Washington Post personal technology columnist Rob Pegoraro answers reader e-mail and expands on themes he touches on in his weekly newspaper column. The e-mail version of this weekly feature includes links to the latest gadget and software reviews. • Click Here for Free Sign-up • Read E-letter Archive
AT&T also outdid Vonage with its calling features, including such thoughtful free extras as a "Locate Me" option that will forward a call to other designated numbers until you pick up. A "Do Not Disturb" setting greets callers with a message that you don't want to be bothered unless it's an emergency (in which case they can press 2).
These features were also easier to set up -- to record a voice mail greeting, click a link on the CallVantage site and the service instantly rings your phone, allowing you to speak your greeting.
AT&T's biggest advantage, however, is its name. Would a company called AT&T wreck your phone service?
Packet8 finished in third place, even though it offered the best call quality overall and its $19.95 plan includes unlimited local and long-distance calls, Canada included.
The design of its adapter, with only one Ethernet port, makes it unusable on many home networks. It's clunkier -- if you forget to dial a "1" before every number, calls ring infinitely instead of at least bouncing you to an error message. Its calling features are far more limited: number-only Caller ID and no voice mail notification, let alone delivery, via e-mail. Fax and modem use, possible on the other services, isn't here. 911 calling costs $3 a month extra instead of being included in the base price.
These services aren't for everyone. If you make very few phone calls in the first place, you'll save money by getting a low-end land-line plan. If you make a lot of calls, you may still come out ahead by picking the right calling-card plan -- the VoIP services often had great international rates, as low as 2 or 3 cents a minute to Europe or Japan, but I found cheaper rates to other countries, such as India.
You should also consider whether, instead of spending $20 or $30 a month on VoIP, you would be better off using all or part of that cash to upgrade your cell phone's calling plan.
But for anybody looking to add a second or third phone line, or who routinely spends hours a month on long-distance calls, VoIP looks like the way to go. It's here, it works (well enough) and it will save you real money. And I expect it will get better in a hurry. You'll soon see cable or DSL modems with built-in VoIP circuitry, eliminating the confusing setup -- followed by VoIP phones that include their own WiFi receivers, so you can make calls using any available WiFi signal.
It's been a long time since local phone service was remotely interesting, but that's about to change.
Living with technology, or trying to? E-mail Rob Pegoraro at rob@twp.com.
