anyone using vonage?

[Snowballer]

Hi guys,

I live in Canada, and was thinking of getting vonage so I can make canada/usa calls for free?

How have your experiences been with their service etc?

[Emancipator]

with vonage do you still get emergency services? I heard you dont. IE 911.

[Billyray]

The FCC have demanded that providers provide this service ASAP.

Vonage have a service at the moment but it is going to be improved soon (E911).

http://www.vonage.com/features.php?feature=911

The problems with voip and emergency calls (911 in the US - varies in each country) are;

:eek: the operator may not know where you are due to the voip caller id or lack thereof (you could be anywhere) and if you can't tell them your street address (because you are a child or have passed out), you can't get help because they can't track you, and

:eek: in the event of a power outage or internet outage you obviously can't call out.

It's always a good idea to have a backup plan ie a cell phone.

I haven't used Vonage but have a few others. I hear (pun intended) Vonage are good.

With voip, the call quality may not always be great but for the price it is.

[Generalissimo]

I'm helping my dads business switch to it next week. He pays hundreds each month in line rental and call diverts and stuff, but this vonage has all those stuff included.

[Chris]

I heard the quality was better.

I would get it for my business phone except that I can't keep my number and thats annoying.

[Billyray]

Voice quality is dependant on a number of variables - bandwidth, latency, jitter, codecs and quality of your adaptor or ip phone. It certainly can be better than normal PSTN calls but not always. Depends on your setup.

If you want to keep your current number then you might consider an adaptor (eg Sipura SPA-3000) that connects both to your PSTN line and the internet which will allow you to make and receive calls normally (via PSTN) as well as make and receive calls via the net. That way you can keep your current number and take advantage of the cheaper calls via the net.

[Cutter]

I've been using Vonage for nearly a year now. I've never had any problems.

If you are downloading at your maximum bandwidth and you try to make a call it will be choppy.

They have 911 but you need to activate and specify where you are located -- but if you have no power or internet connection then it won't work. I recommened having a cell phone (I'm actually the only person I know that doesn't have one ;) )

I haven't had to deal with their tech support, but I've only heard bad things about it. Luckily Vonage is very reliable so you shouldn't need to call them.

[Generalissimo]

I don't have a cell phone either Cutter.

[dvduval]

I'm using my cell phone inside the USA and Skype for international calls.

[James]

I know 4 people with cell phones.

[Chris]

I don't have a cell phone.

[Snowballer]

I hate cell phones myself, but I was forced to buy one a few weeks ago. My friend said to me 'welcome to the 21th century' lol

[Generalissimo]

I can see them being useful if you're business involves travelling a lot, but otherwise...

[Chris]

They're also useful if you ever get stuck on the side of the road, but mostly they're annoying.

[Snowballer]

True, well i've been married for over 1 year now and I finally gave through hehe.
(you can guess who forced me to get it now)

[Cutter]

My friend must be on his cell phone 5 hours a day. Someone calls him, he's talking to them, and then another person calls him and he has to put that person on hold.

I drive a stick shift car so I couldn't even use it when I'm in the car.

[James]

I wouldn't be able to use it while driving; it's too distracting and I'm a bad enough driver as it is.


My friend said to me 'welcome to the 21th century'
I woulda retorted 'You mean welcome to trendwhorism'

If I were to have a cellphone I wouldn't be one of the people that walks back into the house to get it and has 40 friends calling every five minutes to ask what you're doing, you say nothing, you as what they're doing, they say nothing, you talk about nothing, then hang up. I'd use it rarely, and only have other peoples numbers in the phone, I wouldn't tell anyone my cell number unless my job required me to carry one or something. I'd like to be like everyone in that Bruce Willis movie--Hostage, though, cause they just have some cliff-hanger sentence that leaves the other person on the phone with tons of questions and then hang up.