The Media Drop

Well, it’s not media related, but I’m sharing anyway.

Last week, I finally bit the bullet and signed up for Vonage service. After almost three months of not using my home phone (we had it turned off), I figured my TiVo would really appreciate being able to call in once in a while - and having a cellphone handy isn’t always convenient. So here’s the deal - if you’re thinking about going to a VoIP provider like Vonage, do it.

The usual criticisms are obviously for real, i.e. if the power goes out, so does your phone. But considering the fact that probably 75%+ of us don’t have a phone that runs without being plugged in, I’d say that isn’t such a valid argument: enter cellphone. The other big complaint is about plugging in handsets to the router - again, not such a big issue. Between plugging your home’s wiring in (if you’re so inclined) to hooking up a multiple-handset base, there are solutions.

I also consider myself pretty tech savvy, so figured I could pop this hardware out of the box and hook it right up. Not only did it work without looking at the directions, but the “feel around” method took less than five minutes. Their router works just fine with my existing Linksys router (they stack!), and plugging the Vonage router directly into the cable modem allows for a smarter (almost like building in your own MPLS) traffic management setup - your phone calls will be priority - unless, of course, you don’t want them to be.

I was very surprised to make a few connections, reboot my modem and routers, wait till all the activity lights were activated, and pick up the phone to a dial tone. I won’t say that the sound quality is the same as my old landline connection, but it’s miles ahead of the “VoIP” that I used a few years back. Echo cancellation is in full effect, and the price is absolutely right.

Obviously not all of their customers are blogging, but I’d have to say that the company is banking on word of mouth - and in a good way. From the ability to transfer calls, use *69 as many times as we want, and check my voicemails online, the service has it all - for less than $25, before sales tax. To boot, they run a couple different “affiliate” type promotions, one of which gets you two months free for having people sign up.

But it’s more than that - to be honest, it’s a piece of mind kinda situation. I had signed up a year or so ago for an “all you can eat” plan through one of the major phone companies, and the price was good - until you added up the taxes, fees, and other various surcharges. Let’s just say that a $45 bill isn’t anywhere near $45 once it’s all said and done. Heck, I added a second line whose taxes and fees matched the monthly cost of the phone. So I ask - if it works, and you’re comfortable with it, then why not go for it?

Vonage’s FAQs are more than helpful, and their customer service reps actually make an effort to understand your level of technological knowledge - I had to call once, just to make a change to regarding porting my telephone number, and bounced around some ideas while I was on the phone. Let’s just say I was impressed.

Oh - and it does work just fine with my TiVo.