Is A Net Phone Right for You?
Illustration: Doug Ross
You should consider an Internet phone if you...
...rely exclusively on your cell phone but still want a fixed phone line in your home or office. Cell phones are convenient, but they can be quite expensive, especially if you use them to make international calls.
...are comfortable troubleshooting your home network. Net phones sometimes require power cycling--you unplug the adapter, wait 10 seconds, and reconnect. You also may need to tweak IP addresses to activate the adapter.
...don't have a security system or satellite TV decoder that requires a connection to a telephone line. Internet phones don't work with such devices. If you own either one or both, you might consider retaining a regular phone line just to use with them, despite the added cost.
...are willing to sacrifice audio quality for dollar savings. On one hand, clipped and garbled words aren't uncommon; but on the other hand, Net-phone quality is typically superior to that of cellular calls.
Photograph: Rick Rizner
VoicePulse (which uses the Sipura SPA-2000 phone adapter, shown on the right) and Vonage (which uses the Motorola VT1000 adapter, on the left) deliver excellent audio clarity that's a notch above what the competition provides. Both of these phone services offer directory assistance (for a small fee), and their service plans can cost half as much as landline alternatives. Vonage throws in the benefit of 911 service.
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