The E-Sylum:  Volume 8, Number 41, September 25, 2005, Article 23

MORE ON VOICE OVER IP (VOIP)

Scott Semans writes; "Well, this is getting pretty far afield,
but since I was in at the origins of this discussion, I feel I
should kick back in: First, I looked into the VOIP provider
Vonage and it does seem like a good deal, though in costing
it out I have yet to estimate how many minutes I use monthly
in LOCAL calls, which Vonage counts against your minutes
allotment just like long distance. Also, there was nothing at
their site about sound quality, the sales rep was unable to
give me a trial number where I could try it myself, and their
promised call-back never came. But a local friend who uses
Comcast Internet cable as I do says it is clear as a bell and
she is a very satisfied customer. But since we have frequent
cable and electrical outages I am reluctant to disconnect from
the local phone company. Finally, I would not recommend
that MCI card sold by Costco. It's one of the few things I've
bought at Costco that I dislike, and can't return. The main
problem is that in order to keep users from being billed during
the time a phone is ringing, Costco required MCI to allow only
five rings before giving the caller a "try later" recording - bad
news if your party takes some time to pick up the phone, or
has an answering machine set to pick up beyond five rings.
It's hard to send an overseas fax using this card. Also, the
MCI equipment sometimes fails to recognize tones, and it gets
irritating inputting your number twice or more every so often.
I have also experienced random disconnects. A card I've
used to get through to numbers the MCI card won't reach is
Extreme Talk Time" sold by Zaptel.com, which allows 8 rings
before cutting off and has a lower minute rate then the MCI,
though they deduct weekly charges."

  Wayne Homren, Editor

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