(+) Free Telephone Service

The following is a Plus Edition article written by and copyright by Dick Eastman.

This article has nothing to do with genealogy. However, it describes a bargain that I found a few weeks ago and have been enjoying ever since. I thought I would share this with others. If you are looking only for hard-core genealogy or history news, you might want to skip this article.

Would you like to obtain free telephone service?

Most people will quickly answer, "Yes." I should quickly explain two things:

1. INCOMING calls are free. The monthly service is free, and you can receive hundreds or even thousands of incoming calls per month at no charge. There is no monthly charge. Outgoing calls will still cost money, although the rates are a fraction of what your local telephone company charges for toll calls. However, I will also describe an additional service that will provide free outgoing calls.
2. The SERVICE is free, but you may or may not have to purchase some hardware. You will need to have a telephone and a broadband Internet connection – a DSL, cable modem, or a fiber optic connection. This service will not work well with dial-up connections or with a satellite Internet connection because of the time delays involved.

Another feature that I like is that this service will ring multiple phones at once. You can have it ring your new phone at home, your old-fashioned phone at home, the phone in your office, your cell phone, and any other regular telephones you specify. All will ring at once, and you can answer on any of them. Those calling you do not need to guess where you are at the moment. Just give them one number, and they can reach you at any time, regardless of where you are.

The service is free and has no long-term commitments. You may cancel at any time. If you do not want to make outgoing calls, you don't even need to give a credit card number.

There are several options available; one of the options will require no purchases of any new hardware. Two other options will require hardware.

In my case, I already had the required hardware. However, I suspect that most people don't have a well-equipped "spare parts bin" like mine and may need to purchase new hardware.

The free service I am about to describe is a VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) service. That is, there are no new telephone line wires to be installed into your home. This free phone service runs on a broadband Internet connection. Like most other VoIP services, there are limitations. It won't work during power failures, and it won't work if your Internet service dies. For a more detailed explanation of VoIP telephone services, look at http://www.voipservice.com/.

Unlike some other VoIP services, emergency 911 calls ARE supported. In addition, this service has always produced crystal-clear audio in the two weeks I have been using it. The free telephone service includes voicemail, optional call recording, conferencing, three-way calling, and call forwarding, all at no charge. Not bad for a free service! Outgoing FAX service is also available for a small fee each time you send a FAX.

Unlike Skype, Gizmo5, and some other computer-to-computer voice services, this free service offers real telephone numbers. Anyone in the world can call your new phone by simply picking up their own telephone and dialing your new phone number. They can call from a landline phone, from a cell phone, or from most any of the VoIP computer phone services. There is no charge to you for receiving the call, but the calling party might incur toll charges to call your new telephone number.

Telephone numbers are available in most states but perhaps not in your home town. You may have to accept a telephone number that is normally associated with a distant city. Then again, there is no requirement to use a local telephone number. Of course, that may be an advantage for some people. You can even obtain a telephone number from another state. For instance, if you recently relocated from Chicago to Florida, you could obtain a Chicago telephone number that will ring the VoIP phone in your new Florida home. Your friends and relatives back in Chicago can call you without incurring toll charges simply by dialing your new Chicago number. You answer by picking up the phone in your Florida home. Everything is free.

The service is also "portable." That is, if you go on vacation or on a business trip or go to your winter home, you can take your VoIP telephone with you. The new phone will even work from a hotel room in a foreign country with no change in phone numbers. It keeps the same phone number, wherever you take it. Your "back home" number will work in your new, temporary location, anywhere in the world. Assuming that your new location has a broadband Internet connection available, you can continue to receive telephone calls as always. You won't even need to notify anyone that you moved. When anyone dials your phone number, your phone will ring in your new location in exactly the same manner as at your old location. Try doing that with your local telephone company's (old fashioned) telephone service! I often use VoIP telephone service from hotel rooms when traveling.

Next, I'll point out that the free service is for INCOMING calls only. If you wish to place outgoing calls, you will have to pay a modest 1.9¢/minute for calls to anyplace in the U.S. or Canada. That's a lot cheaper than what my local telephone company charges. Calls to overseas locations are also quite cheap, such as calls to the UK for the same price: 1.9¢/minute, calls to Australia for 1.9¢/minute, calls to New Zealand for 1.9¢/minute, calls to China for 1.9¢/minute (I used to call China often using an old-fashioned telephone from the local telephone company and paid much, much more than that!), calls to Brazil for 5.9¢/minute, calls to Chile for 2.9¢/minute, calls to Poland for 1.9¢/minute, calls to the Russian Federation for 6.9¢/minute, etc. There are no "free minutes" for nights or weekends; the prices are in effect 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.

I have called all over the U.S. in the past two weeks, talked for some time with a few folks, and have not yet spent $2.00. At 1.9¢/minute for calls to the U.S., Canada, England, Poland, New Zealand, and elsewhere, I can talk nearly an hour for only $1.00.

However, near the end of this article I will describe how to add free OUTGOING calls by using another company's services.

Many people keep their regular phone service but then obtain VoIP phone service as an inexpensive SECOND line in the home. Do you have a teenager in the house? You need a free extra phone line!

Interested?

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