$3/month home phone
I've just set up a couple of new phone numbers at home.
425-224-xxxx (local to Everett, incoming calls cost me 1.5 cents per minute)
888-884-xxxx (toll-free, payphone calls not accepted)
The VOIP device is a Linksys SPA3102 analog telephone adapter (available online for $60-80), which seems very solid and can be configured to protect upstream bandwidth for quality of service. It's plugged into a nice Southwestern Bell phone with a Caller ID display (Goodwill, $2).
The rates I'm paying with Vitelity (prepaid, $35 opens the account, unused balances refundable on cancellation):
$0.0144 per minute for outgoing calls (that's less than one and a half cents, or about 86 cents an hour)
$1.49/month for the local number, $0.0144 per minute incoming. ($1 one-time setup fee)
$1.49/month for E911 service on the local number (the lack of E911 is a big disadvantage of Skype etc)
$1.49/month for the 888 number, 2.4 cents per minute incoming. (no setup fee)
So, for $3.00 a month plus less than two cents per minute, I have a "real" home phone line with inbound and outbound caller ID, E911 service... and for another $1.50 a month, a toll-free number too, with no need to have the computer turned on. The quality is comparable to a landline phone, even on my condo buildling's free low-end Verizon DSL (768 down/128 up).
Vitelity also allows local numbers to be ported in for $20, and allows failover routing to another number for about 3 cents a minute, which means in the long run it would be tempting to port my cell phone number over to the VOIP service and start using a T-Mobile prepaid phone when I'm out.
Additionally, Vitelity's user interface is awesome, and lets you bring a number online instantaneously; I had a few questions that I got answered through their trouble ticket system and it seems that they respond within an hour or two.
Can't beat it?
425-224-xxxx (local to Everett, incoming calls cost me 1.5 cents per minute)
888-884-xxxx (toll-free, payphone calls not accepted)
The VOIP device is a Linksys SPA3102 analog telephone adapter (available online for $60-80), which seems very solid and can be configured to protect upstream bandwidth for quality of service. It's plugged into a nice Southwestern Bell phone with a Caller ID display (Goodwill, $2).
The rates I'm paying with Vitelity (prepaid, $35 opens the account, unused balances refundable on cancellation):
$0.0144 per minute for outgoing calls (that's less than one and a half cents, or about 86 cents an hour)
$1.49/month for the local number, $0.0144 per minute incoming. ($1 one-time setup fee)
$1.49/month for E911 service on the local number (the lack of E911 is a big disadvantage of Skype etc)
$1.49/month for the 888 number, 2.4 cents per minute incoming. (no setup fee)
So, for $3.00 a month plus less than two cents per minute, I have a "real" home phone line with inbound and outbound caller ID, E911 service... and for another $1.50 a month, a toll-free number too, with no need to have the computer turned on. The quality is comparable to a landline phone, even on my condo buildling's free low-end Verizon DSL (768 down/128 up).
Vitelity also allows local numbers to be ported in for $20, and allows failover routing to another number for about 3 cents a minute, which means in the long run it would be tempting to port my cell phone number over to the VOIP service and start using a T-Mobile prepaid phone when I'm out.
Additionally, Vitelity's user interface is awesome, and lets you bring a number online instantaneously; I had a few questions that I got answered through their trouble ticket system and it seems that they respond within an hour or two.
Can't beat it?