Ed Stoffel

What I've really been looking for is a voip service to use as a second line on my desk that doesn't cost me anything UNLESS I use it. That's where VoipVoip.com comes to the rescue. This company offers call-out voip service for NO MONTHLY FEE... you just pay as you use it, drawing from a deposit as low as $10. Without the call-in service, people can't call me on the line, since the assigned number isn't a real number. They actually assign a "555" number, just like those fake phone numbers mentioned in the movies. If you do want a call-in service as well, you'll have to pay a $6.99/mo. charge for a real phone number. Either way, you pay for the calls you make at competitive rates. I chose the bring your own device plan, configuring a leftover voip device I have from previous service. In configuring the device, I even get to choose what appears on caller ID to whoever I call, which could lead to some fun.

It's been a month now since our new Verizon service was setup, and the entire time, our outgoing caller ID has been showing the previous owner's name. Five calls to Verizon's business office have failed to resolve the problem, despite confident sounding agents who told me the problem would be resolved that same day. Today, I got the idea I should be dealing with Verizon's repair service, not the business office so I called them to report the problem. I'm told it will be resolved by 5PM today, but they've added the requirement that I be notified when they believe the problem is resolved.

Meanwhile, we're preparing to cancel service with Broadvoice, a VoIP provider. The service isn't bad, but it's not as good as a landline. The secret in making Broadvoice VoIP as good as possible is programming the firewall to allow all necessary traffic through. I thought that assigning the VoIP device to my Netgear router's DMZ port would do the trick, but found it still necessary to write specific port forwarding rules allowing UDP traffic on ports 69, 5060-5063, & 10,000-20,000. Once that was done, the only occasional problem is net congestion. Since we have Verizon as our primary provider, the only thing I'm using Broadvoice for is to forward our old number. So I'm disappointed that I can't switch to a cheaper monthly plan with them. I called to ask about switching our number over to their BYOD plan (Bring Your Own Device), but they were quite insistent that I couldn't do that without paying a $39.95 termination fee on my current device, and a new $39.95 setup fee on a new device. Their $5.95/mo. BYOD plan only allows 100 minutes/month, and forwarded calls count against those minutes. So very shortly, I'll be shutting off Broadvoice, and hoping Verizon straightens out my caller ID problems.

We're preparing to move and will be leaving our current phone company's service area. My wife wanted us to keep our current phone number if possible, and we could do that with VoIP. I decided to try Broadvoice again and ordered their Unlimited World plan. To transfer our existing number, I had to retain landline service while waiting for the request for number porting to be fulfilled which took 3 weeks. That occurred on Thursday, and by Friday, we were seeing how bad VoIP can be, experiencing audio dropout, low-level, distortion, and total audio loss (dropped calls).

The device sent to me this time was a Linksys SPA2102 phone adapter with router. Unfortunately, it comes pre-configured on the same address as my existing Netgear router. It can be changed, but doing so makes the web-interface unreachable for some reason. Once that happens, the telephone has to be used to control the device and reset it, when necessary.

I have it's WAN side set to 192.168.0.4 to use my Netgear's DMZ feature. But for some reason, I still have to setup port forwarding of ports 5060-5061 for best service. This cures most of the audio loss problems, but the distortion still exists.

I also recall from last time that my service can be improved by having them change my call center. They begin service by assuming what call center is best, but changing it to another may actually result in improved service, because of net congestion peculiarities.

Having our landline service now cutoff (because that number was ported to Broadvoice), we'll live with this until the move. But we'll also be ordering real phone service from Verizon there. They offer pretty good discounts for bundled services including local, long distance, DSL and DirecTV billing (even though I already have DirecTV service setup).

The problem with DSL is that it really is slower than cable. But DSL speed is consistent, while cable internet can fluctuate. With discounts, Verizon DSL will cost an additional $18/mo.; Comcast internet will cost $45/mo. So it's probably worth it to try DSL again, if it's available.

Ever since I called Sprint last week, many calling my house have encountered Sprint's Privacy ID Service interrupting their calls. They are told I don't accept callers who block their caller ID, and they're told to say who they are. Problem is, I didn't ask for this. I called Sprint to have this removed and was given instructions on how to turn it off. But when I attempted to do it, I was told to enter a PIN number I didn't know. Another call to Sprint got me a PIN number... but it wasn't really MY PIN number. A third call to Sprint got me someone who told me what the default PIN number was, and I used that to turn off the service. But people are still telling me they encounter the privacy service vetting process. Sprint now tells me they'll have the feature removed by Tuesday.

Meanwhile, Sprint tells me that my local phone company will soon be known as Embarq. It's unclear whether they sold off the division or just decided to change its name. No word yet on what their new slogan will be.

And finally, two of the kids have migrated their cellphone service onto plans of their own, so they'll be responsible for paying their own bills. But ever since they left my plan, the remaining cellphones seem to be blocking outgoing caller ID. I called Cingular today to ask them to resolve this. They said they made adjustments which could take up to 48 hours to go through.

Sprint is my phone company for local, long-distance and DSL. But they're at risk of loosing me. Over the last several months, someone I don't know keeps appearing on my phone line. I have an in-use light on my desk to let me know if someone else is on the line. That's so I don't pick up when someone else in the house is using the phone. But starting several months ago, I've seen the light on when no one else is in the house. The first time I saw this, I picked up the line, heard someone talking and asked, "Who is this?" They responded by cutting the line, and I had no dial tone. Now, I understand the need to check lines from time to time, but they shouldn't keep using my line everyday for their calls. I spoke with a guy at work who has retired from the phone company... he's certain it's a phone tech, and thinks he's probably tapping into one of the pedestals between my home and the CO. This morning, I was expecting an important call, and it went straight to voicemail. So I called Sprint to report this annoying problem. A technician from the phone company stopped by and said he'd check the line at each pedestal between my house and the central office. He also told me he'd tagged my line advising techs not to use it. I thanked him for investigating the problem. I also told him that if it continued, I'd record future calls to help them with their investigation. We'll see how that works out.

What is a phone tree? It's what you are forced to listen to and push buttons to respond to when you call most businesses today. Companies use these to sort callers, eliminating those that can get information from an automated system, and route the rest to different departments. Phone tree systems could work well, but usually, they just frustrate callers. Such was the case for me today trying to call my bank. I tried calling my local branch, but they weren't answering today, so I had to call their 800-number. The recording there says to press one for information about checking or savings -- which I don't press because I'm not calling for "information" about these accounts. But then, none of the other options apply. I try another category, but when it isn't the one, I have to hang up and call back because there is no option to get back to the main menu. I also try pressing "0" which often goes straight through to a person, but not on their system. After several calls, I try pressing "1", and then get asked to enter my social security number. I do this, and am told it is an invalid number. I'm given the option of entering my ATM card number, but the reason I'm calling is that my card number is no longer readable. Eventually, I'm allowed to enter even more numbers and get through to a person. If companies must use a phone tree, I really wish that the first selection was to choose between talking with a person or using the automated system to obtain information.... with only those choosing the automated system having to listen to further options.

I fulfilled my one-year commitment to Voicepulse, so I have cancelled my service with them without penalty. The family wasn't happy with the quality of VoIP, so I'm just using it as a second phone line at my desk. I've now switched to a $5.99/mo. plan through Broadvoice... their BYOD plan (Bring Your Own Device). For that price, I get a limited number of calls, but that serves my needs of a 2nd line just fine. Broadvoice didn't have any local numbers, but I was able to get one close by. To switch companies, I just logged into the web interface of the voip device, typed in the new information that Broadvoice provided, and it's up and running. It's using my router's DMZ port, much easier than having to be concerned with forwarding specific ports.

My Voicepulse VoIP service stopped working about a week ago, so I called their tech support line to remedy the matter. The VoIP box has two phone jacks which are controlled by two different ports. Assuming the first port was being blocked, they switched my service over to the second port, and that fixed the problem for about a week. But then today, the second port stopped working. A quick look at the device's webpage interface showed that the Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) packets were being blocked somehow... the log showed that the device was sending out SIP packets, but was not receiving any back.

So I called the folks at Sprint DSL to ask them for help. I explained that I knew they sometimes blocked ports "to protect customers" but that I needed access to ports 5060 & 5061, and could they unblock them. After a brief wait, the tech came back on and talked me through the steps. He explained that their network does not block these ports, but that the DSL modems are configured in a way that often does. I connected to the DSL modem using TELNET, and after making a few changes, my DSL modem was put into "bridge mode". Doing this, it is important that my router firewall protect me since the modem would no longer do so. But this also opened up the VoIP ports, and made it start working again. I was glad to learn it was just the modem configuration, and not a phone company blocking a competitor. It seems strange to me that the VoIP worked fine for months, and then suddenly, the modem started blocking the necessary ports. Did a modem firmware upgrade come through and change things? Perhaps. I just wish all calls to the phone company resolved problems this quickly.

I've had it with VoIP. I've been using Voicepulse since March 16th, and while I like the low cost, the quality stinks! During this time, I've tried two different internet services, Adelphia Cable and Sprint DSL. With both ISPs, VoIP experiences lost packets or drops out completely. It didn't usually drop out completely during calls, but between calls. That is, I'd go to use the phone and get no dial-tone, or I'd try to call home, and get the "unavailable forwarding" feature.

Voicepulse does make a go of it. They offer good features, but it all still depends on the internet, and it's not perfect yet. So yesterday, I rewired the house, putting our Sprint landline back in the primary position, and shifting my VoicePulse Voip to the second line on my desk. There it will stay until my 12-month contract is completed, because at this point, the cancellation fee isn't much less than my remaining subscription. I've ordered the "Sprint Solutions Standard Plan with Unlimited Long Distance". While I'm at it, I've bumped the DSL speed up to 3.0Mpbs, since the Sprint Solutions gets me a discount on that. So now, I've got the same speed internet I had with Adelphia, for $15/mo. less than Adelphia charged (to non-cable subscribers).

I don't think VoIP problems are unique to VoicePulse. I first tested Broadvoice, and it experienced the same problems. But unlike VoicePulse, Broadvoice doesn't offer "unavailable line forwarding". Yes, you can choose to always forward all your calls, but what's the point of that? I want a fall-back if the VoIP line doesn't work, but otherwise, I wanted to get calls.

I'd compare all of this to early cellular telephone, and hope that in time, it gets better, just as cellular has. I suspect that as internet bandwidth improves, packet loss may be something overcome, or at least marginalized. But until then, it's back to the landline for me.

It took twelve days to complete the process, but Broadvoice has finally completed the cancellation of my account and processed my refund. Initially, it took them three days to just acknowledge my cancellation request, and give me the required return authorization number to send back their telephone adapter. In six days, I received a partial refund, less a deposit for the telephone adapter. After they received it, they processed a second refund for the balance. So in the end, I got to try their service for two weeks, then return the device and receive a complete refund of everything I paid. I did not exceed 500 minutes of outgoing calls, and followed the steps they list in their money-back guarantee.

I did like some things about Broadvoice, including the ability to check my voicemail online. Outgoing calls took a long time to connect, and audio quality was poor at times, comparable to cellular service. The biggest problem is that Broadvoice doesn't let you setup a default rollover number, should your internet connection temporarily fail.

VoicePulse does this, and more. I like the way I can manage contacts, replacing standard caller id names with my own custom names for them. I also get voicemail emailed to me, so I can listen to the messages online, wherever I am, and forward them to other family members. I can also setup distinctive rings based on contact lists, allowing each family member to get their calls to ring a certain way. On the downside, the phone number I've been issued was apparently owned previously by someone who didn't pay their bills, and who needs to contact several of their kids' teachers and social services. If only I had their email address...

It's too bad that Broadvoice didn't work out, but Voicepulse offers better service. Every time I've called Broadvoice customer service, I end up having to listen to their music for about 20 minutes, and now, it's stuck in my head.

Broadvoice also has contradictory information on their website about their 30-day money back guarantee. In one place, they say to "call or email us" to cancel, but in another place they say to email. So I called, and was told that the only way to cancel is to email. They also mention in the terms of service that when you cancel, they will charge a disconnect fee of $49.95, to be refunded when they receive their equipment back. So the $49.95 is really a deposit to make sure you return the unit. But in their description of the money-back guarantee, it says they will waive the $49.95 fee.

I emailed them early Wednesday morning, and just heard back from them late today. They have authorized my return, given me an RMA number, and informed me that they charged my credit card $49.95. I immediately slapped an address label on the box with the RMA number, put a copy of their email in the box, and took it to the post office, going out tonight priority mail with delivery confirmation.

The Broadvoice money-back guarantee doesn't apply if you use over 500 minutes of outgoing calls, so I had checked the call log Wednesday and saw the family had used 445 minutes. I called home and asked them to STOP making outgoing calls for the evening. (They still had their cellphones if they really had to call someone.)

Meanwhile, someone from Sprint called to see if everything had been resolved, and I told them it had. That only took eight days.

Last night, my new telephone adapter from Voicepulse arrived, and I plugged it in, but there was no dialtone. The device can be assigned an IP address by my router, so I did that, but still no joy. The device has a webpage built in to view it's settings and statistics, and that told me the device wasn't getting out to mamma. But why not? I had assigned it to a DMZ port, which isn't supposed to have anything blocked. A call to Voicepulse customer service resumed the troubleshooting where I stopped, and he told me to use port forwarding. That worked, and the device immediately registered and gave me dialtone. So it must be that a Netgear FR114P's DMZ still blocks some things. So if you have a Netgear FR114P, and wish to use Voicepulse, define two Voicepulse services - one allowing TCP on port 80, and another allowing UDP traffic on ports 5060-5061. Then turn on those rules for whatever IP address you've made the telephone adapter. Their manual says such rules are not required on simple residential networks, so I guess my network isn't so simple.

Then I called Sprint because I was promised everything would work by Tuesday, and this is Wednesday. The first representative didn't know what to do, so she forwarded me to another center, where they looked at it all. That representative found an error that was preventing the order from completing, and resolved the issue. From there, she contacted programmers at my local switch and got the call-forwarding added right away.

With both of these now working, I packed up the Broadvoice telephone adapter to return, and called their customer service line. The online guarantee says you can get your money back if you return the device within 30-days, and haven't use over 500 minutes of outgoing calls. When I finally got someone from Broadvoice on the phone, he told me I had to email my cancellation request, and that it would be processed immediately. (The website said I could email OR call to cancel.) So I emailed with all the required information, and continue to wait for their reply including a return authorization number.

And finally, I'm also still waiting to hear that AT&T and MCI have added 540-754 to their list of existing exchanges. I stayed home illin' today, so I'll have to find that out whenever I return to work. In my Broadvoice call log, I see evidence of my company trying to call me this morning... probably after I had removed the telephone adapter from the network.

I've always liked the number seven. Maybe good things happen on day seven. Our landline number is now changed over to my desired number, and I seem to have local calling to Winchester. But I'm still awaiting call forwarding. I'll give Sprint another day to work on that Sprint Solution.

Meanwhile, I called the phone guy at work to check on being able to call home from there. He's spoken to Verizon (who never stops working for you) and says it's not their problem. They've checked our switch software and claim it's up to date. So they say, the problem is with our long distance carriers. Our company uses AT&T as primary, and MCI as backup long distance providers, both of whom are unable to deliver called to 540-754 for us from Washington.

That has given me an idea. I wonder if there's a special number sequence that will force long distance carriers to deliver the call anyway. I should also check to see what their mottos are.

Sprint is still taking their time processing the changes to my landline. It appears my original numbers still exist, and my calling area may now include Winchester, because I can dial it with only 7-digits. In the end, I still want my public number gone, and my private number to become the main number of the line. I also need call-forwarding, to send that line's calls to the broadband telephone number. Eight days and counting... One Sprint, Many Solutions.

Meanwhile, Verizon hasn't updated my company's DMS 100 Switch to be able to call 540-754. I've noticed that the fancier phones in the building have displays which say "Invalid Number" when I attempt to dial Winchester VA. It's been five days since Verizon was notified of the problem, but I'm not worried. I've just learned that Verizon's motto is "We Never Stop Working for You". I feel much better, just knowing that.

I expect the Voicepulse telephone adapter to arrive tomorrow, according to UPS tracking. My router is programmed and ready. I've moved the old telephone adapter over one, and am using port forwarding to allow UDP traffic on the essential ports. The new device will get DMZ status to make it work.

I picked up an additional Netgear router this weekend. It occurred to me that with broadband telephone, I'm putting a lot of faith in one router... though since switching to Netgear, I haven't had problems. With two, I have more than enough spigots, and the new router has wireless, too. I did have to figure out how to put one router behind the other, and learned that a router is like two devices with two MAC addresses - one for the WAN side (outside world), and another for the LAN side (inside world). So I created an address with the first router to assign as the second router's WAN IP address, and let the second router determine it's own LAN IP address. Before doing that, it didn't seem to be able to connect to the outside world.

Sprint is still messing up my order to modify service on my landline. I called their National Solutions Hotline this morning. The friendly customer service representative told me it was the strangest thing... that every request submitted on my line since Monday had been cancelled.

While on the phone with her for an hour this morning, she submitted a new request, and watched to see it cancelled five minutes later. So she called in management -- oh good, we're saved. At the end of the hour, the progress of changes on my account has moved -- BACKWARDS. Now, my original number is back, and all of my phone's features are missing. No call forwarding, no call waiting, no long distance service, no caller ID.

She told me that there was a logical order things had to follow, in order to accomplish this extraordinary request of mine - to change my identiring number to my main number. Unlike the last person (who told me it would all be complete within the hour), she told me it would take two days, and to expect nothing to happen over the weekend.

During lulls in the call, we discussed DSL service, outsourcing to India, memorable phone disasters (like road crews who dig through major phone trunks), fiber optic rollout, how television networks find alternatives when phone companies fail them, and the demise of the America work ethic. Almost anything BUT how my service was going to be restored.

Near the end of our hour-long chat, I considered asking her to recite the Sprint Motto with me, to see if that helped, but decided to just say it on the inside: "One Sprint, Many Solutions".

I ordered service from Voicepulse today, and will receive a Sipura-2000 telephone adapter. They've assigned me a Winchester phone number, and it's a 540-754 number. I'm still waiting on Verizon to update my company's switch, so that the 540-754 exchange is recognized as a valid number.


Meanwhile, I'm also still waiting on Sprint to fix the problems with my service. They changed my phone number (performing an aux-to-main change), and now, all my features are gone. I want to be able to forward this line to my broadband service, but as of tonight, it still isn't happening.

So with broadband telephone (VoIP), there's no real 911 service -- yet. The states have been working hard just to make 911 work for cellphones. The issue is that the call must be delivered to the correct PSAP (Public Safety Answering Point), but they also want data instantly accessable to identify your location. With portable devices, that becomes difficult.

In Virginia, the Public Safety Communications Division is tasked with making this work. In the meantime, their list of PSAP Managers helps to identify where to call in an emergency. Localities are actually prohibited by the E911 legislation from publishing alternate emergency numbers... this, I suppose, to keep people from calling alternate numbers to avoid identification. But really, most jurisdictions publish alternate numbers anyway, calling them "non-emergency" numbers. In many towns, calls go to the same place.

The VoIP company Packet8 seems to be doing the heavy lifting to make this happen for VoIP customers, while the others will tag along after the work is done. (I've worked with people like that.) So in our house, every phone gets a phone list with emergency numbers at the top. My wife suggested I also print our street address, for visitors, as well as those who might forget where we live - in a panic.

Sprint still hasn't complete my order from Monday. I have the line parred down to one number, but all my features are gone. I called and they say my order is completed; but then when I ask to make additional changes, they say my order is not completed.

Sprint has a national help desk (800-949-4357) to resolve such quandaries, so I called it and they seemed to get to the bottom of the issues. She asked me what I want to end up with, once it's all done. Thoughts of "free phone service for life" come to mind. But I just said I want to drop Sprint Solutions (their package of all features for $39.95, drop their Unlimited Long Distance (the price of which they increased about 5 minutes after I ordered it), make the line's calling area consider 540-754 local, and add back call forwarding, to forward the line to my 540-754 number (once she is sure that is a "local" call, so I don't get a long distance bill for that). She assured me all of this would be completed within the hour.

She did ask if I'd be home all day, waiting by the phone to chat about this. Um... no. I'll be at work, chanting the montra: "One Sprint, Many Solutions".

I called Voicepulse this afternoon for additional information. I wanted to know what exchange they assign for Winchester, Virginia --- they use 540-754, just like Broadvoice. So that's a problem I need resolved. Hopefully, Verizon will update our company's switch so that it knows that 540-754 exists. Otherwise, they won't be able to contact me to change my schedule or call me in early. And that would be tragic.

I also asked Voicepulse about using my fax with their service. They believe I may be able to use it without any adjustment. However, some find it necessary to limit a fax machine's baud rate to 9600. Since I have an HP 7110 Series 'All-in-one' machine, I contacted HP to find out how to modify the baud rate. I couldn't find anything in the manual or machine menus. HP customer service told me:

Please perform the steps given below to set the baud rate to 9600. Press * and # at the same time, and then release both keys. Press 1, 2, and then 3, releasing each key before pressing the next. The display window should read "Service" with a revision number. Press the right arrow button once. The display should read "System Configuration". Press Enter or OK. Press the right arrow button until "r/w parameter" appears in the display. Press Enter or OK. The display should read "parameter 0". Press 153. Press Enter or OK. Press 2. Press Enter or OK. By performing these steps will set the baud rate to 9600.

Oh, is that all? OK, no problem. Of course, then I asked how to undo all of that, if I have to. She said:

Perform the semi full reset. Unplug the power cord from the all-in-one. Press and hold the # and 6 buttons on the numeric keypad. While still holding the buttons, plug the power cord back in. Continue to hold the buttons for two seconds, and then release them.

Now see, I would have said to press the baud rate button on the machine until you see "9600" in the information window, but then, that's why I don't work for HP customer service. There is no "baud rate" button. That would be too easy.

One Sprint, Many Solutions has finally processed my request to cancel one of my two landline numbers... but they seem to have cutoff all of my phone's extra features, so my call-forwarding isn't working this morning. I visited their website to grab their logo for this post, and noticed their motto: "One Sprint, Many Solutions". Um... I'd just like the solution I requested, please.

The Sprint representative was helpful (as they always are). He said the order is still pending, but that all my old features should be available except for distinctive ring, which I cancelled. I do want to make additional changes, but I guess I should wait until the existing order changes are complete.

I left a message with the phone guy at work last night, and called him back this morning. He says the problem I'm having calling home is an exchange issue with Verizon, and they need to update the building's DMS 100 Switch to be able to call 540-754. I recall years ago that when they changed the rule allowing area codes AND exchanges to have any middle digit, that required switches and switchboards everywhere to update their software. Today, phone carriers still need to update their software as new area codes and exchanges are issued. So at the moment, our building is unable to dial any number in the 540-754 exchange.

Meanwhile, I've been looking at the other VoIP companies, and think I would like to try VoicePulse. Their features look better, including being able to set a fallback number, should my internet connection fail. That's better than having to fix the problem, when I might not even know I have a problem. They'd also allow me to set up distinctive ring on a phone list basis. So I wouldn't even need to have a virtual number... I'd just assign the "preferred ring" to certain incoming numbers. If I did use a virtual number, they charge $5.14/mo. (instead of $1.95/mo. like Broadvoice). They also aren't even trying E911 until a standard is developed for VoIP phones. And they don't yet have local numbers, so I'd be in the same situation as Broadvoice, waiting for them to get my local exchange, so I could port my existing number over.

Broadvoice can't handle fax calls, but that may be a problem with VoIP generally. The knowledge base at Voicepulse has this to say about using fax on their service:

We do not officially support faxing due to inherent routing issues on the Internet, non-error correction protocols used with Voice over IP communications, current compression codecs available today, and the number of available fax modems and fax machines. That being said, many of our users are successfully faxing using our service. We have found that transmission speeds of 9,600 baud or lower improves fax completion rates.

I've found answers to a lot of my questions in their knowledge base... issues that affect users of any VoIP service.

Voicepulse also offers a 30-day money back guarantee, so maybe I should hold onto Broadvoice while I try them, and then decide which to return. I just need to keep reminding myself why I'm doing this... because $25/month is better than $85. Oh, and because new technology is fun!!!

Still having problems with the Broadvoice VoIP phone. Work still can't call me. When they dial my VoIP phone, they get a recording saying its not in service. Darcy also complains that "the call doesn't go through". Actually it does, but you have to wait 10-15 seconds, and the family isn't used to that. This morning, I tried to make a call, and got no dialtone. I reset the device (unplugged it, counted to 10, plugged it back in), and I still didn't have dialtone. Then, I tried unplugging it AND the router for 10 seconds. That reset it. I have 30-days to return cancel and return the equipment for their money-back guarantee, so if they don't straighten things out soon, I may switch to another VoIP company, like Voicepulse or Packet8. In a review I just read, Vonage is rated #1, but doesn't offer numbers anywhere in my area code. Packet8 has local numbers, but doesn't offer everything I want (distinctive ring, for example). Voicepulse does offer all the features I want, but doesn't yet have local numbers. Considering all of this, I'm leaning toward Voicepulse.

Meanwhile, Sprint messed up my order to downgrade the regular phone service. They seemed to be doing something with the line overnight, but nothing was changed in the morning, as I had ordered. I called Sprint customer service about it, and they said the technician didn't understand the order because it wasn't worded clearly. They assured me it would be completed by 7PM tonight. Now, it's late Wednesday night, and they still haven't made the changes. I'll check again tomorrow morning.

Starting to notice some problems with the VoIP system. The most serious is that, for some reason, phones at work can not reach my number by dialing it direct. When they do, they get the dreaded "We're sorry, your call cannot be completed as dialed. Please check the number and dial again..." message. I can get around that by dialing our old private Front Royal number, which is forwarded to the new VoIP line. But direct-dial from Washington really doesn't work. They believe it's a carrier issue with Verizon telephone, and will work with them to correct the problem.

The other issue is that caller ID is only showing numbers, not names as well. In some cases, it says something like "Virginia call", but in other cases, it says "Unknown number". It really means unknown name... since the number does appear, but not the name.

The VoIP company has been in business for 14 months, and working out the technical issues with all the various phone companies they have to deal with.

I've also placed an order to remove our old public line, but keep our old private line, until the full transition can take place. For some reason, it didn't happen yet, but I expect it will soon.

I received the VoIP telephone adapter today and started playing with it. It connected fairly quickly and gave me dial tone, so I dialed the house. But when someone answered, I only heard "Hello" and nothing more. Then, I tried calling the VoIP from the house, and didn't get a ring.

Well, it turns out that I had the ringer turned off on the test phone, so that explains not hearing it ring. I had Broadvoice customer service call me on it, and heard them fine. But then, I tried calling myself and counting to 10, and only heard "1".

Whatever the problem was, (perhaps lost packets), upgrading my router's firmware seems to have fixed the problem, because now, the phone works fine.

I'll continue to use it at my desk, and see if it does well over time. If so, I'll wire it up to the entire household.

There's not much to this little telephone adapter. It's about the size of a deck of playing cards with three connectors and two lights... RJ-11 (phone jack), power connector, and an ethernet jack. The lights indicate various status, depending on whether they're on, off, or blinking. When I'm using the phone adapter (talking on the VoIP phone), the top green light is on. The bottom yellow light seems to indicate readiness and blinks when there is data passing. I notice it gets busy about the same time as the lights on my router indicate traffic from the device.

I've ordered service from Broadvoice, and should receive the telephone adapter in a few days. I'll plug it into my Netgear router with an ethernet cable, and use the DMZ port so that it is not blocked by the router's firewall. (Otherwise, I'd have to assign a list of ports to forward to the device.)

I've selected a Winchester phone number, and will test the device at my desk. If I'm happy with it, I'll downgrade service on our landline, forwarding it to the VoIP service, and wire that line to our whole house. It'll stay this way until Broadvoice is able to port phone numbers from Front Royal; then, I'll move our Front Royal number over to VoIP, and cancel the landline service.

There are some downsides. The internet is sometimes subject to net congestion, which would temporarily slow or halt data throughput. This would cause anything from digital burbs to dropped calls. Funny thing is, I asked Broadvoice about this, and just as they were answering my question, it happened to them. When this happens, it sounds something like bad cellular service. At first, his speech sounded broken, followed by periods of silence, and finally, he was gone.

And yet, major companies are switching to VoIP for telephone service, to save money. It may be that I'll have to decide who offers the most reliable broadband internet service, upon which to use VoIP. This may cause me to go back to the phone company, just for DSL... or consider other emerging broadband services (powerline, microwave, etc.), if our cable internet service isn't highly reliable.

VoIP services also haven't yet figured out a way to deliver reliable E911 service. Since customers can take their VoIP devices with them, there doesn't seem to be a way for your account to know where you are... an essential part of 911. I'm thinking it should be as easy as a webpage interface, into which customers can type in their address if/when they move the device. Maybe, they will eventually employ GPS technology to identify the device location. They're working the problem, and Packet8 offers Enhanced-911 service in select markets. Broadvoice says they're working on it, and should have something soon. Some services don't offer it, and don't plan to until others perfect it. Until then, we'll use cellular for 911, or call direct numbers to local police, fire and rescue, if needed.

I'm now leaning toward Broadvoice. (It turns out that Packet8 wouldn't offer distinctive ring on residential service plans, and that's a feature I really want, to tell the difference between public and private calls.) Broadvoice can give me a Winchester phone number now, and once Front Royal numbers become available, they can port my existing number over as a virtual number. It only costs $19.95/month for service including unlimited long distance to all of the US, Canada and 21 other countries. Virtual numbers are only an addition $1.95/month, so we'll get one (our existing Front Royal number). Until Front Royal numbers become available, we'll retain our existing landline, but cut service back to barebones service, plus call forwarding and extended calling area, so that Winchester is a local call for the landline. That way, we can forward the Front Royal landline to our new VoIP service, allowing people to call either our Front Royal number or our Winchester number to reach us. Also, that will give us the landline as a backup during the transition, as well as the five cellphones in our family. That should be enough. Even having the VoIP and the barebones landline will cost 1/2 of what we're paying now for the landline.

If the underlying broadband internet connection is problematic, we could look at getting a quality DSL line instead. That remains to be determined. In a few years, who knows what different internet choices will exist. They may have powerline and microwave service here by then.

I've been watching VoIP companies and what numbers are available. I'm looking for service with a company that can give me a Front Royal phone number, so our neighbors don't have to dial long-distance to reach us. I'd prefer to keep our insider's number too, but things can get messed up during a transfer request.

Finally, there is a company that says they can get me a Front Royal number -- Packet8. (Another company -- SunRocket -- has rates as cheap as $199/yr... but the closest numbers they offer are in Washington, D.C.). I'm trying to decide whether to add a virtual number for either Winchester or Leesburg, for friends to call us. But they charge a bit more for virtual numbers ($4.95/mo.) while Broadvoice only charges 1.95/mo for virtual numbers. But Broadvoice doesn't have Front Royal numbers... only Winchester numbers. Neither offer E911 for Front Royal, but Packet8 seems to be making the fastest progress in expanding their E911 service areas.

All of this, because our current phone service is costing over $80/month. We recently added an "unlimited long distance" feature to our phone line; then, the phone company raised the price for the new services; and I saw that they failed to tell me about the $12/mo. in "additional fees" on the bill. Then, the bills were wrong for three months in a row. The first bill nearly gave me a heart-attack... it had over $800 in long-distance charges. (I had flashbacks to High Wycombe over that one.) They adjusted all the bills, crediting us for everything except something Darcy ordered online. She clicked a pop-up ad promising a "free LCD monitor", and she filled in all the information, but failed to read the fine print which said... "I am the responsible party for my phone service, and authorized monthly charges of $19.95/month for one year". She had purchased voicemail service which she never knew she bought, never used, and I was being billed for. When I spoke to her about it, she concluded the conversation by asking, "Can I still get the 'free monitor'?" No, she can't.

Here's my list of sources on cellphone and voip information: