If you have DSL or a cable modem, you might want to consider this. www.sunrocket.com. You get unlimited local and long distance calling for $199 per year! No taxes, bills, and it has all sorts of cool features. You get two incoming phone numbers (you can even have one in Boston and one in LA or NY or wherever), you get two different voicemail boxes (I have one I use for business where I can leave a different message), you can have it email you the messages as a .WAV attachment or IM you when a message is left. You can view the log of incoming AND OUTGOING calls online, you get all the usual features like call waiting, caller ID, three way calling, anonymous call rejection for free. You can block specific phone numbers. They have 911. They also give you $3 a month toward international calls (thats 100 minutes to the UK at their rate of .03/min). Oh all calls to Canada are completely free and unlimited as well. They can also port your home phone number over if you have a cable modem (and possibly DSL, need to check with your DSL provider) You can use any landline phone but they include a pair of pretty decent wireless phones. The quality is excellent for me and just about everyone who is talking about this service in the VoIP forum on www.dslreports.com. Some few people are experiencing some echoing, though people on the other end of the phone don't hear it.
Now, caveats I've noticed:
- In some areas, caller ID does not show names, just numbers. They are working on fixing this but a work around is to create a directory via their webpage that maps numbers to names, it will show any names you've put in your directory.
- International calling I hear is having some problems with getting busy signals, they're working on that too
- If you have DSL, you need to make sure your DSL provider offers "naked DSL", ie they can cancel your voice service without cancelling your DSL. Verizon in my area says they will have this literally within the next week or two. They have all the documentation and have been trained, it's in testing now.
- Obviously if you lose internet connectivity, you lose phone service
- Seems most newer fax machines work fine as do satellite TV boxes, older Dish network boxes and fax machines have problems
For $199/year, I simply couldn't pass on this. Plus they have a one month money back guarantee. I've been pleasantly surprised so far and despite all the small glitches I've listed, for that price I can live with it. So can my wife (that was the big test, the wife factor and it seems to have passed). I've forwarded all calls on our regular phone over to the second number which has a unique ring and a message with our new number (which is the first line). That way I know who is still using the old number and can remind them that it's changing.
If you decide to check this out, please use me as a reference, I get free phone handsets which run about $30 normally, not a big deal but still would be nice
(the phone they send are expandable to 4 handsets). My referral ID is 9789920045 - thanks!
Now, caveats I've noticed:
- In some areas, caller ID does not show names, just numbers. They are working on fixing this but a work around is to create a directory via their webpage that maps numbers to names, it will show any names you've put in your directory.
- International calling I hear is having some problems with getting busy signals, they're working on that too
- If you have DSL, you need to make sure your DSL provider offers "naked DSL", ie they can cancel your voice service without cancelling your DSL. Verizon in my area says they will have this literally within the next week or two. They have all the documentation and have been trained, it's in testing now.
- Obviously if you lose internet connectivity, you lose phone service
- Seems most newer fax machines work fine as do satellite TV boxes, older Dish network boxes and fax machines have problems
For $199/year, I simply couldn't pass on this. Plus they have a one month money back guarantee. I've been pleasantly surprised so far and despite all the small glitches I've listed, for that price I can live with it. So can my wife (that was the big test, the wife factor and it seems to have passed). I've forwarded all calls on our regular phone over to the second number which has a unique ring and a message with our new number (which is the first line). That way I know who is still using the old number and can remind them that it's changing.
If you decide to check this out, please use me as a reference, I get free phone handsets which run about $30 normally, not a big deal but still would be nice
(the phone they send are expandable to 4 handsets). My referral ID is 9789920045 - thanks!
