VoIP Floats
Based on my VoIP gotcha, Lockergnomie David Scott…
The technical problems you mention seem significant enough to make me question the reliability of VoIP – at least in your situation. There are other considerations. Does the phone work when you lose power? Most VoIP does not. How are you going to call the power company to let them know you're in the dark? You do point out a 911 problem with VoIP but there is more. Can your local 911 operator know where the call is originating? Some land-lines are hard to locate their origins and cell and VoIP often isn't locatable with many 911 systems. With cell phones the phone must have GPS and the 911 center be equipped to use the GPS signal on your phone or the 911 center has to be able to use triagulation with cell towers to appoximate your location.
With regular land lines, there is a good chance the operator will be able to determine where you are calling from because a land-line is fixed to a specific address and dispatch help whether you know your own address or not … or whether you can speak or not. Something to think about. I hope you never find yourself in the dark with no power and someone trying to break down your front door! I also hope your teenage babysitter knows your street address when your child has had an accident. No, I'm not a phone company employee nor do I own phone company stock. I don't own cable stock or work for them, either. I do appreciate those who are early adopters of technology so the bugs can be worked out for the rest of us.
I'm still likely to stick with a VoIP solution, despite today's drawbacks. Sure, I've gotta get land lines for the show, but that doesn't mean I care to despute my telephone bill with the local phone company every single month. Everybody else says Skype, but… I'm not sure Skype is “there” yet.
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2 Comments
Matt Hartley
May 26th, 2005
at 7:01pm
At first, I thought that Vonage would be the best way to go. Then I had some issues with Vonage as a company.
SkypeOut is killer, but SkypeIn…not so much.
Anonymous
May 28th, 2005
at 5:17pm
As of a couple of weeks back, VOIP providers have until the end of September to provide enhanced 911 dialing to all subscribers, as mandated by the FCC. As for the loss of power issue, my response has been to purchase a “pay as you go” cell phone from Virgin Mobile. Per minute cost is high, but I don't care. I didn't buy it for social talking, I bought it for emergency use, should the need arise. There's no monthly fee, and I signed up for Virgin's unadvertised but available at their website plan: $15.00 worth of talktime every 90 days, billed automatically to a credit card…and even with this backup cell service, I'm still saving over $10.00 a month over the traditional phone service that I had previously. Finally, keep in mind that nothing is infallible in this world. After Hurricane Isabel hit this area two years ago, a friend of mine had no telephone service (standard Verizon landline) for over two weeks.