Progressing to VoIP

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¢*