Steve Mensing, Editor
♦The day of the expensive home telephone is over. Today all home phones or landlines operate over the internet and are called Voice Over the Internet Protocol or VOIP. Because so much competition exists among VOIP phone providers, prices are generally super cheap. Surprisingly performance among most VOIP phones is pretty much the same even though there is a disparity in price. The sound quality of a VOIP phone often depends too on the connection speed of your internet. If you have a 10 Mbps or speedier connection your sound quality will generally be excellent. Know too that many Americans (an estimated 40%) are using their cell phones as a home phone. If you have a high-speed internet connection you can save a bundle by using cheapo services like Google Voice, MagicJack Plus, Ooma or Skype.
Let’s look at the very best buys/performers in Rowan County VOIP phones:
• In 2013 no major VOIP phone provider can beat Google Voice’s price which is FREE and likely the equal of many VOIP phones out there. Google Voice has numerous bells and whistles and can be integrated with cell phones, reducing their rates. It’s difficult to compete with FREE. Find out more about Google Voice here: http://www.google.com/googlevoice/about.html
• Next is the very excellent MagicJack Plus Phone which recently introduced its 2014 model. This outrageously good performer is $69 dollars for the whole first year, along with their software gizmo. It’s $29.95 a full year after that. (19.95 a year if you buy 5 year package). I use its terrific MagicJack App on my IPAD and use my IPAD as phone. MagicJack Plus’s High-Def sound is unsurpassed. Find out more about MagicJack Plus here: http://www.magicjack.com/plus-v05/
• An excellent choice, especially if you are a small business, is the pricier Ooma. It’s sound, features, and ease of use make Ooma a top performer. Learn about Ooma here: http://www.ooma.com/products
• A final choice is Skype, famed for its video chat. Their VOIP is excellent. Learn more about Ooma here: http://www.skype.com/en/
Most of the areas large telecoms are non-competitive in price with the above mentioned outfits. Not recommended at all here is the grossly over-priced and subpar performing Fibrant Cat-5 VOIP, sold only in Salisbury for $45 a month, the most expensive phone service anywhere. Fibrant still suffers outages–the last one a few weeks ago, lasting several hours. Fibrant, even after adding redundancy, is still plagued by recycled equipment failures.
