almost $30 dollars. Taxes, fees, and extra taxes more then doubled the initial $13 price tag I agreed to. After going three years without a landline I want to cut them off again. Not only did they sell my new phone number to every telemarketer on the planet they've also charged me a lot of extra fees.
To make things even more exciting I'm going to turn off my cell phone in a couple months as well. I'm done spending an extra hundred dollars a month for poor service and unnecessary taxes.
After some research I found a lot of viable alternatives. The clear direction for getting low cost and/or free phone service is by using Voice over IP or VoIP phone services. With unlimited long distance even the most expensive VoIP phone providers are cheap compared to local phone providers. Further research uncovered some interesting considerations for each VoIP plan.
1 - Cost of additional hardware. With many VoIP services additional hardware is absolutely required to work. There are some VoIP services that still work but aren't really practical without additional hardware. Before you make your final decision consider the complete cost of startup. Many times there are rebates on much of the hardware or special phones that wipe out almost all the cost of starting up.
2 - Will 911 work? This was a big deal when VoIP services first started. In fact, there is still a concern that 911 might not work with your VoIP phone service. For the most part this issue has been resolved through an additional registration process. There are exceptions to this so make sure check with your top VoIP candidate.
3 - Will you be calling internationally or just nationwide? Some companies provide credits for international calls and others just include some countries. Many times Canada is automatically free while Europe and Asian countries cost per minute. Before you make your decision make sure your providers offering matches how you'll be using your phone.
4 - Can you call regular phones with the service. Sometime it costs extra to call "regular" phones.
5 - Is software installation required on each computer you use the service with. Some providers don't require any software because it's built into the hardware where others require software being installed on the computer.
6 - Does the VoIP system require a running computer to work? Some VoIP systems don't require a computer at all. Instead they plug directly into a modem.
7 - How easy it to get out of a contract or commitment. The transparency and power of the internet has given more power to consumers. You shouldn't have to deal with contracts or unrealistic agreements when working with internet phone services.
8 - What freebies are included. You might be surprised on what is included when you sign up. Keep a keen eye out and read forums and blogs for reviews of specific VoIP services.
