[Hidden-tech] best phone service?

[Peter Degen-Portnoy]

I, too, am using Skype, but only for my office number.  Giannina 
Silverman can vouch that between her Vonage and my Skype we've not 
always had the best phone calls.  If the line is iffy, I start moving 
back to my old ship to shore training -- one person at a time, although 
I stop short of saying "over."  On the other hand, I don't have a router 
with QoS capability, which sounds like a very nice thing to add to help 
ensure the VOIP channels are getting highest priority.

I tried AT&T's digital phone for a short while a few years ago.  Their 
sales pitch was compelling since we have family in Europe and they 
promised very low international call rates.  However, from the 
contractor who wanted to install a huge white box on the front of my 
newly painted blue house and couldn't run a cable through the huge cable 
run in the basement, to the billing which was at the wrong rate (write 
everything down!) from the get go, the entire experience stank.  I was 
also very concerned with loss of service during power outages.  They 
lasted three months and I switched back.

The utter reliability of POTS has made me very hesitant to move away 
from it, what with my wife and four kids at home.  My assessment was 
that VOIP is fine in non-critical applications for me, but not for a 
home with young kids.

I thought that Skype would give me an advantage when travelling 
overseas.  I found that I couldn't use it though the dialup from my 
inlaws.  I tried paid services (Boingo) and ended up hanging out at 
Starbucks in Berlin for a fast enough wireless connection. 

However, Skype has been perfectly adequate for business calls.  And one 
really can't complain about the rates (closer to 2 cents per minute).  
The new version 2.0 promises better call quality (plus the ability to 
organize contacts into groups!)

Peter

Peter Degen-Portnoy
{
   President
   Innovatium

   Makers of the Hold-It! Game Card Organizer (tm)
      "Go from Mess to Marveous(tm)"

   pdp at InnovatiumInc.com
   781-583-7566 (o)
}



Kurt Kolok wrote:
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>
> Hello,
>
> I'm a newbie to this group and looking forward to the interaction and
> resources available.
>
> What about Skype?  It is not 100% consistent with quality of
> sound/connection for international calls, but seems to be very clear and
> consistent for national and local calls.  It is free software and if you're
> calling someone else with a Skype account there is no charge unless you dial
> their telephone directly.  For all calls outside of the Skype user network
> the charge is a minimal 1.5 cents per minute.   You can purchase a USB
> headset (recommended for Macs) or a headset with audio and mic plug-in
> capability.  Computer to computer is much clearer than computer to phone so
> you'd want to encourage regulars you connect with to obtain an acct as well.
> Skype is an instant messenger program as well.
>
> Kurt Kolok
> Kolok Gallery, Inc.