There are some trade-offs to consider before plunging into Internet calling.
- Voice Quality: Much better than it used to be, and indistinguishable from traditional in most cases. However, quality is only as good as your broadband connection, so if it has problems, your phone calling will as well.
- 911 Location: You'll need to register your physical location, as 911 won't be able to find you as it can with regular phone service.
- Power or Broadband Outage: Means no phone service. In our opinion, this might be the biggest flaw with Internet calling, as people are putting their two main ways of communicating (Internet + phone) on a single platform. Not an ideal situation in times of emergency. Less of an issue if you have wireless as a backup.
- Multiple house jacks: If you currently have several phones tied to a single wired line, the best solution to replicate that is to get a cordless phone set that supports multiple handsets running off a single base station.
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Important Tax/Fee Update!
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As of July, 2006, the government will no longer collect the 3% federal excise tax on telecommunications. However, at the same time, VoIP providers will now be required to contribute to the Universal Service Fund, which helps subsidize service in rural and low-income areas. The contribution rate for this fund varies by quarter and can even vary by VoIP provider (because it is based on interstate call percentages). Initially, however, it is expected to be about 6.8%, and we have updated our tax/fee calculations accordingly.
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