Telephone Blog April Archive

Getting Started with VOIP

By Wilbur Corncob at 04/12/07 08:43

For a long time my father has been talking about getting a VOIP line. For some reason last night he decided to download [404 Check: was link to http:/ / www. gizomoproject. com, anchor: Gizmo Project] and give it a try.

I have Gizmo programming into one of the two lines in my voip box. It worked great, but he had to scrounge a microphone.

I ordered a SPA-2000 unlocked SIP adapte for him (shown in the lower right) of my phone system rats nest. Once he gets the adapter and I programming it, he won't want to go back to the old phone system.

It will also be a big step up from using Gizmo Project on your computer:

• You computer can be turned off
• You can use a regular phone (cordless, corded, etc)
• You can use a regular answering machine

Once you plug the SIP adapter into your router you plug your regular phone in and the only difference is the price!

My preference is an unlocked adapter and a service like Vbuzzer or Gizmo. The cost is less and in my view you have more flexiblity than services like Packet8 or Vonage where you are stuck with monthly plans.

Both Vbuzzer and Gizmo allow you to deposit money when you want rather than having monthly fees. They do have a small monthly fee if you want a regular incoming phone number.

What are you waiting for?

vbuzzer for VOIP

I started out liking vbuzzer for voip. You can use their windows software or program a sip based VOIP adapter for use with their service.

You pay as you go, ie: you can deposit, $5, $10, or $20 into your account and place calls till it is gone. It's only $2/mo for an incomming phone number (from a limit number of US and Candian area codes).

When I first started with vbuzzer that had exceptional rates for calling landlines and cellulars in Colombia. However, the rates have increase significantly, especially for calls to cellular.

I find they are no longer competitive for calls to Colombian cellulars, but still do better than others for landlines (though nothing like when I started). So, I have line 2 of my VOIP adapter programmed for Gizmo. I use vbuzzer for calling landlines in Colombia and Gizmo Project for calling cellulars.

The voice quality on Gizmo Project is much better when calling Michigan.

This is the advantage of having an open SIP adapter with two lines!