Dale Farnsworth wrote:

>On Wed, Sep 28, 2005 at 01:48:52PM +0000, JD Austin wrote:
>  
>
>>I don't think I'm the typical VOIP user so I won't say what I'd do :)  
>>    
>>
>
>I'd love to hear what you, the power VOIP user, would do, if you
>don't mind sharing.
>
>Thanks,
>-Dale
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Since all voip providers can become over subscribed I would not rely on 
their DID's (Dial in #) for my business.
It's an extra $50/month for a regular phone line, but I have the piece 
of mind that I can switch between and use multiple providers without 
having to change my phone number.

I use VOIP to give me unlimited (well.. unlimited except by my 
bandwidth) incoming lines.  First call gets handled by asterisk via 
PSTN, the next call and every call after that forwards to a voip 
number.  For the equivalent of a 5 line phone system I pay $50 (qwest 
line) + $5 (voip number) + .02/minute.  Not sure how much the same would 
cost but I know it is more.   For another $5 I get a toll free number too.

I like VOIP for the extra things you can do that you typically can't do 
with normal phone lines.  For example during a recent presentation I 
brought my office phone, plugged it into a router and was able to send 
and receive calls.  I could just as easily take it with me to a hotel 
with broadband and continue conducting business.  When I'm at work away 
from my home office I can make calls via a software phone.

With Asterisk I can take advantage of my cell phone providers free 
'mobile to home'  minutes and lower my cell bill.  I don't give out my 
cell phone number to anyone anymore.  They call my business line and 
punch in extension 201 instead.  Since mobile to home calls are free the 
business calls don't use up the limited minutes that come with the 
plan.  For calling out I can dial into my asterisk PBX, punch in a code 
and password and get a dialtone to call out.  It is a little 
inconvenient sometimes but it easily saves me $100/month in cell charges.

JD


-- 
JD Austin
Twin Geckos Technology Services LLC
email: jd@twingeckos.com
http://www.twingeckos.com
phone/fax: 480.288.8195