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Vonage???

sgresso

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I don't have it but know of so pro's and cons from what i have seen.

Pro's
Low cost phone service
free long distance.

Con's
if you have a home security system it will not work
911 is a lot diferent than a Lan line
if you lose internet or power you have no phone.
most require at least DSL or cable internet to work.
I know they have had some problems with it and AOL not working properly.


this is just what i have seen from clients with it.
 

jcgoldner

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Mark, I've been looking at dropping my phone service and going to VOIP too. I know a few people that have SunRocket and are thrilled with it. It's $199 for 15 months right now. Vonage has the name recognition but Sunrocket seems to be right with them as far as the service goes.

They all have fixes for the security systems and 911 service takes a few weeks to work properly but it will work. Cellphone backup is, of course, recommended for emergency service in case of outages.
 

sgresso

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yep JC is right we had aback up system for ppl with voip.

so thankfully we can still protect the home.
I thought i addeded that in my cons./
thanks JC for point that out!
 
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My friend just got the optimum online crap and hes pretty happy with it. He makes a lot of calls overseas so he saves a bunch.

If the power goes out, that would kinda suck. If its a big disaster that caused the cell phones to go out of service even, then you wouldn't have any backup. If thats the case you probably got bigger things to worry about and should be leaving anyway.
 
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I have ATT Callvantage. The customer support is PHENOMENAL!!! :applause:

They have been helpful everytime, replaced my router without hesitation when it went bad. It sends my voicemail to my work email in a wav file. I just listen online since I'm on my work computer so much. It keeps a copy on the server till you clear it out. I can listen to from any phone or log in from any computer. If the power goes down it automatically rolls to an emergency number, aka cell phone.

50 bucks for 2 lines and all the bells and whistles.

I give it a :thumbsup:
 
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I did not go with VONAGE because at the time (may still be the case) the tech support was online via email only. I need a real human to talk to.
 

BradMc

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Some one said it already, But 911 is very screwed up with VOIP, Like it will not give the Dispatcher your location, we had some people in our office went to it, lots of calls not going through, wrong numbers, some times when connecting sounds like a Microwave radio.........Good luck
 

avid toker

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Mark, you're gonna find people who love it or hate it.
I personally have it, like it, have DSL, have called customer service and have called the e911 service when I had a friend over and needed medical assistance. All with no problem at all. The only issue I have is that DSL is 768K upload so at peak traffic times, you MAY experience decreased call quality if you're surfing the web and on the phone at the same time. And if the internet goes down, there's an automatic forwarding function that routes call to a pre-determined alternate # like your cell phone. If your'e serious abt it bro we can talk offline. I can even refer you if it nets you anything.
 

pdonlin

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Any broadband connection so DSL or Cable would work. A guy I work with has Vonage and uses it on the charter communications 3mb/256kb plan. He said he has very few problems with it, probably because the router he uses has QoS to give the voice connection top priority for bandwidth. You are able to tweak the sound quality to get it as good as is possible on your connection.
 

avid toker

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My router has QoS as well and I've set call quality to the best setting but DSL bandwidth only has so much room. Mark, it works on any broadband connection such as cable modem. In fact, it will work better on cable modem.
 
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I feel if you have broadband it is the way to go. Why bother if you have DSL, you're already paying for a phoneline any way, right?
 

caudio51

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Thanks for the info in this thread. I knew nothing about Vonage. It certainly seems like a cost effective alternative that might have a couple of flaws.
 

caudio51

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Mark, there was an article in Infoweek this week about Vongae/ISP Telephone service. You should proably pick it up. If you can't let me know and I'll mail you my copy.
 
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