Internet telephony taking off in US homes

[newstech]

No joke! Just in the last 2 weeks, 3 different people I know got Internet Telephony through their cable providers and none of them people are particularly tech savvy people. I had to tell one of them that they had to attach the cable modem to the computer to set up the phone service!

Author : Nigel Wright

Internet telephony, a service that allows telephone calls over the Internet, directly from one pc to another or several if conference calling, seems to be coming of age. The service, called voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP), was restricted to businesses once upon a time but is now making inroads into peoples homes as well.

On Monday, VoIP provider Vonage announced a US$ 200 million investment, led by Bain Capital, to expand its net telephony portfolio. “Voice over Internet Protocol has reached a tipping point, as mainstream consumers begin to adopt broadband telephony as a replacement for their traditional telephone service,” said Michael Krupka, managing director, Bain Capital.

“I think this is just the very, very beginning of next wave in communications,” said John Rego, chief financial officer, Vonage. He, however, contended that start-ups in VoIP might find it difficult to ‘go and get this level of funding’.

Internet users lucky enough to enjoy high-speed connections are showing increasing interest in Internet telephony and videoconferencing. And along with this interest is increasing the tools available for them. Tiger, Apple Computer’s latest operating system, has enhanced tools for online video chatting. Another example is Motorola’s Ojo, which has Internet picture-phone feature that eliminates the need for a computer.

Vonage is also releasing the F1000, a Wi-Fi device from UT Starcom that resembles a mobile phone.

At a predicted cost of less than US$ 100, the F1000 would provide VoIP with good sound quality and a conversation that isn’t very different from one through a regular phone.

The F1000 would cost about US$ 25 per month for unlimited calls in Canada and the United States. Another offer of calls worth 500 minutes would be available for as little as US$ 15 per month. And a call to countries other than the above would come at a throwaway cost of 3 cents per minute.

As of now, the Vonage service is obtained by plugging a broadband router into a home network, while using a regular telephone device. The company provides each user with a 10-digit phone number for incoming calls in addition to a number of features like caller identification, voice mail and call waiting.

Meanwhile, Qwest Communications, the fourth largest phone company in the United States, has already started marketing a US$ 30 per month home Internet telephony service, called OneFlex Premier.

http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/2738.html

[infinitevalence]

Thats what my parents use, well vonage, i would use it but i dont need another phone my cell works just find for everything.

[anonymous06]

I have nothing but bad experiences with Vonage. Do not recommend them and would not use them again. I plan to terminate my service after I get beyond the one year penality peroid.

[Apoptosis]

What problems are you having? I've been usning it for nearly 6 months now with minor issues, but nothing major.

[stev]

No VoIP for me!

My neighbor has it and told the local Verizon land-line to go away. Well, when the power went out, guess who comes knocking on my door to call for help.

Besides, another neighbor has the VoIP through his computer. When a virus hit the computer last month, his phone service was out for about two weeks. He spent the time re-building the machine.

As the saying goes, SURRENDER TO TECHNOLOGY - How America Abandoned Personal Responsibility To Worship Machines.

Ma Bell, you got to love her.

[infinitevalence]

You can love it all you want but im getting raped by Bell South They and comcast have made it so expencive to get any form of real service down here its not even worth having.

Basic cable with internet down here costs $100 a mth, and the Bell South deal is thier lowest DSL + phone service for $75 and thats like 754/128 or some crap like that.

Capitalism my ass, free market... yeah freeking right, where are my other choices.