Comments on: Saving Pennies or Dollars? VoIP Options Versus a Landline

By: AnnJo

AnnJo — Thu, 27 Oct 2011 22:24:48 +0000

In my work day, I can spend three or four hours on the phone. The quality of sound on land lines vs. most cell phones and VOIP systems is a huge factor in how tired I feel at the end of the day. Straining to hear over static is downright tiring. Many offices of colleagues have switched to VOIP in the last two or three years, and about 70% of them say that they regret it and although it offers more bells and whistles, they prefer the trouble-free reliability and clarity of land lines.

By: zoranian

zoranian — Mon, 24 Oct 2011 20:27:45 +0000

Big caution, taxes on Vonage are about another $10-$15 per month. So it’s really $35 or $40. Also, if the power goes out, your phone goes out too. We have switched to a pay as you go cell phone for our “home” phone. We use cell phones 98% of the time, but they are long distance (we are on family plans with relatives in other states). Some people have to have a local number, we use maybe 80 minutes a month at the most. I bought a “double minutes” phone from Tracfone for about $20 and it gets better signal than our cell phones do. I can also send texts for 1/3 of a minute, which is great since I don’t have texting on my phone. I figure it’ll average to about $12 a month to refill with minutes, probably buying a relatively large package every 3 months. Best of all, no taxes (I think I paid less than $1 of taxes the last time I purchased a refill).

By: Bill in NC

Bill in NC — Sat, 22 Oct 2011 16:46:26 +0000

Ooma is only around $5/month (taxes) even if you buy the newer units.

DSL here never goes down, and only costs $15/month (with or without phone service).

We currently have a land-line but @ $45/month (no metered service here) it will soon be replaced.

By: Sabine

Sabine — Fri, 21 Oct 2011 15:10:24 +0000

We use Skype and Google voice and prepaid cellphones and we save about $80 per month.
Most phone providers offer a cheap landline for a few $. Verizon for example has one for $3. You would pay $0.10 per minute, but incoming calls are free and it’s a good option to have a phone in case of power outages/emergencies.

By: Pete

Pete — Thu, 20 Oct 2011 20:43:27 +0000

@all who want phone service in the case of a power outage: Do keep a corded telephone !!! Or put your cordless set on a UPS. I remember my wife asking what that infernal beeping was, she couldn’t understand what the other side said on the phone… No, I didn’t turn the beeping off.

By: Luke G.

Luke G. — Thu, 20 Oct 2011 18:59:12 +0000

@Des (#3)

“$168 for Skype”

Huh? I pay for a Skype-In phone # yearly and an unlimited US+Canada subscription yearly. IIRC, it costs me all of around $60 a year. That’s $5 a month. There are discounts for paying yearly, and a discount on service when you rent a local #.

Did you base your estimate on the separate, monthly prices?

By: Diane

Diane — Thu, 20 Oct 2011 17:19:27 +0000

My mom recently switched to Time Warner’s phone via cable system – she has her cable and internet through them, and they offered a bundline option. Unfortunately, it took over a week to make it work halfway right, and even after much fiddling on the part of the cable guy, there’s a ton of static on the line. She’s switching back to Frontier landline now. At 83, I didn’t like the idea of her without phone service if the power went out. Even if she did have a cell phone (which she won’t get), during disasters, they are susceptible to outage and overuse, too.

Cost isn’t always the only consideration.

By: Dana

Dana — Thu, 20 Oct 2011 14:40:42 +0000

I’m not sure if this is the case with all of them, but with Skype, you can’t call 911. We keep a cheap prepaid phone in case of emergencies.

By: Kevin

Kevin — Thu, 20 Oct 2011 13:43:49 +0000

If you live in an area susceptible to disasters (I’m in the Bay Area), having a landline with a phone that draws power off of that (not plugged in to an AC adapter) is essential should disaster strike. VOIP also requires power and cellphones aren’t an option as most cellphone towers do not have battery backups should the power go out. This of course is a value call and depends on what’s important for you.

By: Nate

Nate — Thu, 20 Oct 2011 13:21:41 +0000

I haven’t had a land line in years and now with the new smart phones I can use free apps like TextFree with voice to make calls, even overseas, for free as long as I have a wifi signal or data plan.

By: Tom

Tom — Thu, 20 Oct 2011 12:09:51 +0000

I’m not trying to pick you apart, but France has free education just like the US has free education (with military service, or scholarship). It does cost a lot less, but it’s not free.

By: carlos

carlos — Thu, 20 Oct 2011 11:58:12 +0000

I purchased an Obi 100. It was on sale so the device itself is inexpensive. I use it with Google Talk and a regular phone. So unlike before, where I could only make outbound calls, and my computer had to be on all the time, I can now get calls in and out without paying anything each month. The sound quality is perfect and I’m only paying for internet, but I have that anyways. I strongly recommend this solution. Keep your cell phone for 911.

By: Parisian Thinker

Parisian Thinker — Thu, 20 Oct 2011 08:45:41 +0000

Sadly, no matter what you choose in the USA, you are being ripped off. Comparing the USA with France for example, you will find in France blazing fast high speed internet, phone, free long distance calls to 99% all countries including USA, as well as TV for 23 euros a month.

France also provides lifetime contracts of employment, first in medical care according to WHO (World Health Organization), free education, retirement paid by France, public transportation, 5 weeks of vacation, world class museums, excellent food and wine, and civility.

This is now a global world. You don’t have to take it anymore.
You can choose.

By: Chad

Chad — Thu, 20 Oct 2011 01:37:17 +0000

My house has poor cell reception and I was never a huge fan of VOIP so we use google voice and “metered” land line service. Our phone bill is less than 14 a month (including taxes and fees). We use GV to connect all our calls and if the internet goes out we can still can call out if necessary. Another huge saver for me was to switch my cell service to Net10. I never used many minutes so I now get cell phone service for $15 a month which is the cheapest I could find anywhere.

By: Josh

Josh — Wed, 19 Oct 2011 23:03:57 +0000

MagicJack requires your PC to always be ON if you want to receive a call.

By: Sara

Sara — Wed, 19 Oct 2011 22:49:01 +0000

I use Google Voice (free) to make calls at home, which saves a lot of minutes on my pre-paid cell phone.

By: Kacie

Kacie — Wed, 19 Oct 2011 22:09:51 +0000

But @9 — is your cell phone on the smallest plan you can have? Sometimes having a VoIP landline + barebones cell plan will save you even more

By: krantcents

krantcents — Wed, 19 Oct 2011 22:05:10 +0000

I use my cell phone for my main phone number. I have no landline.

By: Kacie

Kacie — Wed, 19 Oct 2011 21:38:22 +0000

You’re forgetting several other devices. First, there is a new MagicJack Plus that doesn’t require a computer to be involved.

Next is Nettalk, and another is Ooma (mentioned above).

If using one of these devices allows you to lower your cell phone plan down to the bare minimum, or to go with a pay-as-you-go plan, the savings can be substantial.

By: Adam

Adam — Wed, 19 Oct 2011 21:37:05 +0000

We switched to Ooma back in March. We then eliminated one of our cell phones and have now switched our other cell phone to a prepaid very low minute plan. Our phone bill went from $80/month to less than $20 per month (with some upfront costs). We already had high speed internet, so that’s $60 a month back in our pocket. One of the best cost savings things we’ve done, other than sell one of our cars, this past year.