On 03/01/07, [EMAIL PROTECTED] <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
Out of bona fide curiosity, and without casting opinions, why would I as a home user be interested in any way in VOIP.
1. It's just plain MUCH cheaper even for local calls in Australia (I use iiNet, which isn't the cheapest but that's what I started with, and all my calls are cheaper than the POTS line - local, 13 numbers, all australian metros and international. 2. I use Skype to call overseas too but Skype requires me to seat in front of my computer to talk to people and we virtually never hear it when people call us (we have headsets both to keep the house quiter and to avoid feedback loops). (Skype is supposed to support having the ring on one card (to which we can connect loudspeakers) and another on the headphones but I have troubles to make things work with my on-board sound card). 3. "Skype phones" that I've seen so far require Windows, which I am glad to say I don't have at home (my wife's ancient win98 laptop which is beginning to behave recently doesn't count). I do use skype to overseas friends/family and for them a POTS handset would
be a PITA, also Rome was not built in one day! 50% of them are winders-only.
What do you mean? They prefer using skype with speaker/mic rather than plain old phone handset? Then it's probably a matter of taste and lifestyle - personally I prefer to hold a handset and be mobile around the house than stuck in the office, and my family abroad isn't the kind you can always catch in front of their computer 24/7.
All opinions welcome, but I need to say cost is not an issue: 60% of my phone acct is the landline that I need for ADSL.
VoIP calls cut down our calls bill by about 90% (just the variable part we pay for the call themselves, most of my phone line bill goes for the fixed parts like line rental and ADSL service). There are numerous forums about Australian VoIP offerings, maybe you should dig them (let me know if you want me to send you some pointers I collected). Cheers, --P -- SLUG - Sydney Linux User's Group Mailing List - http://slug.org.au/ Subscription info and FAQs: http://slug.org.au/faq/mailinglists.html
