The Bottom Line Comparison Of VOIP Service Providers

by Jay Anderson

There is a lot of competition in the VOIP service market today where it seems like almost everyone is offering VOIP service for your home. You see the ads on TV, you get flyers with your Mastercard statements every month, and it is hard to tell which ones are real and which are simply marketing hype. How can you tell which is the real deal?

First and foremost, you must understand that most VOIP services really do work as they claim, but the long pole in the tent is the stability and reliability of your high speed Internet connection. Since this connection is used to make and receive phone calls on your VOIP phone, if that connection is not reliable and stable, there is not a VOIP carrier anywhere that can provide what you would consider good service, and it is not the VOIP carrier’s fault. Don’t even consider VOIP if your high speed Internet connection is satellite, because that was never designed to work with VOIP and you will be sorely disappointed.

So if your DSL or cable high speed Internet connection is reliable and stable, then how can you make an informed decision as to which VOIP service gives you the best value? You can start by looking at the feature set, which unfortunately is pretty much the same with all of the major ones, where they include unlimited local and long distance calling within continental US, voicemail, call waiting, caller ID, and three way calling. Really, what else do you really need?

Ok, so looking at the feature set did not help us narrow our choices, so now let’s look at the cost. Now things start to get interesting. The one doing the most commercial advertising, Vonage, costs $24.99 per month. That stands to reason, and their customers are subsidizing their advertising expenditures. Other popular brands like Packet8 and Earthlink VOIP also charge $24.99 per month. Charter and Comcast, two popular ISP’s both charge $29.99 per month for their VOIP service.

You need to be aware of our Editor’s Choice Top Pick and Best Pick option for the best VOIP service offering. The cost is $19.99 per month and they provide even more features than the ones mentioned above, since they also include unlimited calling to both Canada and Puerto Rico as well as within continental US. Additionally if you wish to save even more, you have the option to pay for a year upfront, which brings the monthly cost down to less than $17.00 per month.

This company does not advertise at Circuit City, Frys or Best Buy and they do not include flyers in your bank statements and Visa statements every month. But at the same time, they are not charging you more and expecting you to subsidize their advertising costs like the others do.

Nobody wants to spend more than they need to and VOIP is no different in that way. If your high speed Internet is reliable and stable, see what we recommend for residential VOIP service and you will see why they have earned our Best Value recommendation.

About the Author:

For more insights and additional information about VOIP Service Provider Comparison and to see our Top Pick and Best Value recommendation for residential VOIP service, please visit our web site at http://www.voipinsideinfo.com/our_expert_opinion_and_picks.php