James A. Martin Switched to VoIP, and You Can Too.
PC World Contributing Editor, James A. Martin, touted VoIP under his new column on Lessons Learned in 2006. Like many others before him, he admitted that he was hesitant to take the plunge. For every “good” story of a switch to VoIP, there are always going to be a few that weren’t as good.
I hesitated because I’d read too many reports of consumers who had experienced headaches when they made the switch. For instance, some have complained that porting their landline phone numbers to a VoIP service took months. Given that I’ve used the same landline business phone number since 1994, this potential problem alone gave me pause.
But then he stuck his toe in the tepid waters of the VoIP shore…
And so, nervously, I decided to take the plunge, signing up for a $15-per-month Vonage account, which includes 500 minutes of phone calls to the U.S., Canada, and Puerto Rico. Fortunately, I have nothing but positive experiences to report. The transfer of my landline phone number happened without any delays or hitches. The audio quality of my VoIP phone calls is consistently good and nearly the same as on a landline. The only difference is that VoIP calls sound just a tiny bit muffled. I’m saving approximately $500 a year, compared to what my landline business phone cost. And when I’m out of the office, the ability to receive voice mails as e-mail attachments is a convenience I highly recommend.
Now that isn’t to say VoIP is necessarily for you. This is just a survival story … from someone who took the leap and lived to tell about it. Just like hiring an IT Consultant - it’s a personal choice, and everyone has different criteria on what’s important to them. You’re the judge and jury on this one. Just presenting another case.