Remember when Al Gore flicked the Internet on and we were all promised free phone service within 6 months? What happened to that? Politicians, I tell ya...when are we going to learn? Fortunately, there are people looking to make good on the promise to rob traditional landline customers form the Baby Bells by exploiting the Interent in order to offer free local and long distance phone service to deprived consumers across the country. Deprived...seriously. While the Baby Bells might argue against the term "deprived," UCAN begs to differ. The amount of competion in the local/long-distance marketplace is laughable. The Bells were broken up because of monopoly-type conditions, but mergers and acquisitions have steadily consolidated market power back into the hands of a select few. A new wave of Internet-exploiting phone companies could help change all that.
You can say that you heard it here first. VoIP is BIG. Is it probably going to become the predominant medium by which people verbally communicate in the next decade, so understand what it is about. Have you heard about Skype? That's VoIP. How about Google Voice, or Yahoo Voice? Or Vonage? Or Magic Jack? Or your cable company's digital phone service. Those are all flavors of VoIP. And coming soon, you'll be able to use your wireless phone to access the Internet and make phone calls via your cell phone without incurring any phone charges. Most savvy users of smart phones can already do this. And you wonder why wireless carriers are planning on changing how they charge for data plans?
VoIP service is provided over the Internet, so local exchanges become irrelevant for the purpose of assigning a phone number. Internet telephone providers are able to assign you a phone number for any area code that you want. In fact, for a nominal charge, customers can receive a VoIP phone number from an area code in any part of the United States, regardless of where they are located.
The prevailing sentiment amongst telecommunications insiders is consistent with my own professional assessment that VoIP will eclipse copper-wire and wireless networks as the primary source of home phone service. You might as well prepare for this “brave new world” of VoIP, because it is only a matter of when – not if.
At this point the quality of VoIP is comparable to wireless -- not great but not ear-twistingly bad. It promises to get better over the coming years, so check it out. We've tested a number of these services and here's our findings, so far.
Google Voice - The "free" price tag makes it pretty attractive. The quality is good but not perfect. Best for customers with high-speed Internet connectivity.
Skype - The "free" price tag makes it also pretty attractive. The quality is good; perhaps on par with Google Voice, although we found Google Voice's integration with the other Google apps made it a better option than Skype. Best for customers with high-speed Internet connectivity.
Magic Jack - This was a bit disappointing. The low upfront cost (appx. $30) caught our attention. But the quality was consistently troublesome and the integrated-whether-you-want-it-or-not-voicemail caused constant headaches for us. Also, the length of calls are limited by Magic Jack; they can't exceed an hour. Not horrible, but we found the other two free services superior in most ways.
Ooma - We were skeptical, especially with the large upfront cost of $199 to buy the interface device. But the quality has been surprising good and the service quite reliable. Moreover, you don't need a computer to use it; it will connect to any phone device. But you do need high-speed internet. With about six months, the device is pretty much paid for, assuming you'd pay $30 per month to Vonage, your cable company or some other VoIP provider. One of the better deals out there if you use your phone a fair amount.
Vonage - We liked Vonage. The quality was decent, although we think Ooma might be a bit better. The biggest problem was its monthly $25.99 + taxes cost. Ooma is a better value proposition, in our mind, if you are willing to pay some money upfront.
All in all, if you are considering buying "digital phone service" from your local cable or landline provider, you should definitely consider these options first. If you use your phone a lot and don't want to sit in front of a computer, Ooma may be worth a look-see. If you don't mind sitting before your computer when you chat, then the free web-based services are a pretty good bet.
Oh, and don't forget that the web-based phone services should be accessible to most smartphones soon. The quality might be a bit rougher than what is offered over high-speed internet service, but with the advent of 4G speed and improved cell infrastructure, using your smartphone for VoIP phone service may be the best option for more sophisticated users.