Comments on: What is VoIP? http://chris.pirillo.com/what-is-voip/ News and Reviews! Geek, Internet Entrepreneur, Hardware Addict, Software Junkie, Book Author, Once TV Show Host, Technology Enthusiast, Shameless Self-Promoter, Tech Conference Coordinator, Early Adopter, Idea Evangelist, Tech Support Blogger, Bootstrapper, Media Personality, Technology Consultant, Thicker Quicker Picker Upper. Mon, 23 Nov 2009 01:37:17 -0800 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.5 hourly 1 By: Sarah http://chris.pirillo.com/what-is-voip/comment-page-1/#comment-532690 Sarah Wed, 30 May 2007 12:33:24 +0000 http://chris.pirillo.com/2007/05/29/what-is-voip/#comment-532690 Just got Skype. My best girlfriend from college (37 years and counting, Kiddies) lives about 135 miles away in the same state. We need a cheap way to talk because we spend 2-6 hours a week on the phone with each other, so both of us had been using AT&T calling cards for all our long-distance calling to each other and anyone else. That worked great, at about 4 cents/minute, until the Federal government either mandated or allowed the calling cards to up the price. Now, here in PA, we get charged 5 units per minute (20 cents) to call each other within the state and only one unit to call outside the state. If we lived in Ohio, I found out, it would only be 3 units per minute (12 cents) for intrastate calling. Apparently the states have some control over how much gouging can be done within their borders on this issue. Needless to say, this sucks. So I started looking for an alternative, and VoIP came up. My hubby was against Vonage because of the lawsuit, so I kept looking and found Skype (from a Pirillo Pick, I believe). I downloaded, bought a cheap headset and called my buddy's land line. She said sound on her end was great. It was a bit loud on my end, but I'm sure I can diddle with the audio controls or get a better headset for it. The upshot of all this is that, although we will be tied to the PC to make calls (unless I buy a wireless hand unit to tie into our household LAN), my buddy and I can talk till our larynxs seize up, and we can call all the other relatives and friends, all for about $30 a YEAR with Skype's new calling plan in the US and Canada. Even if Skype goes under for some reason, I'll have gotten my money's worth if she and I talk for only a month or so. Just got Skype.
My best girlfriend from college (37 years and counting, Kiddies) lives about 135 miles away in the same state. We need a cheap way to talk because we spend 2-6 hours a week on the phone with each other, so both of us had been using AT&T calling cards for all our long-distance calling to each other and anyone else. That worked great, at about 4 cents/minute, until the Federal government either mandated or allowed the calling cards to up the price. Now, here in PA, we get charged 5 units per minute (20 cents) to call each other within the state and only one unit to call outside the state. If we lived in Ohio, I found out, it would only be 3 units per minute (12 cents) for intrastate calling. Apparently the states have some control over how much gouging can be done within their borders on this issue. Needless to say, this sucks.
So I started looking for an alternative, and VoIP came up. My hubby was against Vonage because of the lawsuit, so I kept looking and found Skype (from a Pirillo Pick, I believe). I downloaded, bought a cheap headset and called my buddy’s land line. She said sound on her end was great. It was a bit loud on my end, but I’m sure I can diddle with the audio controls or get a better headset for it. The upshot of all this is that, although we will be tied to the PC to make calls (unless I buy a wireless hand unit to tie into our household LAN), my buddy and I can talk till our larynxs seize up, and we can call all the other relatives and friends, all for about $30 a YEAR with Skype’s new calling plan in the US and Canada. Even if Skype goes under for some reason, I’ll have gotten my money’s worth if she and I talk for only a month or so.

]]> By: Sarah http://chris.pirillo.com/what-is-voip/comment-page-1/#comment-532689 Sarah Wed, 30 May 2007 12:33:24 +0000 http://chris.pirillo.com/2007/05/29/what-is-voip/#comment-532689 Just got Skype. My best girlfriend from college (37 years and counting, Kiddies) lives about 135 miles away in the same state. We need a cheap way to talk because we spend 2-6 hours a week on the phone with each other, so both of us had been using AT&T calling cards for all our long-distance calling to each other and anyone else. That worked great, at about 4 cents/minute, until the Federal government either mandated or allowed the calling cards to up the price. Now, here in PA, we get charged 5 units per minute (20 cents) to call each other within the state and only one unit to call outside the state. If we lived in Ohio, I found out, it would only be 3 units per minute (12 cents) for intrastate calling. Apparently the states have some control over how much gouging can be done within their borders on this issue. Needless to say, this sucks. So I started looking for an alternative, and VoIP came up. My hubby was against Vonage because of the lawsuit, so I kept looking and found Skype (from a Pirillo Pick, I believe). I downloaded, bought a cheap headset and called my buddy's land line. She said sound on her end was great. It was a bit loud on my end, but I'm sure I can diddle with the audio controls or get a better headset for it. The upshot of all this is that, although we will be tied to the PC to make calls (unless I buy a wireless hand unit to tie into our household LAN), my buddy and I can talk till our larynxs seize up, and we can call all the other relatives and friends, all for about $30 a YEAR with Skype's new calling plan in the US and Canada. Even if Skype goes under for some reason, I'll have gotten my money's worth if she and I talk for only a month or so. Just got Skype.
My best girlfriend from college (37 years and counting, Kiddies) lives about 135 miles away in the same state. We need a cheap way to talk because we spend 2-6 hours a week on the phone with each other, so both of us had been using AT&T calling cards for all our long-distance calling to each other and anyone else. That worked great, at about 4 cents/minute, until the Federal government either mandated or allowed the calling cards to up the price. Now, here in PA, we get charged 5 units per minute (20 cents) to call each other within the state and only one unit to call outside the state. If we lived in Ohio, I found out, it would only be 3 units per minute (12 cents) for intrastate calling. Apparently the states have some control over how much gouging can be done within their borders on this issue. Needless to say, this sucks.
So I started looking for an alternative, and VoIP came up. My hubby was against Vonage because of the lawsuit, so I kept looking and found Skype (from a Pirillo Pick, I believe). I downloaded, bought a cheap headset and called my buddy’s land line. She said sound on her end was great. It was a bit loud on my end, but I’m sure I can diddle with the audio controls or get a better headset for it. The upshot of all this is that, although we will be tied to the PC to make calls (unless I buy a wireless hand unit to tie into our household LAN), my buddy and I can talk till our larynxs seize up, and we can call all the other relatives and friends, all for about $30 a YEAR with Skype’s new calling plan in the US and Canada. Even if Skype goes under for some reason, I’ll have gotten my money’s worth if she and I talk for only a month or so.

]]> By: Dan Gray http://chris.pirillo.com/what-is-voip/comment-page-1/#comment-532902 Dan Gray Wed, 30 May 2007 01:44:32 +0000 http://chris.pirillo.com/2007/05/29/what-is-voip/#comment-532902 A couple of VOIPy notes ... Check out my big list of VOIP providers, and you'll see that 911 services are pretty much standard fare these days ... http://www.geekbooks.com/VOIP-comparison.htm I've been using AT&T's CallVantage service since the git-go and I'm quite happy with it, overall. I've never had the need to use the 911 service, thankfully ... but it's quite insistant about resetting itself every time the power goes out. To avoid the power outage problem, consider plugging your router(s) and VOIP box into their own UPS. Viva la VOIP! :) A couple of VOIPy notes …

Check out my big list of VOIP providers, and you’ll see that 911 services are pretty much standard fare these days …

http://www.geekbooks.com/VOIP-comparison.htm

I’ve been using AT&T’s CallVantage service since the git-go and I’m quite happy with it, overall. I’ve never had the need to use the 911 service, thankfully … but it’s quite insistant about resetting itself every time the power goes out.

To avoid the power outage problem, consider plugging your router(s) and VOIP box into their own UPS.

Viva la VOIP! :)

]]> By: voip related pages http://chris.pirillo.com/what-is-voip/comment-page-1/#comment-537318 voip related pages Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000 http://chris.pirillo.com/2007/05/29/what-is-voip/#comment-537318 <!--%kramer-pre%--> http://live.pirillo.com/ - Voice over Internet Protocol - - is a method of using the Internet to talk to people. technologies can be either software or hardware; for example, Skype offers both a software solution as well as a ... Read more <!--%kramer-post%--> http://live.pirillo.com/ – Voice over Internet Protocol – - is a method of using the Internet to talk to people. technologies can be either software or hardware; for example, Skype offers both a software solution as well as a … Read more

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