Unlimited Long Distance Calling with VoIP
Debbie Jacobsen
To compete with the growing VoIP internet phone
service market, traditional land line companies are now adding unlimited long
distance calling plans to their offerings. In my area, this service is being
advertised for around $40 per month. If your long distance bill normally runs
higher than this, you might consider this a bargain price - until you see what
the alternatives are.
I have a friend who normally spends around $60 a
month on long distance, with some months reaching over $100. This is not an
uncommon scenario in today's mobile society. At $40 per month, her phone
company's unlimited long distance calling plan would easily save her $240 a
year. This is quite a bargain, but she could save even more by switching to a
non-traditional telephone service like VoIP. VoIP technology relies on the
inexpensive internet to route calls, as opposed to expensive PSTN (public
switched telephone network - also known as a "land line"). Internet phone
service has been around for several years, but the technology is near perfect now
and the quality/reliability is suitable for everyday residential phone use.
Cable television companies are now offering
unlimited long distance calling (which includes unlimited local calling as
well) for around $40 per month in my area. If my friend were to disconnect
her land line phone service and switch to cable VoIP, she would save even more
money - around $300 per year. Since disconnecting telephone service means she
can no longer use dial up internet, she will have to cancel this and get cable
internet too. Cable internet costs more than dial up, so we have to take that
into consideration.
Here's a breakdown of her cost savings with this
scenario:
Current Land Line Phone + Dial Up Internet
Basic monthly phone service = $25
Average monthly long distance = $60
Dial up internet service = $20
Total monthly phone + internet = $ 105
Annual phone + internet = $1260
Cable Internet + cable phone service
(disconnect land line phone)
Phone service (with unlimited l/d) = $40
Broadband internet = $40
Total monthly phone + internet = $ 80
Annual phone + internet = $ 960
Total annual savings vs. current with Cable
VoIP= $ 300
VoIP phone service through the cable company
will save my friend $60 more a year than the phone company's unlimited long
distance plan. That's quite a bargain, and she will get high speed broadband
internet too! Also, with the internet phone service she'll get a lot of bonus
features that she would have to pay extra for with traditional phone service.
Most VoIP phone service includes free voicemail, caller id, call waiting, call
forwarding, 3 way conference calling, etc... Whether she chooses to use them or
not, the features are included if she wants them. Unlimited local and long
distance is a great deal through the cable company, but there is yet another
option that will save even more...
Unlike cable companies, who offer internet phone
service as an "add on" item, true VoIP providers focus totally on internet
telephony. VoIP service providers are the pioneers in the industry, and internet
phone service is their forte. These companies offer even better deals on
unlimited long distance calling, and have the most experience with VoIP. There
are several VoIP providers to choose from, but since I subscribe to Packet8 I'll
continue the savings example with them.
Packet8 offers unlimited local and long distance
calling for a mere $20 a month. Just like cable VoIP, they also give you all the
extra features for free. If my friend were to get broadband internet through her
cable company, subscribe to Packet8's unlimited plan and disconnect her land
line phone - she would save a whopping $540 per year! Now that's what I
call a bargain. As an added benefit, she will never have to see another long
distance phone bill again.
Here's how it breaks out:
Cable Internet + Packet8 phone service
(disconnect land line phone)
Phone service (with unlimited l/d) = $20
Broadband internet = $40
Total monthly phone + internet = $ 60
Annual phone + internet = $ 720
Total annual savings vs. current
with Packet8 = $ 540
As you can see, it's easy to save money with
unlimited long distance calling. The type of service you choose determines how
much you will save. If you never want to pay long distance charges again, you
don't have to. Put the extra money away, buy yourself a special treat or pay off
some bills - and then make all the long distance calls you want for free!
Before deciding on a VoIP provider, be sure to review pricing and packages at
http://www.SaveOnPhoneService.com.
© Copyright 2005, Debbie Jacobsen. All rights
reserved. This article may be reprinted without permission as long as it remains intact and includes original live links.
About the Author
Debbie Jacobsen is an Information Technology
professional and author of
http://www.saveonphoneservice.com, an informative website about the benefits
and features of internet phone service as well as a comparison of top VoIP
providers. To see more of her articles about VoIP, visit her blog at
http://djvoip.blogspot.com |
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