About 6 months ago I decided that paying thirty-something dollars a month to have a land-line at home was becoming a joke - especially since we often made less that $7 worth of calls on it a month. So I rang my provider (
Optus) and asked to be disconnected. After 2 transfers I was asked why I wanted to leave [too expensive], I was then offered my monthly line rental for only $10 a month for the next 6 months. So I took it. Half a year later I read that the reoccurring charges would be increased by an extra $2. The next bill showed that I had been reverted to the full monthly charge. After a quick phone call I disconnected my line. For the next 2 weeks I received mail from Optus addressed to the "New Resident" offering discounts if I bundled products with them for 12 months. Nice try.
After a few months of solely using our mobiles my mum calls and basically says "this will need to be a quick call as I'm paying long-distance". Well she's probably paying more than if it was long distance, but I got the hint. Around the same time (early April) my APC magazine came in the mail with an article on Voice Over Internet Protocol (
VOIP). I have been interested in this for awhile but wary as none of the major carriers where offering it (but why would they - it would add more salt to the land-line wound). So now I'm taking it seriously and on the verge of going ahead.
Some of my requirements are:
- minimal to no monthly fee
- inbound number
- ability to use existing analogue phone
Nice to have are:
- web management
- caller ID
- voicemail
- voicemail to email
- call forwarding
- soft-phone (for OSX)
I have started a simple comparison of what I used to pay (Landline) and what I currently pay (mobile) to what the various VOIP providers offer.
Comparison
Correct for most of April 2005
Key:
- * calls per minute (else untimed)
- () Flagfall
| Provider |
Monthly |
To mobile |
To Local |
To National |
| Optus Landline |
$29.95 |
37¢* (37¢) |
15¢ |
24¢* (37¢) |
| Optus Mobile |
$0 |
36¢* (25¢) |
- |
74¢* (25¢) |
| Engin |
$9.95 |
30¢* |
10¢ |
10¢* |
| Freshtel |
$9.95 |
30¢* |
7¢* |
7¢* |
| myfone |
$15 |
29¢* |
10¢ |
10¢* |
