Over the holidays I installed Yahoo Instant Messenger. My husband occasionally is sent out on business trips and phone calls can be expensive. We started using the Instant Messaging. I think we all played around with that through AOL back when we first started to use the computer (with dial-up, I use a cable broadband now). I did at one time we used IM through the whole family, then we sort of got away from it and quit using it for a few years. Yahoo sent an advertisement about a phone system that can be set up using your computer through Yahoo Instant Messenger. It is called VoIP, voice over IP. I thought I would give it a try. I have been using it and loving it every since.
I browsed the internet to see what competition there is and what else is out there. I found that cnet has a very informative article at: http://reviews.cnet.com/4520-9140_7-5131535.html and another site has ratings on various companies at http://www.lifehacker.com/software/internet-phones/
It explains how simple it is to use. But the big issue is that you are not restricted to an area code for a price range. I can call anywhere in the United States for free. I pay a fraction of the cost of a land line. If anyone is looking into it you want to check the different companies. I get all incoming calls free except the monthly rate of $2.99 (and you can pay a yearly rate of only $29.99). Yahoo only charges $.01 a minute for outgoing calls only and not all of them are charged.
All you need is a simple microphone (or headset) that hooks into a usb port and your all set. You can get a wireless phone for you computer just like what you are used to using around the house now, but, that can be a bit pricey. You may want to invest in a headset if you are worried about privacy during your calls.
After paying st least $60.00 a month for my home phone (and that is not counting the long distance charges) I am very pleased with this service and my home land line phone is now cut off. I highly recommend you check it out. The one thing that you need to know is that some of the companies charge two separate rates. Like Yahoo has a flat rate per month of about $2.99 for any incoming calls. Then if you want to call out you pay the rate per minute. I put $10.00 (the minimum) on this account around the beginning of January and still have over $7.00 left on this account. Which is 7000 minutes left, unless I call internationally. They do charge different for outgoing international calls.
I did find a down side to this though. I do have to have my computer on and have my yahoo signed in to receive calls or call out. It’s worth checking out. Do you have a comment on this? Please comment.
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