Net Phones Grow Up

Dump the Landline?

IP telephony still has reliability issues. For one thing, if your broadband connection fails, so does your phone service. And if the power goes dead, your phone is out of order. (Not always, though: Comcast's adapter comes with a backup battery.) If you need to call 911 during a blackout, a flood, an earthquake, or some other emergency, a Net phone may be of little help.

On the other hand, VoIP does have perks. Customers can select any area code they want, regardless of their geographical location. And VoIP phones aren't tied to a home or office. You can call from a hotel or from halfway around the world--anywhere you can jack into high-speed Internet.

Businesses stand to benefit from VoIP, too. For instance, Packet8's Virtual Office, a $40-per-month Internet-based phone system, allows an unlimited number of staff extensions, even if the staffers are in a different city or continent. AT&T, Lingo, and Vonage have $50-per-month business plans with a fax line and unlimited calls to the United States and Canada. Lingo offers free Western Europe minutes, too.

One thing's for certain: The Internet is unmistakably the future of telephony.