Is VOIP (Voice over IP) really mature enough to get rid of the landline, and what would you do with my personal phone/business phone(s) situation?...story to follow. [more inside]
posted by teg4rvn on Mar 27, 2009 - 16 answers

Can anyone recommend an open-source-protocol-based just-for-home-use VOIP provider & software? I'm pretty sure I don't want Skype, pretty sure I don't want Yahoo Messenger - security issues, not knowing what's really going on with these packages once they're installed, plus the license/privacy/etc. agreements are long and pretty bad. [more inside]
posted by amtho on Oct 6, 2008 - 8 answers

Important Skype Issue! I primarily use Skype for voicemails, however I am getting lots of complaints that Skype's line is busy. Every time I open Skype the preferences are set to only allow calls from people in my contact list. I keep setting them to allow calls from anyone and they keep going back to only accepting calls from people in my contacts list. [more inside]
posted by arniec on Aug 14, 2008 - 3 answers

Does Skype "smooth" your voice to make it sound mellower, more seductive etc.? That's my impression; but is there any evidence to support it? I suppose an analogous means of customer retention might be the use in shops of "slimming mirrors".
posted by londongeezer on Feb 20, 2007 - 15 answers

TelephonyFilter: Is there any Internet telephony provider that will allow you to receive incoming calls, but does NOT require that you have voicemail service? When I spoke with representatives at Skype, they said that the voicemail feature can not be disabled. I would be more than happy to use Vonage, however, due to the way my Internet is set up, it doesn't work (a known issue with this particular ISP). All I want is some way to set up a phone number and receive incoming calls ONLY--with NO voicemail, NO forwarding, NO call waiting. Is there any such service out there?
posted by polexxia on Dec 12, 2006 - 7 answers

Experience with Vonage or any VOIP in Toronto? I know it's been asked before but figure the technology may have improved. Also, what about some of their other products?
posted by Manhasset on Aug 18, 2006 - 9 answers

How exactly do VoIP services place calls to POTS lines? [more inside]
posted by Brian James on Jul 11, 2006 - 6 answers

I'm strongly leaning toward dumping Verizon and switching to Gizmo. What I'm curious about is the actual user experience of making and receiving VOIP calls. Is it be a hassle to be tethered to the computer via a headset? Do I need to leave my computer on all the time? How do I check voicemail (it's got something to do with e-mail, apparently -- does Gizmo e-mail me WAV files or something)? How do I dial out? If I'm making a call to an automated system that requires touch-tone data entry, how would I do this? How expensive and complicated would it be to route my calls to a conventional handset?
posted by Artifice_Eternity on May 11, 2006 - 8 answers

We've decided to get rid of our landline and go with a softphone. The question is: which to choose? We have cable internet. We'd need call in (our own phone number) and call out (ability to call landlines from our PC). For the most part, we'd be talking to people with landlines. I know we can't dial 911 with these-- we have an old cell phone (no more minutes left, but kept charged up) for this purpose. What's better? Skype? Gizmo? Yahoo? Or something else? We know that USB handsets are available with Skype-- what about the others? Also, how would this work with a home network? Are we restricted to calling from one PC or can we do it from any PC in the house?
posted by Shoeburyness on Apr 17, 2006 - 8 answers

I've got a few questions regarding ditching a landline for VoIP. [More Inside] [more inside]
posted by riffola on Jun 15, 2004 - 17 answers