Outside the box

For the past year or so, I have been experimenting with Voice Over IP (often abbreviated as VOIP or VoIP). I have tested a number of providers, services and hardware solutions. Over time, I plan to cover many of these in more detailed posts. For this post, I would like to cover what, I think, is useful to the average home user.

To handle USA & Canada calling, I would suggest Skype. Skype is running an unlimited calling deal for one year for 29.95 USD (http://www.skype.com/products/skypeout/). Until January 31, 2007, the deal is HALF PRICE, $14.95. I signed up the other day. I will post progress reports from time to time. For the uninitiated, Skype is a peer to peer voip application that looks a lot like an instant messenger client. You can initiate PC to phone calls via their application. Alternately, you can buy one of the Skype phones, headsets or even wifi phones. Again, I plan to test these out and hope to find a good one which I will post about.

If you need to make international calls, I would suggest Jajah (http://www.jajah.com). I like Jajah because they are a bit different than Skype and its copycats. If you’re like many people, you already have an IM program and likely don’t want another one. This is what I love about Jajah. You don’t need anything but a phone and a web browser to use it! You setup up your calls from their web site. You pick how Jajah should call you (your home, work phone, cell phone, etc) and what number to call. You can setup an address book with your usual destinations. On top of all of this, you can SCHEDULE calls to make things even easier. For example, you can configure a call to your grandmother in Italy every Saturday at 10 AM.

I have been very happy with Jajah. They seem to be a smart company with their act and technology together. On Christmas Day, they even gave away free calling to much of the world. I thought this was a great idea. On the one hand, they likely made it possible for many people to call their family who couldn’t have before. On the other hand, they inexpensively acquired new customers. If you believe the reports on Vonage, it costs them 200-300 USD per customer in acquisition costs. At an average of 2 cents per minute with a 30-minute cap on the call, it cost Jajah a measly 60 cents to introduce a new customer to their service. I know it worked for me and two of my relatives!

To re-cap, I would suggest at least TRYING these services. Both can be tested out with little to no money out of pocket. If you’re happy with the service, you can still add funds in a small increments.

http://www.skype.com

http://www.jajah.com

Outside the box

Voice Over IP for the Common Man (or Woman!)

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