Here's a collection of resources to help you learn what you REALLY need to know before you get yourself a VoIP Phone. Might help you make the best educated choice for YOU.
CNet has an excellent extensive comparison and review of a number of different VOIP carriers. It's from a May 2004 article so it's obviously a bit outdated (e.g. Packet8 has E911 now.....Broadvox has implemented the "to come" features).....but still provides some good info and resources about BroadBand Phones.
DSLreports.com has a fact filled table updated every week from reviews shared by that Forums members (Telcom industry pros/experts/users/management/sales):
DSLreports.com
The folks at DSLreports.com are pretty picky & opinionated sometimes but it will give you some interesting insights. Note that providers are only listed if a review has been submitted. So a vendor you may be looking for may not be on the list.
They also have a pretty active VoIP discussion board where you can get unedited non-PC opinions (PC politically correct....not PC personal computer LOL), breaking news good and bad, and the opportunity to ask about use and installation at:
VoIP Forum
You should also look over the info at the FCC website (Federal Communications Commission). Besides the expected legal stuff you can see what the Feds think consumers should receive from VoIP vendors as well as some info on set-up and use:
FCC
I have a bunch of resources which will help you choose and understand VoIP phones at my blog BroadBand Nation. Be sure to click all the links and look over the article archive too.
Personally I'm partial to Packet8.....especially for business use (VoIP video phone, Virtual Office hosted PBX). But that's just me.
Is Skype Taking Over VoIP In North America??
If the news from broadband management company Sandvine is any indication...the answer is yes. At least for residential anyway. Calls using Skype account for nearly half of the VOIP minutes used (46.2%) and about 40% of the VOIP bandwidth used in North America, according to an analysis done by Sandvine. That puts Skype usage ahead of Vonage, Cablevision, and other popular branded residential VOIP offerings. In fact, Sandvine says Skype users account for 35.8% of individual VOIP callers on North American networks.
VoIP Training Center
There's a nice little VoIP training center courtesy of VoIP News anyone interested in VoIP should visit. Actually it's a comprehensive listing and review of training and certification programs offered around the world, online, and in CDs, videos and books. Perfect resource for every business considering deploying VoIP technology is some form or other.
MLM Company Directory....Use It!
If I've said it once I've said it a million times....when looking for a business for God's sake PLEASE do your homework. Part of that due diligence means you must learn as much as possible about the company (or companies) you're looking at. One very nice resource to help you do this is the MLM Company Directory at MLM.com. You'll find information on commission plan, sales method, product, their stock symbol and market reports if they are a public company, an expanded company description, any press releases from the company, and more. As most of this info is supplied by the company itself....be aware that it may sound a bit biased. But it is an excellent place to start and is reviewed for facts before publishing by InfoTrax Systems (owner of MLM.com).
