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The Call Of The Web Phone

author-image
DQI Bureau
New Update

Just a few years ago, using the Internet to make cheap phone

calls was better in theory than in practice. Connections were often crackly and

had echoes, and households that traded landlines for the Internet could find

themselves unable to call 911 or without service in a power outage.

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Those problems haven't totally been solved, but the providers

of Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) are trying to make their service

indistinguishable from landlines. Consumers are responding enthusiastically,

with 3.25 mn estimated to be buying VoIP phone services by the end of the year,

says researcher Yankee Group-nearly three times as many as in December, 2004.

Certainly, you have plenty of choices. Monthly rates run from as

little as $19.95 at Lingo and Packet8 to as much as $54.95 for Comcast Digital

Voice for unlimited local and long-distance calls. (With most VoIP services,

international calls are actually more expensive than using a calling card.)

There are also activation, shipping, and modem-lease fees. Still, for a

household spending an average of $53 a month on traditional local and

long-distance calling, VoIP can translate into more than $300 in savings a year.

An Expanding Menu for

Internet Calling





Operators are standing by to sign you up-or you can do it online
Service AOL

TotalTalk
AT&T

CallVantage
Comcast

Digital Voice
Skype
Contact

877 AOL-SPEAK,



totaltalk.com

866 816-3815,



www.usa.att.com/ callvantage/

888 824-8264,



comcast.com/digitalvoice

skype.com

Cost*/Cool



Features

$29.99 per month, with

the first month currently offered free of charge

If you are online, it will tell you

who is calling. Another feature allows you to check your e-mail via phone

and to
respond to it by

voice.

$29.99 per month, first month free if

you sign up online

Allows you to set up conference calls

with as many as 10 participants. You can also record a message and send it

to several people at the same time.

$54.95 a month;



$44.95 a month if you

already

have Comcast



cable or Internet service

Dial 0 and an operator will patch you

through to a number that's busy. Screening feature allows you to program

your phone not to accept calls from certain callers

Free calls to and from other Skype

users. Otherwise $36

(approximately) per year allows phone

users to reach you. There's also a per-minute charge for calling outside

the Skype network.

You can get an international phone

number in seven countries.

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With most VoIP services, you have to install phone adapters-modem-like

boxes acting as intermediaries between a phone device and your broadband

connection-on your own or with a bit of over-the-phone tech support. With

Comcast Digital Voice, you get a service call with professional installation.

With AT&T CallVantage, it's a $140 option.

The beauty of VoIP is that it will generally work with your

standard wired and cordless phones. Of course, you can splurge on new

video-calling gear. The Motorola Ojo PVP-1000, for example, sports a striking

futuristic design and is a great way for family members to stay in touch-provided,

that everyone in the family has one.

VoIP has lots of other cool features. Because they are Web-based

services, Vonage and AT&T CallVantage can notify you of new voice messages

and e-mail and send along an audio attachment. VoIP services can also usually

provide you with a phone number with an area code outside of your city, state,

and even country of residence. You could get a New York VoIP number so your

college kids in the city can ring you up free of charge-even though you happen

to live in Florida. VoIP service providers may be able to use your existing

phone number, so you don't have to call all the people you know to have them

update your address book entry.

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Before you join the VoIP revolution, bear in mind that most

services fall short of traditional phone service in several ways. Skype

Technologies, the world's most popular VoIP calling service, mainly

facilitates free calls between computers, so your phone won't receive these

calls when your PC is shut down unless you forward them to a regular phone for a

small fee. Since VoIP operates through your broadband connection, any disruption

will cut off your phone, too.

COOL



TOOLS




Internet telephony gives you

the ability to make video calls. Here is some of the gear that can help

you do it.

 

Motorola

Ojo



PVP-1000




$450


motorola.com




With its Space Age look and

video compression technology, Internet

telephony never looked so good, but you'll need two to talk to a friend

or loved one.
Logitech

QuickCam



Fusion



$99



logitech.com



A 1.3 megapixel camera, the

QuickCam includes software to track facial movements and cool technology

to add digital avatars and other video effects.

Packet8



Videophone



$99 with Packet8 Plan



packet8.net



Video chat with friends and

family who are also Packet8 customers. You can also plug your camcorder or

camera into the device to show video and photos of your latest trip.
Apple

iMac With



iChat AV



Free with Mac OS X Tiger



apple.com



Ring up a buddy or relative with

this Mac-only software that makes multiperson video and audio confabs a

snap over a Web connection.

Doubling Up



Many customers choose to retain their traditional landline for local calls and
use VoIP for long distance. After all, if your neighborhood loses power, most

VoIP services will go dead as well-not the case with traditional phone

service, which is supported by back-up batteries. One of few notable exceptions

to this rule is VoIP service offered by cable companies like Comcast. Comcast

provides a back-up battery that keeps your phone functioning for five to eight

hours during power outages.

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Some other VoIP services can't patch a 911 call through at

all. Or, if you have a VoIP phone number with a different area code from your

place of residence, the call might be dispatched to the wrong location (say, to

a New York emergency center rather than to Florida, where you live). That's a

big problem, considering that the number of residential 911 calls placed through

VoIP will rise from 370,000 in 2004 to 3.5 mn in 2006, according to Intrado,

which provides 911 services to public safety groups and telecom companies.

US telecom regulators have taken these concerns to heart. The

Federal Communications Commission has set a Nov 28 deadline mandating that all

service providers aiming to displace traditional phone service give

emergency-response workers the names and locations of their subscribers. This

rule does not apply to outfits, like Skype, offering mostly PC-to-PC calling.

You might also run into problems if you have a home security

system. VoIP may not work with your alarm set-up, so you might ask your security

company to tune your system or even install a cellular back-up system. That

could run up charges of $200 for the installation and $10 extra in monthly

payments.

Clearly, VoIP is a young technology, with lots of technical and

regulatory knots still to be worked out. But it has a lot to offer: increasingly

crisp call quality at a low price, which features traditional phone service

providers often lack. Since most providers let you sign up without locking

yourself into a one- or two-year contract, VoIP may be worth a try.

By Olga Kharif

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