Vonage Overview

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By Matt Blair
Posted: 4/26/2004

Vonage is a packaged voice over the internet (VoIP) service aimed at residential and small business needs. After signing up, Vonage sends a device that connects a standard telephone to your broadband internet connection. Routing calls over the internet lowers the cost of long distance, and, more importantly, calls to other Vonage subscribers have no per-minute charges. If several people you call also sign up, you have an unlimited, global voice communications solution, though monthly fees still apply. Extra services such as voicemail, caller ID, call waiting, call return, call transfer and call forwarding are also included.

As we have previously reported, Rob Longhurst of MAF has been using Vonage to make both US and international calls for almost a year now, with an estimated savings of 45 - 50% off his former long distance bill. By traveling with the telephone adapter, callers can dial his San Bernidino, California number, even if he is in Southern England at the time. He has colleagues that have taken units to Costa Rica and Hungary, and callers are able to dial US numbers to reach them.

We have been testing Vonage ourselves for the past few months, and here is what we have found.

Signup

Signup for the service is web-based and relatively painless, but there is a lag time of a few weeks while you wait for your telephone adapter to arrive. You can select an area code for your incoming phone number, and that area code does not have to be the same as your current location. You can also add numbers in additional area codes for $4.99 per month. Additional numbers route to the same phone, and allow callers using traditional phones in those area codes to make a local (toll-free) call to you, regardless of your actual location.

Installation

In most cases, installation is very easy. Vonage uses a box called an analog telephone adapter (ATA) to allow a standard phone to access your broadband connection. The ATA box needs to be installed between your broadband modem and your computer. See Vonage's single installation page for details.

If you are sharing your broadband connection among several computers using a router, it can be a little more complicated, especially if the computers use fixed IP addresses, but it will still work. If this is a concern for you, please contact us at info@humaninet.org and we will happy to share our experiences with you.

Usage

So how is the voice quality? Most of the time, there is no perceptible difference from a standard line. I did have one person report that my voice sounded a little fuzzy, but she still had no problems understanding what I was saying.

Since Vonage connects directly to broadband and not a router, the quality seems consistently higher than other solutions we have tested. We also haven't encountered the kind of basic problems with dialing, receiving calls, and dropped calls that were characteristic of other services. It's hard to pinpoint whether momentary glitches are caused by the internet connection or the Vonage service itself, but we plan to continue testing over a broad set of connections.

Because Vonage acts like an international phone, you don't need to dial an international access code such as 011, but you must always dial the country code before the local number. Once, attempting to dial a local Portland, OR number in area code 503, I accidently omitted the 1 (the country code for the US) and was soon speaking to a very confused resident of El Salvador.

Cost

Vonage currently has three monthly subscription packages, ranging from $14.99 to $34.99. (Because of the ongoing uncertainty about regulation in the VoIP market, they are also now charging a $1.50 'regulatory recovery' fee, so the actual range of packages is $16.49 to $36.49.) The less expensive plans offer a limited number of minutes per month for local calls, regional calls, and calls in the US and Canada. The Premium plan offers unlimited calling to all of these areas. Beyond the US and Canada, there are per-minute fees for international calls on all plans, but the rates are extremely low.

The startup fees were about US$78, which included the first month of the Premium Unlimited plan. In addition, if you cancel your service after the first 30 days, you will have to pay for shipping to return the ATA.

Advantages

• Receive incoming call anywhere you can connect
• Unlike software based systems, you can use a regular telephone or cordless phone
• Excellent international rates

Disadvantages

• Monthly fees still apply even if you aren't using it that much
• Broadband network connection required
• You must return the ATA box if you cancel

When to use it

Vonage seems best for those who need to:

• Receive calls inexpensively anywhere that broadband is available
• Make calls to a variety of phone numbers in developing countries
• Make use of extra features such as voice mail, call waiting, etc.

Future testing

Vonage also has a feature called a softphone, which allows you to make and receive calls from your laptop, without the added complexity or bulk of carrying the ATA box and a telephone. We plan to test that using dial-up, broadband and WiFi connections and report back next month.

For further information and assistance, contact us at info@humaninet.org.

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