VoIP Service Compared to Landline Service
The technical revolution initiated by the internet is consistently finding ways to make the acknowledged standard of technology of the 20th century obsolete. While a standard landline phone may have been a fabulous thing in Grandma’s first home of the 1940s, increasing numbers of consumers are concluding that it has no place in their own 21st century home.
By using already built in infrastructure, and the internet connection that a vast percentage of American households already pay for, VoIP avoids additional costs for voice communication. If no one in your household utilizes an internet connection, it might be simpler for you to remain in the century you already live in. However, part of the fascination of internet technology is the fabulous new ways it finds make things more convenient, and less expensive.
VoIP Service |
Traditional Phone Service |
| Costs 20-25 $ a month for the average consumer, including international and long distance calls. | Costs 30-40 $ average as a base fee, which can be as much as 50-70$ with international and long-distance calls added on at traditional phone company rates. |
| Uses a IP phone, or an ATA converter to maximize use of a broadband internet connection | Uses a land-line connection infrastructure tied with physical phone lines. |
| One price bill.No hidden costs or taxes | Subject to market and community forces. Unplanned taxes and service fees are often applied. |
| Plan flexibility is very high. You can select a specific VoIP provider and a specific VoIP plan that is tailored directly to your needs as a consumer | Most communities have a very limited selection of phone companies to accept service with. In addition, consumers are limited to the features offered by the phone companies in their area, and often required to pay more for specific specialized features they wish desire. |
| Customer service is much higher in quality because the VoIP providers have a greater vested interest in keeping you as a customer. This is due to the higher volume of competitive VoIP providers, as well as the ease with which a consumer can switch from one provider to another. | The local phone companies have a fairly static customer area base. They are not required to tailor their services to fit customer demand on as regular a basis as the internet VoIP providers. In addition, switching between area phone companies is an unbelievable hassle, where it’s possible at all. |
| VoIP provides a myriad of features that are not available with a local telephone company. The nature of internet service enhances customer ease of feature management, and customized selection of those features. | Traditional telephone companies are limited by the capability of what their land lines can do. They simply cannot provide some of the services common to internet VoIP providers |
| Relocation only affects your VoIP service as long as it takes to plug your ATA device back in and start-up your internet connection. There are no cancellation or activation fees, and no waiting on the new local phone company to install or activate a line. | Landline phone companies are locally based of necessity. When you move out of the area, you have to cancel your phone service in the old area, and locate and re-establish service in the new. Consumers who use VoIP save time, money and hassle each time they move. |