Internet Phone Service Reviews and Buying Guide:

For those of you still using traditional land lines to make your phone calls from home, this article is for you. Technology has taken off in the VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) which allows people to make phone calls without having to use their local telephone company. VoIP is an Interphone phone service that acts just like your regular land line phone except the calls are sent and received via your Internet connection. Internet phone service is just starting and we only expect the reliability and overall voice quality to improve. Your Internet VoIP service has a dial tone and will ring just like your regular phone. If you have a cable or DSL broadband Internet connection you are capable of subscribing to one of the many leading Internet phone services available. When you sign up you will get an adapter that connects your phone to the Internet and digitizing technology will allow your voice to be sent over the Internet. Sound too good to be true? Keep reading to find out about cost savings and voice quality.

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With more and more people switching over to VoIP service, the price continues to decline as more companies offer this Internet phone service. Prices are about $20 - $30 a month for the services and call quality can be a touch "spotty" for some users although overall reliability is improving for all providers of Internet phone service. Companies that use public networks to supply their phone services tended to have the worst phone and voice quality. SunRocket, Packet8, and Vonage are all popular VoIP providers but they are lacking in reception quality. The problem that arises is that on public networks it's too hard to control congestion (especially those downloading large files) and overall reception is not always that great. You get dropped calls, "echoes", and calls that don't go through during peak hours on the Net. Cable providers like Comcast offer the best audio quality and performance because calls over their Internet phone service travel across their private network where they can control how "congested" the lines get. Of course you will pay more for their service as compared to Vonage or AT&T CallVantage, but it may be worth it to you. Another drawback is that not all Internet phone services are setup so you can call 911 (that's a big disadvantage). We read some articles on Internet phone service providers and VoIP that talked about consumer opinions and general feedback on the quality of those companies. J.D. Power & Associates ran a survey on phone service as did PC Magazine. Others like CNET and Consumer Reports tested VoIP services versus traditional phone lines and rated the providers based on voice quality and reliability. Slate Magazine did a review on VoIP phone services and the findings were certainly not scientific, but they were revealing in many ways. A recent player in the field has taken Internet calling to new heights, they are called Skype. Skype allows you to make FREE computer to computer phone calls. They are a computer based VoIP provider along with companies like NetZero, Yahoo Voice, and Google Talk. In order to use Skype, just download their software and install it. If you have a headset then you are ready to go, just call anyone in the world on their computer (not their regular phone) and talk for free. Ebay bought Skype for billions of dollars as they expect this technology to only get better and dominate how people communicate in the future. We go into more in depth reviews on Skype, AT&T CallVantage, Comcast Digital Voice, and Vonage down below. Other providers of VoIP Internet phone services are Verizon, Lingo, and Broadvoice.

Best Internet Phone Service:

If you want an Internet phone provider that gives you high call quality and excellent customer service support, then go with AT&T CallVantage. The service will work with any broadband internet service and it features the E911 service which routes your address to police/fire/emergency crews when it's called. Although CallVantage doesn't offer service to some countries in Europe like Vonage, you will get better voice quality and call reception. Pricing is $24.99 (competitive with other providers) and that gives you unlimited calling in the USA, Canada, and Puerto Rico. Another factor that sets this service apart from young startups like SunRocket or Packet8 is that AT&T has a well recognized name in the phone industry and you know that your phone service will be around next year. Features include caller ID, call waiting, 3-way calling, call forwarding, speed dial, voice mail, and fax support. Customer reviews for AT&T CallVantage say the service is "exceptional" and "high quality".

Vonage Internet Phone:

Vonage does take some knocks for not being the most reliable service available among the competition, but they have a loyal following of early adopters in the Internet phone service field. What Vonage lacks in reception quality, they make up for with loads of features like caller ID, call waiting, conference calling, call transfer, call forwarding, voicemail, and caller ID block. Call free anywhere in the United States, Canada, Puerto Rico, Italy, France, Spain, Ireland and the United Kingdom with Vonages unlimited calling plan for $24.99/month. For $10 less a month you buy their 500 minute plan which caters to those that don't call that much. Either way, Vonage is an improving VoIP Internet phone provider that recently went public and appears to be only getting better. Another bonus is that no credit card is required to do business with them as they will take the money out of your bank account monthly if you wish. Keep your current phone number and get unlimited local and long distance with Vonage. Go to Vonage.com for more details on their Internet phone plans.

Free Computer to Computer Calling:

Imagine calling India, China, Europe, or Asia for free. You can make computer to computer phone calls using the Skype software for FREE. No monthly fees, no calling fees, and unlimited minutes. A friend of mine recently downloaded Skype so he could make call to China to talk with his parents for free. He did say the reception was fairly good most of the time, but he did get static and a few dropped calls, especially when he was downloading a file in the background while on the phone. You can also make video calls with a webcam. Skype is definitely the most popular for computer to computer calling, although Yahoo Voice is catching up. There is a charge if you want to call regular phone numbers from your computer, but the the cost per minute is still pretty reasonable at about $.02/minute to anywhere in the world. You can download the software for free at Skype.com and be up and running within minutes.

Digital Voice with Comcast:

I recently switched over to Comcasts Digital Voice phone package that was offered with my high speed Internet connection and Cable television. I was reluctant at first to make the switch and paid Qwest almost $60/month to have 2 phone lines and all the bells and whistles of call waiting, caller ID, voice mail, etc. Eventually I decided to look into Digital Voice when I had a wireless Internet connection installed in my house by Comcast. The guy who did the install asked what I was paying for Qwest so I told him. He mentioned I could get 2 phone lines and all the same services each month for the much less. I decided to take the offer and see what would happen. We are definitely paying much less than before and the phone quality is just fine over the private VoIP that Comcast provides for their phone customers. The transition was seamless and we were able to keep our original phone number which makes a huge difference. You save money by subscribing to their bundled packages, but if you already have cable tv and high speed online access through Comcast you should definitely look into their Digital Voice phone service. We are very pleased with it.

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