RING IN A NEW ERA Voice over Internet Protocol calling service

The Free Lance-Star ^ | 5/27/06 | MICHAEL ZITZ

[Pop Fly]

Interesting article with the co-founder of SunRocket. Lot's of my friends have SunRocket, and I find the VoIP industry very interesting, so thought I would share.

[billorites]

I've been voice chatting via Google Talk for some time.

Now via Skype you can call any U.S. and Canadian cell phone or land line for free through the end of the year. This is in addition to the free voice chat to PC service that they already offer worldwide.

Works like a charm.

I bet that the competitive pressures in the industry will keep it free even after the end of the year.

[CyberAnt]

I just changed over to EarthLink's True Voice. I like it very much. They were offering free long distance and other services (like call waiting/caller ID, etc.) which I was having to pay extra for with AT&T. I have family members in other states with serious illnesses - and this service is better for me. This is costing me $24.99 (plus tax), which is the same cost I had with AT&T, except I had to pay for the extras and long distance.

We had a few false starts, but their tech people were really great and it only took us about 3 days to figure out what the problem was and solve it. Ever since then, I have not had any problems with the system at all.

I love being able to just pick up my phone and call my family members long distance and I don't have to worry about the cost.

[VOA]

bump for reference

[Clara Lou]

I have a question: What about the expectation of privacy with VOIP? I don't think there is any. That's why I'm very reluctant to give up my land line. Anyone know anything about this?

[advance_copy]

Mark for later read.

[Pop Fly]

Can't speak for other companies, but I know SunRocket has very comprehensive privacy rules.

http://www.sunrocket.com/privacy/data/

http://www.sunrocket.com/privacy/

[SwankyC]

Who told you your land line was secure? Are you using a wireless phone receiver with that land line? That's not secure either.

[Clara Lou]

I wasn't speaking of information privacy. I'm speaking of conversation privacy. These phone calls go out over the Internet, including wireless. People can accidentally or purposely listen in on conversations.

[Clara Lou]

We have a legal expectation of privacy with a land line. That's why there are wiretap laws, etc. [Let's not get into the NSA thing.] Yes, yes, I know about portable phones. That's not a land line anymore, then, is it?
I'm concerned about privacy expectations with VOIP.

[isom35]

I think only the NSA is listening to your landline, so no worries... :)

[CyberAnt]

As long as you're not calling terrorists, or they're not calling you .. I don't know what privacy issue you're talking about.

[southland]

Dyber Ant: I have Vonage which works ok like your system. I agree that competition will keep the costs low. I had no problems setting up my system going but I admit I had a prior user to give me advice.
It is difficult to get people to think outside the box like: NO long distance fees. I call people all over the USA and blow their minds about no long distance fees.
I have problems when the net is slow but I just use my cell phone then.

[southland]

Regarding privacy?? I heard one report that voip was more secure since little pods of info goes through more than one route. I do not have any good infor on this I like my Vonage.

[stormlead]

Many VoIP applications, such as Skype, encrypt voice data. Most common is 128-bit encryption- should keep your average pimply teen from hearing your conversations.

[Clara Lou]

Thanks. That's the kind of information I was interested in but don't quite know how to look up for myself.

[CyberAnt]

I also have a cell phone, but I have Time Warner's Road Runner internet service so I don't have any problems with my phone so far. I agree it's imperative to have a cell phone these days with this type of service (or any service) if the power goes off or your cable service goes out. Time Warner just recently upgraded our section of the county, and even throughout the bad storms we had this year, we never lost our cable service.

The only thing I've noticed is a slight 2-3 second delay from the time I dial the number until it starts ringing - but I can life with that. The only other issue I had at the beginning was a little feedback when I would call locally, especially my neighbor. However, that issue seemed to have solved itself.

I'm very happy .. my son is in the hospital 1300 miles away and I love being able to call him everyday.

[IronJack]

I remember the old Firetalk days here on FR. Supplanted by PalTalk, which sucked by comparison, but which still emphasized a whole new communication paradigm that's got to have the long-distance guys stashing funds in their offshore accounts.

[steve86]

Our experiences parallel yours.

A couple of VoIP "router" firmware upgrades improved an echoing problem, to the point it is barely noticeable now.

Even overseas calls have had excellent clarity recently.

It's true; the initial connection seems to take a bit longer than a landline, but not always.

E911 is fully implemented but we haven't (fortunately) yet tested it.

Your old landline should still have a dialtone on it for calling 911 if all else fails, unless it has been disconnected locally.

I do have a the router equipment on a UPS, but if power is out region-wide, very little of any kind of electronic communication will work. Some switches are served by generators and not others and all will run out of fuel eventually.

[Major_Risktaker]

Philip Zimmermann
Secure Voice over IP: Zfone

Zfone Get iT!