Internet-based phone services cutting costs

[unhappycamper]

Internet-based phone services cutting costs
By Charlie Reed, Stars and Stripes
Mideast edition, Sunday, October 14, 2007


Susan Preston spent $6,000 on cell phone calls to Iraq this summer before she discovered a cheaper way to stay in touch with her husband downrange.

From June through September, the couple racked up one outrageous bill after another until their savings began to take a hit.

“Finally we said, ‘Enough is enough,’ ” said Preston, whose husband is a staff sergeant with the 299th Forward Support Battalion based in Schweinfurt, Germany. “We realized all this extra money we’re making, we’re just throwing it away on these phone calls.”

But now Preston can chat with her husband without breaking the bank by using comfi.com, an Internet-calling plan.

It’s one of many increasingly popular Web-based telephone services operating with VoIP, or Voice over Internet Protocol. Though many soldiers have limited Internet access downrange, some VoIP phone services require only one party to have an online connection.

The technology — which uses an Internet broadband connection to plug into the traditional telephone network or connect one computer with another — is revolutionizing the telecommunications industry and drastically reducing rates.


Rest of article at: http://www.estripes.com/article.asp?section=104&article=49481

[MADem]

1. The ME is the last bastion of "let's rip people off" rates

There are calling cards all over hell that can get you in touch with the rest of the world on the cheap. I can empathize with these families, I've paid some obscene phone bills in the past. I could put a kid through Haaavid fer what I paid Ma Bell!!!!

I hear that Skype is a good deal, don't know much about its reliability, though. And then, there's the well-advertised VONAGE....whoo ooo, whoo ooo ooo....

Preston’s old plan with Telepost Kabel-Service cost her between .99 and 1.53 euros per minute to call Iraq, plus additional costs for using a cell phone. Now she pays about 9 U.S. cents per minute on comfi.com to talk to her husband....Depending on the service, Internet calls can be made from a computer, a special VoIP phone, or a traditional phone with or without an adapter. Some VoIP services also can be accessed from public and private wireless “hot spots.”

Rates can fluctuate, but certain providers, such as Jajah (jajah.com) , are free if both callers subscribe to the Web site. Signing up is usually free, too, and special equipment or software is not required.

Others, such as Skype (skype.com), involve downloading a program in order to make reduced-rate calls or free calls to other Skype users.

Like Skype, many instant messenger programs, such as the one available through Yahoo (yahoo.com), have incorporated VoIP technology with videoconferencing software, allowing users to see whom they’re talking with on the other line, as well as share files and type messages....

[unhappycamper]

2. If you consider that it costs the telcos $0.008 cents a minute to talk

to anyone in North America, someone's making a shitload of bucks.