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Is VoIP the Way to Go?
Howpostsgetratedsuck asks: "My cable operator now offers VoIP local and long distance for one flat rate. Does anyone have any experience with or use a VoIP service provider? What are the pros and cons? What do you give up? Do they provide more than one number for my dedicated fax line? Is it better to just use wireless services for everything and dump the landline pots service altogether? Should I stay "status quo" for a while longer? I use the telephone in my business office for about 90% of my telco anyway."
If you get the option to use some sort of standard like SIP for your
phone, you can set up your own software call distribution system where
some calls ring your phone, some go to voicemail, some get forwarded to
your mobile etc.
When I was at cisco, these sorts of services were the "bet the company
on it products of the future"
The funny thing is, some of the most interesting implementations of
this sort of thing are open source, one of which is vovidia which got bought by cisco
, but is still operating as an open source operation. The guy who
started has been aquired by cisco twice.
We have VOIP Cisco phones at work. I'm sure that there are cost advantages and it's kinda handy to be able to just pick up your phone, go to any Ethernet port, plug it in, and get all of your calls like normal.
But, the sound quality isn't quite as good as our old phones used to have. There are times when it's a bit like a walkie talkie: there's a bit of static before/after the other person starts or finishes talking. The sound quality while talking is generally pretty good though (but not as good as the old phones).
I don't know if your setup requires having new VOIP phones or not, but when I got my new VOIP phone, I needed to also get a new corded headset since my old one doesn't work with the Cisco phone.
Ron
I use Skype's peer-to-peer VoIP service, to talk to my girlfriend, (*Gasp* A slashdotter with a girlfriend! And now, seven angels will play seven trumpets...) and I have to say, if VoIP can reach a broad enough audience to hit critical mass, POTS services are headed the way of the dodo. I mean, why not? You pay for broadband service, and voila, no more long distance bill. All it really needs is a cheap, dedicated box, with a handset, a small keyboard for entering usernames to call, a little LCD screen, and a cheap Nic. If they could sell something like that, I know I'd buy it, and so would pretty much everyone on my friends list. But, what do I know?
Despite millions of years of evolution, human beings, taken as a group, are still stupid, panicky animals.
In the age of cell phones, this may not be an issue for some, but if you plan on replacing your land line with voip over your broadband, what happens when you need to call someone during a power outage? You could setup a UPS, but you probably need to power more than your voip phone. You will need to power your cable modem/dsl modem and possibly some sort of firewall/nat device. A UPS will only buy you 15 minutes to an hour unless you get an expensive unit. I have yet to year a real great solution to this problem. Also, if your power is out, will your dsl/cable even work? Just because your equipment has backup power doesn't mean your cable provider/dsl provider does. Any thoughts?