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How to choose VoIP service without losing your shirt

Date Posted: 2006-03-13

Voip.

Just mentioning the word to yourself either brings up images of walking in a new city where the grass is greener, or it brings up fear of the unknown. Some will tread carefully around the subject, waiting to hear others opinions about a specific service and some may charge fearlessly into a service that they know little about. Which way is the right way to choose a VoIP service? I say neither.

Is there a safe way to choose a VoIP service? You bet there is, but it does take some work and careful research to make sure that you don't get stuck with something you cannot use or worse yet, be forced into a scenario in which your telephone communications is impaired.

There are 3 general steps to choosing Broadband Phone service. They are:
1.Qualify Yourself
2.Qualify a specific Provider, and
3.Research the provider.

1.Qualify Yourself – Ask yourself “why do I want voip?” Is it because you want to save money? are you attracted to voip by all of the features that it offers? Maybe you're sick of your local telephone company. Whatever the reason, make sure that the benefits are better than what you're already getting now. For instance, you might want to save money on long distance with a voip provider but don't want to give up your old phone number. In this case you would have to ask yourself whether it would be acceptable to lose your old phone number to save a few extra dollars. These days, most providers (but not all) will allow you to keep your old phone number. Do you have a secondary means of communication such as a cell phone?


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