VoIP quality

[nbodley at speakeasy.net (Nicholas Bodley)]

No answers, but some thoughts:

I'm also very interested; Verizon "baseband" (POTS) is just too costly for  
my calling pattern.  Fortunately, I'm already a Speakeasy DSL customer  
(very happy with it, even though it's not the least expensive), so the  
modest added cost is attractive.

One comment, which I don't consider authoritative, is that VOIP/VoIP (take  
your pick) apparently encodes after digitizing, using some advanced form  
of linear predictive coding, so the voice can be re-synthesized at the far  
end. Idea is to lower the bit rate while staying intelligible. Whether  
Speakeasy also does this, I don't know. I'd prefer not to sound like a  
foreign news reporter talking through a minimal-bit-rate connection. It's  
pure speculation, but Speakeasy might be using mu-law or such nonlinear  
digitizing (and no coding); that scheme has worked quite well for  
digitized phone service over a few decades. Speakeasy does (or did)  
advertise superior quality.

Although I haven't called them yet, I expect Speakeasy to have good  
answers. For some time, now, they have had "geographical" 911; that is, if  
you place a 911 call, their system (third party, I think) makes your  
geographical location available to the responders.  A few deaths (no 911  
support) have not helped Vonage's reputation, iirc.

For those who want to be really prepared, it might be wise to install a  
low-power UPS (if you don't already have one for your computer) to keep  
the phone connection alive if commercial power fails. The "phone box" does  
require power.

Not too long ago, Speakeasy wanted $40 to set up service; I'd guess part  
was for admin. costs, part for the electronics.

Also to look into: Skype, but that's afaik free, more  
experimental/hobby/auxiliary, and probably "no-911" compared with  
commercial offerings.

HTH!

POTS: "plain old telephone service"
-- 
Nicholas Bodley  /*|*\ Waltham, Mass. (Not "MA")
Libranet 3.0
A measure of one's emotional maturity is
one's tolerance for the truth.