[1] VoIP or Voice of IP is a great way to lessen your monthly phone bills and long distance calls. That is because you are actually using your high speed internet connection and the Internet to transmit encrypted digital voice data packets instead of your normal analog phone line system. Therefore, you won’t have any charges for incoming or outgoing calls you make.

I have researched the various [1] VoIP companies available (in the USA) and narrowed it down to four: [3] Vonage, [4] Packet8, [5] Sunrocket and [6] Broadvoice. Everyone knows [3] Vonage as they are one of the biggest out there and is shown on TV almost daily (with the classic “Johnny Cash jingle”), however, they may not necessarily be the cheapest or the one that totally fits your requirements. On comparison, the 4 providers offered me a wide range of different features, some of which I didn’t really need. So it would be up to you to decide the features you need and what you don’t, as the monthly prices do vary considerably.

What is needed for [1] VoIP? You would need a High Speed Internet connection like DSL or Cable modem lines, a pre-programmed VoIP Router (normally provided by the [1] VoIP company) and a normal phone. The [1] VoIP company then assigns you a telephone number. The next thing to do, is plug in your high speed internet connection on one end of the pre-programmed VoIP Router and phone on the other end … the phone can then be used normally. If a cable modem connection is used, you could do away with your regular phone company as the phone line won’t be needed anymore. It can’t be done with a DSL connection through, as the DSL connection utilizes the unused wires on the phone line - so you would still need to pay the phone company for the line rental.

I did try [3] Vonage for 2 months with a special free offer. It worked great for $24.95/ month which had features like unlimited forwarding, voicemail, incoming/outgoing calls and many others. I especially liked the “take Vonage with you” feature: that allowed me to take the base unit (router) along on vacation, hook up the hotel’s high speed internet connection on one side of the router and the phone on the other side to receive calls just like I was at home i.e. everyone calling my [1] VoIP telephone number would ring to the hotel phone.

One downside to [1] VoIP (which the companies do not tell you) is that an incoming caller will have to pay for his/her call time regardless of whether he/she is in the local calling area. Obviously, long distance calls would be like a normal paid call, so there is no issue there. The [1] VoIP companies try to combat this by offering free in-network calls regardless of geographical location i.e. if you are a [1] VoIP subscriber using the same company, you would not have to pay for any calls if you are calling another subscriber.

The upside about all this is that [1] VoIP is only going to get cheaper. Competition from the many [1] VoIP companies currently sprouting up will dictate this. What a bargain - cool technology for a cheap price!