I posted earlier this week about
having a landline (well, two actually). I'm doing my 2014 financial reconciliation and realize that I'm spend about $1200 on pretty bare-bones phone services. I think it's time to consider a change.
My needs are pretty simple:
* 1 voice line (porting an existing number)
* 1 fax line (porting an existing number)
* I'm a relatively low-volume user (maybe an hour of talk time a month + a fax or two)
* Would prefer to continue to use my analog equipment
* I'd like all of the nifty features such as caller ID, call waiting caller ID, automatic forwarding if my internet is down, voice mail via email, etc.
In the other thread, Cubbie mentioned Viatalk, which seems to have great rates. I'd love to hear other people's experience -- good and bad, common problems -- with various services. I looked at the prices of ITP, PhonePower and VOIPO, and they all seem to have packages that would work for me (though it's not clear with most of them if there's a price break for bringing over my fax line).
A friend is a VOIP reseller (primarily for business). I spoke to him today and it sounds as if I went with him I'd spend an extra ~$150 a year compared to these other services. I know I'd get great service, but I do wonder: How often do most of you who use VOIP actually need to contact your service provider for support?
Oh, and a note to
ScottC and
gfunkdave: I did search and it looked as if there hasn't been a recent VOIP thread, but feel free to merge if I missed one.