Voip Comparison - Are Voip Phone Services better than regular landline phones?

Are Voip Phone Services better than regular landline phones?

issues about 911 dialing may rise to the surface but more people would like to save as much as 50% on phone bill...plus voip requires broadband...

Public Comments

I can only speak from my personal experience. VOIP is not ready to be called a replacement for landline services yet. Even on Comcast cable internet, which I find blazing fast, there was always a delay in the audio reaching the person I was talking to. Each day was different in the area of call quality. After 6 months of dealing with Vonage's terrible tech support, with most of their techs sitting at desks in India who barely speak the language I called them in, I dropped their low fees for quality service. The savings was NOT worth the problems. I am sure you will find others who disagree, but that is my answer from my experience. Best of luck to you.
no, VoIP phone is only good in cost effectiveness, it's not comparable to what the landline phone can do where u can call to many numbers that a VoIP phone can't, u can fax, dial-up to a server, connect to broadband etc. VoIP phone is a subset of what the landline phone could offer, but of course tv cable also offers VoIP phone. w/ technologies advancing, the barrier of communication via conventional cable will be broadened & blurified among landline, tv cable & power cable.
If you have a high speed connection with an ADSL line then it can be more qualitative than a land line phone otherwise its not. I mean for a clear and good voice over IP you should have a broadband connection with atleast 1mb/s speed.
I do not have Voip Phone Services yet and do not intend to, based on one fact. Consider how often your land phone line is out. For me it is extremely rare. (In 2.5 years living in this house it was once.) Now consider how often your broadband is out. Sadly, that is not so rare. (Once a month is not an exaggeration.) Hope you have better luck with your broadband than I do, if you are seriously considering this option.
I got VoIP threw Verizon called Voice Wing back in September. I have their FiOS Internet (5MB/s) Service (fiber optic). At first, I was having trouble making calls. Every time I dialed a number, nothing happened. If I called it again, it connected fine. Very Annoying! A couple days later, I did a little research, and found an update to my router on-line. I downloaded the update and WALLA!! It worked like a charm!! I couldn't be happier! I can stay on the phone long distance all day for $24.95/mo. AWESOME! (everyone may not have the same results as me, my Internet connection is pretty fast)
Unfortunately, you're going to hear valid points from both sides--everybody's right and everybody's wrong. Here's why: The most important component of successful voip is the quality of your broadband connection. I'm not just talking about how fast it is, but how consistent--and that's the sticking point. To get an idea, go to this speedtest analyzer, http://www.voip.com/voip_tips/Networking/wireless_network.aspx) and see what your results are. If you have a fast connection but a lot of dropped packets or long turn around times, then you'll probably be unhappy with your voip--and it's not the fault of your voip service provider; it's your ISP's fault. If your connection looks good enough (high QoS score and everything) then voip might be great for you. And as far as 911 goes...a lot of voip providers offer enhanced 911 services, where your local emergency people can get your name, address and callback number automatically. I know mine does (voip.com). It's also true that in a blackout, your broadband will typically not work and your voip phones would be out. If it's just a power failure, you can have your router and phone plugged into an Uninterruptible Power Supply that will provide backup power to the system and your phones should still work for emergency purposes. Of course, there's always your cell ;-) In the end, you have to take a good hard look at what you need, the quality of your broadband and your expectations. If voip works out for you, you'll absolutely love it. We save so much it's unbeliveable.
You should try asking this question to you phone company.