Skype

Skype is famous for their slogan, ‘The Whole World can Talk for Free’. Skype is a free download and users can make free calls via, Skype to Skype. For a fee, you can advance your Skype to Skype Out and make calls to landline phones. Skype In will let your choose your area code and phone number. This way, friends and relatives can call you locally, if you select the same area code. Skype is compatible with Windows, Mac, Linux, and Pocket Pc operating systems.

Vonage

Probably the most well known VoIP providers, you may be surprised to discover that Vonage is also one of the more expensive providers. Vonage offers two plans, residential and small business. Residential users may choose between the Basic 500 plan and Unlimited. The Basic 500 plan offers 500 minutes of talk time for $14.99 a month. The Premium Unlimited residential plan costs $24.99 per month.

The Small Business Basic plan costs $39.99 per month and allows 1500 minutes. The Small Business Unlimited plan costs $49.99 a month and provides unlimited calls throughout the United States, Puerto Rico, and Canada.

Dialpad

Dialpad and Yahoo have merged services. Currently, Dialpad offers three plans- Dialpad Monthly 300, Dialpad Monthly 500, and Dialpad USA. The cost for Dialpad Monthly 300 is $7.50 per month, Dialpad Monthly 500 costs $9.99 per month, and Dialpad USA costs $11.99 per month.

Broadvox Direct

Broadvox Direct offers residential and small business services. Their residential services include the Residential Choice Plus plan for $9.95 per month. The Residential Choice Plus plan includes 100 outbound minutes and unlimited incoming minutes. Their Residential Unlimited Plan costs $29.95 a month and includes unlimited calling anywhere in the US and Canada. The SoHo Small Business Regional Plan costs $34.95 per month and includes 1500 monthly minutes in the US and in Canada. The SoHo Small Business Unlimited Plan costs $44.95 per month and includes unlimited calls in the US and Canada and also includes a free fax line and Yellow Page listing.

Galaxy Voice

Galaxy Voice offers two plans, Residential and Business. Their residential plan costs $19.95 a month and includes unlimited calling, Voicemail, Caller Id, Call Waiting, Call Return, Three Way Calling, and Call Forwarding. Their business plan costs $39.95 per month and includes unlimited calling, Free Voice Mail, Free Call Transfer, Free Call Forwarding, Free Repeat Dialing, and Free Caller ID block.

Voice Pulse

Voice Pulse has three plans, America Unlimited, Local Unlimited and Business Unlimited. The America Unlimited plan costs $24.99 per month. The Local Unlimited costs $14.99 per month, and the Business Unlimited costs $45.99 per month.

VoIP American

VoIP American has three different plans. These are the VoIP American PBX plan, the VoIP American Voice plan and the VoIP American bVoice plan. The VoIP American PBX plan cost $19.99 a month for a private line and $44.99 a month for unlimited calling. The VoIP Voice Residential Basic plan costs $14.99 per month and the VoIP Voice Residential Unlimited plan costs $29.99 per month. The bVoice Business plan costs $34.99 per month.

Packet 8

Packet 8 not only offers phone plans, but they also offer videophone plans. Their residential plans are the Freedom International and Freedom Unlimited. Both of these plans cost $19.99 per month. The Videophone plan is the Freedom Unlimited and that too is $19.99 per month. Their business plans consists of three different plans. These are the Virtual Office service plans, the Virtual Attendant Service plans, and the Business Phone Service plans. The Virtual office phone plan costs $19.95 per month, the Virtual Attendant service plan costs $14.95 per month, and the Business Attendant service plan costs $34.95 per month.

Sun Rocket

Sun Rocket offers their signature service for either $24.95 per month or $199.00 per year.

Speakeasy

Speakeasy offers many different plans ranging from Home Office, Small Office I, Small Office II, and Small Business. Their Home Office plan costs 79.90 per month, the Small Office I plan costs $560.00 per month, the Small Office II plan costs 1,039 per month and the Small Business plan costs $2,349 per month.

Your voip service account will allow you to make calls over the internet from a PC/Laptop to another PC/laptop anywhere in the world, all that is required is softphone, (which is client software that provides connection through your voip service via your desktop or laptop), broadband-connection, a headset and microphone.

Voip service providers typically charge much lower rates for calls made over the internet using any of the methods listed below.

* PC or laptop
* Standard telephones fitted with an Analogue to Digital Adaptor (ATA)
* Internet Phones

With the elimination of long-distances charges, unregulated charges, and all the freebies that come standard with your voip service, it can actually amount to a significant savings for you. For example, with ordinary phone services you may be paying extra for features such as:

* Call waiting
* Three way calling
* Call forwarding
* Caller I.D.
* Repeat dial
* Last call return

with voip service these features usually come standard. Then there are some advanced features that make voip something worth looking into. With some voip service providers, you can set up call-filtering options, and actually have some control over how calls from certain numbers are handled. For example, you can:

* Forward the call to a particular number
* Send the call directly to voicemail
* Give the caller a busy signal
* Play a “not in service” message
* Send the caller to a funny rejection hotline

With most voip services, you can also check voice mail on Internet, attach messages that is sent directly to your computer or handheld. (By the way, if you’re interested in any of these features, not all voip services are created equal, so a little shopping around first, because prices and services do vary).

Another benefit that makes voip services so attractive for home and small business users is the flexibility. With VoIP you can make a call anywhere you can get broadband connectivity. Since PC, IP phones and ATAs broadcast information over the Internet, they can be administered by any voip service provider. For business travelers, this means they can take their laptop, phone or ATA with them on the road, and never miss a home phone call!