VoIP quality

[sweetser at TheWorld.com (Doug Sweetser)]

Hello Tom:

This is a rapidly evolving technology.  No doubt three years ago,
everyone had mediocre quality.  I had a friend who made a VoIP call to
Australia via Skype, and he said that call was clearer than any
regular wire connection - no delay or echoes.  It was as if they were
in the next town, no big deal.  My sense is that the technology in
this area is rapidly changing, and different providers can be quite
different in how well they've integrated the latest advance.

I think the regulators were saying recently that VoIP had to get their
911 rolled out in 4 months.  With SpeakEasy, they have had this part
of their telephone adapter box right now.  No extra fee either.
Customers requested it, so it is in the box.  This also means you
can't take your adapter box to the summer home and expect it to work.

The backup 911 service is via a cell phone.  In every emergency
situation I've been in over the last five years (3 total), I have been
able to rely on someone else's cell phone, and have avoided getting a
cell phone for myself.

doug