phone service

[cellio]

We're paying too much for phone service and want to reduce that, but -- as you would expect -- there is no one-stop source of information on the options. (Quick, someone set up phonesfordummies.com!) Part of the problem might be that we need to change the way we think about phone usage. So, I turn to the brain trust. :-)

We currently have a land line, from which we do most of our calling, and two cell phones with minimal usage (but enough that we want to keep them). We have, for each phone, a $20/month plan that provides 40 minutes (20 peak, 20 not). We feel we're over-paying for the land line; Verizon makes it hard to find out about the lower-end options and all the other fees you'll pay in advance, and we probably got sold a bill of goods on our current plan. We can undo that.

Most of our calls are local or regional. We rarely make long-distance calls, except to his family in Canada. Conventional long-distance plans really only mean the US, by the way. We used to sometimes use those 10-10-### plans for long distance, except that we couldn't keep track of which ones were best for which types of calls and when we lost the cheat sheet next to the phone we didn't recreate it.

I don't know how much Dani cares, but I want to use a conventional phone for most calls, particularly longer ones. Cell phones are not as comfortable to hold (and sometimes be able to hear on), and I assume VoIP constrains me to use a mic while sitting at my computer, which is sub-optimal. (We are, by the way, very satisfied with our DSL service, so we're probably not open to changing that as part of a package.)

My current thinking is that we should get a minimal local service plan for the land line and use cell phones for long-distance calls. This implies that we want cell plans that include free long distance (I gather that's common). Ideally, we'd have a two-phone single plan (shared bucket of minutes), but so far those look more expensive than two individual plans. Maybe I just don't know where to shop. Carriers don't advertise their cheaper options sometimes; we couldn't find our current plan on Sprint's web site when we last looked for it.

We currently have Sprint for the cell phones. We like the phones and the service has been fine so far. We're not averse to buying new phones if we need to change carriers. We do both require phones that fit comfortably in a pocket, which presumably means flip-phones. We basically don't care about other features. We want to keep our phone numbers.

Who and what should we be looking at? What other questions should we be asking ourselves?

Comments

[cafemusique.livejournal.com]

Don't totally rule out VOIP. I don't use it, but I gather that most providers offer telephones that either plug into the router or through your computer or some sort of adapter to convert your existing phone for VOIP use. (I'm not exactly sure, because I don't use VOIP, because I so rarely make long-distance calls.)

I could pass any questions on to my brother in Texas, though, because I know he uses Vonage's VOIP service.

[cellio]

Thanks. I didn't know about the adapters; that would make things much easier.

[goldsquare.livejournal.com]

I went wireless about a year and a half ago. Wouldn't switch. Add to that
Skype (http:/www.skype.com) (which I use at work, not yet at home) and you might be able to cut the landline altogether.

Note that in a power failure, you'd have to use cell phones. Same for DSL failure.

Also note that E911 does not work as well with cell phones - but that may not be an issue.

My cell is perfectly comfortable to use - when I use the headset.

[cellio]

Thanks! Skype looks like an interesting option for outgoing calls, especially to Canada. I don't know if I'd want to use it for incoming just yet, what with being tied to the computer, but for many outgoing calls it'd be just the thing. I'll have to give it a spin.

My cell is perfectly comfortable to use - when I use the headset.

But do you carry a headset around with you? How?

[goldsquare.livejournal.com]

I carry an earpiece with integrated microphone. It, and the wire, fit in my pocket easily. If I had bothered with the expense of a Bluetooth headset, I might not need the wire. :-)

[dsrtao]

OK. Let's start with VOIP. The deal with microphones and headsets and the computer is called a softphone; that's not what Vonage or Packet8 or whoever is selling. The commercial product consists of an ATA, an analog telephone adapter, which plugs into your ethernet (going to the Internet) on one side, and a normal phone on the other side. You pick up the handset, you dial, you get connected. Quality is about on a par with cellphones, sometimes better, sometimes worse. If the net connection goes down, you have no phone service.

If Pennsylvania is one of the states that they operate in, I would recommend IDT for basic phone service. They have an all-you-can-talk local and long distance (US) plan, which, inclusive of all fees and taxes, costs me $58/month. Note that Verizon Freedom advertises a price which is less than that, but does not include taxes and mandatory fees...
Canada is 5 cents/minute, other international calls are about on a par with anyone else.

On the other hand, maybe you do want a good cell plan. $60 /month will buy you two cell phones sharing 500 minutes a month, with free inbound calls. The phones themselves cost extra. (www.verizonwireless.com)

[goldsquare.livejournal.com]

If dollar figures matter, shop for used or obsolete phones on eBay, and maybe get an unlock code to use them with your new service.

Phones are cheap, and as long as they are GSM dual band phones, should be fine.

[dsrtao]

Not for VZW. Only T-Mobile and Cingular use GSM in the US.

[goldsquare.livejournal.com]

True? Silly VZW.... :-) (Can you tell we don't do much work with Verizon?)

[cellio]

Thanks for the explanation of VoIP. So it sounds like I can plug a phone in anywhere that I have ethernet cable run to. This covers some parts of the house well and some badly, but that could be fixable. (Ha! I knew we should have run ethernet to the kitchen! I foolishly thought "when will I ever have a computer in here?".)

$60 /month will buy you two cell phones sharing 500 minutes a month, with free inbound calls.

Ooh. That would be a significant improvement over anything we've been able to find from Sprint so far. Sounds like we need to investigate Verizon and (from someone else's comments) Cingular. Thanks.

[(Anonymous)]

I don't know much. We got phones from Cingular for $60/month (somewhat less for us, because we can get a company discount) that give us 500 anytime minutes, unlimited night and weekend minutes, free long distance and roaming, and unlimited calling each other (which is nice, because most of our cell phone usage is calling each other). The minutes roll over from month to month, and it doesn't look like we'll ever exhaust the supply.

Phone number portability is universal; that's not a discriminating point among options.

[ralphmelton.livejournal.com]

This was my remark; I apologize for not noticing my namelessness.

[cellio]

Thanks. Sounds like we should be checking out Cingular! (How's their coverage in and around Pittsburgh?)

[ralphmelton.livejournal.com]

I haven't had any problems, but I've only had the phone for a month. This page has a link to their coverage map: http://www.cingular.com/cingular_advantage

[rani23.livejournal.com]

I have a landline for emergencies and if people want to call me. I have no extras, no long distance -- because not only do you have to pay for that, but you also have to pay for extra taxes and fees that go with them. The landline is approximately $14 a month.

I also use my cellphone a heck of alot. I pay about $50 a month (Cingular) for my phone and have about 1500 minutes per month with unlimited weekends.

[cellio]

Thanks for the information. I hadn't considered that we might be paying fees just to have long distance on the line! If we can get the land line down to $14/month it'll be worth keeping around for incoming calls. Heck, if we pay a few cents more because we made some outgoing calls that's fine too.

[rani23.livejournal.com]

Oh yeah, long distance has all sorts of fees and taxes on it, including the Universal Service Fees (which is a tax, not a fee...) and etc. I can go on at length about that sometime if you like...or not. :)

[dvarin.livejournal.com]

If you switch to cell-phone-only long distance, be sure to check all areas you might want to talk for how well the cell works there. I switched to that, only to find out later that the only place in my building that I get worthwhile reception is on the roof. :)

That said, my land line is about $14/month, and I think the only extra I have is "number portability" (taking your number with you when you move). You can opt out of that too if you want, but it's cheap so I didn't bother. On the other hand, to get that low I had to go for one of the charge-per-call plans. They charge me seven cents per local daytime weekday call or something, and I've got 25 cents of free allowance per month. Since I'm never at home during the day during the week, I usually don't go over that.

[cellio]

Thanks. Someone else pointed me at Skype, which seems a reasonable supplement for long distance that doesn't depend on cell coverage. Instead, it depends on DSL. :-) (You can make calls to land lines for about 2 cents per minute to everywhere we're likely to call.) It's not a complete solution because it does require that you sit at your computer with a headset, but it's not like we're making gazillions of long-distance calls so that'd be fine. And we'd just use it for outgoing calls, not incoming.

[mrpeck.livejournal.com]

I am signed up for long distance with GTC. I used to use them a lot before I got my cell phone and it doesn't cost anything to have their long distance and not use it so it's a decent backup.

voip and cell

[brokengoose.livejournal.com]

There's an article about consumer VOIP at O'Reilly Network (http://www.oreillynet.com/pub/a/network/2005/06/27/talkischeap.html). The author is, in my opinion, far too optimistic in almost every scenario, but he does a decent job with the basics.

For what it's worth, Laura and I considered the same thing (cell for long-distance). It works okay for me, but I think Laura really prefers making long distance calls on the cordless telephone rather than the cell phone. Consequently, we may drop back to a basic cell plan on both phones until the contract's up. It's not worth it to us unless we're both using the same system.

As far as cell companies go, $20/month seems to be the minimum for a normal plan. Virgin Mobile has a pre-paid plan that uses Sprint's network and makes you buy $20 worth of minutes (between 80 and 200 minutes, depending on how you use them) every three months. $7/month isn't bad for a light user. If we could get -any- Sprint coverage where we live, we'd still be using the Virgin Mobile phones.

Re: voip and cell

[cellio]

Thanks for the link and the pointer to Virgin Mobile! $7/month for light usage sounds like a fine idea.