Skype vs Vonage

[RGiskard]

Hello all

I know Vonage has been getting a fair amount of attention lately, but I was wondering if Skype might not be a better alternative give certain situations.

Has anyone had any experience with Skype directly? We have a lot of agents in the field who call into the home office frequently and it seems that Skpye would be a viable solution to large phone bills.

Thanks

[JPnyc]

Well skype can only call from a PC to a phone, or PC to PC (which is free). If you need PC to phone, i use iconnecthere. Pretty good, I think.

[FroZone]

Skype is pretty good but it too suffers from the same faults as Vonage and the others with the occasional crackle and cut outs. But if you think back many many years, I can remember the old crappy rotary phones when I was just a wee lad and they too use to crackle a bit. With VoIP in its infantsy, I think over all its a very good alternative to the big rip off phone companies with their extra zero's and their 13 different taxes on their bills. :mad:

Personally I've had it up to my eyeballs with them and have been diving into the whole VoIP thing headfirst! Let us get this revolution started already and show the big phone companies that we’re tired of the crap!

[JPnyc]

True, and overall I would say that with a very fast stable connection, halfway decent headset mic, the quality of these services tends to be considerably better than most phones. Even the free messengers such as MSN gives better quality and performance than a phone. But you really need to have that 3mb+ connection, or a lower baud rate that doesn't vary much.

Some ISPs, like optonline, LI NY, tends to vary wildly in it's baud rate and that can cause delays, garbling, and dropouts, even though the overal speed is quite high.

[FroZone]

Agreed totally, its all about the broadband or better. In fact, I just read a great article on this very topic over at the EIT Planet... http://www.enterpriseitplanet.com/networking/features/article.php/3522036

[JPnyc]

Yeah that is a good article. What I've discovered is, although MSN says that voice chat requires only 33kbps, it really needs a great deal more than that. And as I said above consistency is as important as overall speed. If your 7mb connection suddenly drops to 2mb, you will hear it. Delays and/or garbling/dropouts will occur, even though the lower speed is still quite high.

[DohDoh]

My friend's phone bill was outrageous ($50) and switched to Skype's basic plan $2.95 (unlimited calls in the U.S.). He calls me in my cell phone and landline from time to time via his Skype and he sounds crystal clear.

Get a good microphone or headset and you should be good to go. :cool:

[Planet]

As of today, there are at least 11 different VoIP service providers;

Vonage
Skype
ViaTalk
Broadvoice
Net2Phone
Voip
Lingo
iConnectHere
AT&T
InPhonex
MyPhoneCompany

and probably a couple others that I havent found yet.

Skype is by far the least expensive at $3 per month for basic service while Vonage is by far the most feature rich at $24.99 per month. And almost all of them of 911 service.

[Eezy]

As of today, there are at least 11 different VoIP service providers;

Vonage
Skype
ViaTalk
Broadvoice
Net2Phone
Voip
Lingo
iConnectHere
AT&T
InPhonex
MyPhoneCompany

and probably a couple others that I havent found yet.

Skype is by far the least expensive at $3 per month for basic service while Vonage is by far the most feature rich at $24.99 per month. And almost all of them of 911 service.


Only 11? Or those are major voip players? Also how about MagicJack? It's considered as voip right and popular enough to be included. Vonage just recently had a price increase but its from $14.99 to $17.99, I think the $24.99has some extras. Skype on the hand is $3 for outgoing and another $3 for incoming number. I use Onesuite voip service though because its the cheapest (with its prepaid, no monthly plan) among the bunch but has good service.

[John_in_NC]

These two service are great for those that do not have a technical background. For the techies, there are far better savings to be had from some other companies out there.

[Planet]

These two service are great for those that do not have a technical background. For the techies, there are far better savings to be had from some other companies out there.

Time to name names John, oh, and welcome to the forum :D

[Eezy]

Time to name names John, oh, and welcome to the forum :D

I think John is referring to the subject of this topic, Skype and Vonage.

[JPnyc]

I've used a couple of those listed including I connect here and Skype, and I now use Magic Jack. By far the cheapest, you have the option of using a software phone or a hardware phone, and it's completely portable including your phone book. Works quite well.

[kmanjax]

Something that I have not seen mentioned is OOMA. I just switched from Vonage to OOMA. There is an upfront cost of about $200 (if you shop around), but after that the calls are free forever. Shortly after I signed up, my parents jumped aboard as well. I figure it will pay for itself in about 7-8 months and then it will just be savings in my pocket from there.

[johnlvs2run]

I've used magicjack since it first came out and it's great.

You can plug the magicjack into a closed off 2nd line, and then use any phone in the house.

[JPnyc]

yeah, it works quite well. The only negative of course is the one that exists with all VOIP phones, and that's the fact that you have no communication if your Internet goes down. At least with a landline I could call in to the cable company when the Internet crashed. Now I need to keep a cell phone to avoid being cut off in such instances