replacing personal phone with VoIP

ehnde

Hello fellow TE'ers! What are your thoughts about replacing your cell phone with a VoIP service like skype? I haven't used a landline in over 8 years. AT&T is the only reliable carrier where I live for cell phone service, and their rates are ridiculous. Basic cell phone service should be something like $20 for unlimited talk to any number in the U.S., and instead these greedy pigs charge as much as they can get away with.

I run a really tight budget and thought I could take the $60/month I'd be saving and put it towards the cost of certification exams. So who uses skype? Can you recommend any other VoIP company? How much are you paying (I need an actual phone number so that I can receive phone calls). I'm also worried that not having a mobile phone and only just VoIP service could interfere with my employability.....I'm currently looking casually for a part time job. I'd hate to miss a call!

tbgree00

I've heard a lot of good things about the OOMA hub system. I almost bought one for my house until it was vetoed by my wife (aka the CFO). Basically you buy the system and get free calls on it. You can pay for a premium account which is 10/month or use their basic service free after buying the machine. I've never used it but have heard great reviews about it. It's website is www.ooma.com and I think I've seen it at Best Buy and on Amazon.

edit: I missed the part about it replacing a cell phone and not a home phone. I don't think these are true cell phone replacements. It looks like there's an iOS app for Ooma but I'm not sure about skype. Really if you want to get the call immediately and you're away from home a lot this won't work. People survived for years without cell phones but I don't know how an employer's expectations have changed now.

tiersten

ehnde wrote: »

Basic cell phone service should be something like $20 for unlimited talk to any number in the U.S., and instead these greedy pigs charge as much as they can get away with.

Have you actually done the numbers for this or are you just pulling numbers out of the air and claiming that they're being greedy by not offering you unlimited everything via cell for $20?

ehnde wrote: »

I'm currently looking casually for a part time job. I'd hate to miss a call!

If you're worried about missing a call then you can't get rid of your cell phone as they're not the same type of service. Replacing your landland (which you don't have) with a VoIP service is an easy changeover as they're both used as a fixed line service. Unless you can guarantee WiFi access everywhere with your laptop or PDA then it isn't equivalent to a cell phone.

varelg

tiersten wrote: »

... Unless you can guarantee WiFi access everywhere with your laptop or PDA then it isn't equivalent to a cell phone.

Exactly. As it is, VoIP service when you sign up with any provider is absolutely reliant on wifi connection. But you don't get it everywhere, even in more populated urban areas.
Land lines are the equivalent of fosilized dinosaurs when it comes to voice communications. But if you plan to sit at home and take calls there, costwise, it may be a proper solution. Consider that VoIP goes out when your broadband goes down too, and broadband outage is more likely to happen than landline outage. On the flipside, telemarketers just LOVE landlines so make sure you post your number on the appropriate no- call lists.

tiersten

Find the cheapest cell plan you can which doesn't charge you for incoming calls. Dialing out will only be as a last resort.

Sign up for a Google Voice account and point it at your cell number. Give out the Google Voice number and not the direct cell number.

Google Voice can then handle your voice mails and you can call out via it for free when you've got WiFi access.

Getting a cell phone that can actually use the Google Voice application is optional. It will work without it but you don't get the nice features like caller ID.

Devilsbane

Has anyone ever tried magic jack?

Otherwise you could pick up an ipod touch and then use that new app that can be used as a phone. Then just ensure you have wireless at home.

EDIT: I believe the name of the app is line2

ehnde

tiersten wrote: »

Find the cheapest cell plan you can which doesn't charge you for incoming calls. Dialing out will only be as a last resort.

Sign up for a Google Voice account and point it at your cell number. Give out the Google Voice number and not the direct cell number.

Google Voice can then handle your voice mails and you can call out via it for free when you've got WiFi access.

Getting a cell phone that can actually use the Google Voice application is optional. It will work without it but you don't get the nice features like caller ID.

+1 I that's a great idea