My newfound ability to listen in silence as my long-distance grammy keeps saying "hello? hello? Are you there, Brendan?"
You'd have to be even younger and less tech saavy than me to not know about Vonage, but as a bit of a newcomer to it myself, I figured I'd give you benefits of doubts and just tell you how much it rocks, which as it runs out is quite a lot.
It's not like we disliked Verizon, they were a good company for us. Reliable, consistent, fully loaded with all the traditional services you'd expect from a telephone company, but all the prices like it too.
You know what a normal plan is, but you may not know what a VOIP phone is. No, it's not pronounced "voyp" -- though that would be funny too -- VOIP is Voice Over Internet Protocal. It's the very same technology that cell and phone companies use to make oodles off you, but this way you get to keep your oodle-money for yourself.
Here's just some of the differences:
Old was like $35 and Vonage is only $24.99
Old charged us $17/month for voicemail and caller ID. Vonage gives you all that for FREE plus another dozen premium services, still FREE.
Old charged us 18 cents/min to call grammy (who lives an hour away) but Vonage let's mama do it for free, plus other states, Canada and Puerto Rico all also unlimited.
Calling China on old, $4/min. Calling China with Vonage, 10 cents/min.
Yes, 9-1-1 calls work fine and you've got call waiting, conference calling, number portability (allowing you to keep your old number wherever you go) and a ton of other benefits, but I'd be remiss to not mention what's less than perfect. I mean, it's not like there are no shortcomings with a VOIP service like Vonage.
Some shortcomings:
I don't know anyone in Puerto Rico for this unlimited calling benefit, in fact, I couldn't even find it on a map.
No confusing bills for the parents to pour over, dissect, interpret and solve like some unimaginably complicated puzzle.
Overpriced long-distance barrons no longer call us with "fantastic offers"... to take our money.
Now, mind you, by recommending Vonage I do have something to gain. Feel free to color my endorsement thusly, but bear in mind I'd never recommend a product, service, event or attraction unless I'd used it myself and thorougly believed in it. Wegot nothing for most any of our glowing reviews (like Norcom whou didn't even write us back) but this one just happens to be a "best of all worlds" scenario.
So, if you have a high-speed internet connection and want to learn how great Vonage is, how much money it can save your familial budget, and sign up, click this link and we'll get an ounce of credit for it.
And to punctuate how very different the old phones and VOIP phones are let me say, they both pick up and dial in the traditional fashion from the very same handset but our 6-month average of $86 per month is now under $30 a month.
Don't know about you, but I can tell you: I like them apples. And also, I like apples.
