[Cialug] voip service

[Tim Perdue]

neal daringer wrote:
> i have vonage. its decent. i dont expect a lot from a phone provider 
> other than to be extrememly cost effective. here is all the cities in 
> the 515 area code you can get a number with them.
> 
> Available Towns: Alleman, Altoona, Ames, Ankeny, Bondurant, Boone, 
> Cambridge, Carlisle, Clive, Cumming, Des Moines, Elkhart, Gilbert, 
> Grimes, Hartford, Kelley, Madrid, Nevada, Norwalk, Polk City, Runnells, 
> Urbandale, Van Meter, Waukee, West Des Moines, and Windsor Heights

I've been on vonage for 4 years and it's fine - I use a plan that is 
like 500 minutes for $14.99, and unlimited plans are $25. I like the 
fact that it emails me my voice mails so I don't actually have to call 
in to retrieve them. Sending faxes outbound over a vonage line seems to 
be somewhat hit or miss depending on how clean your internet connection is.

Skype in/out is really competitive too - I think unlimited skypeout 
(calling land line numbers) is $25 PER YEAR. Similar for an unlimited 
skype in. I was recently on a trip in italy and my cell phone didn't 
work so I installed skype and it worked perfectly from the hotel 
wireless internet connection.