If you’re considering changing your residential phone service to Voice Over IP, or VOIP service, there are several steps in the process, and thinking and acting carefully during each step can make the process run much more smoothly and avoid headaches both during the installation and later on in your service period.
First, it’s important to choose a VOIP provider carefully. There are three major providers who offer VOIP in most areas: Vonage, Sunrocket, and Comcast. All three are well-known, and each has different plans and services.
When looking for a provider, you should look first a the quality of their offerings. The best way to determine whether the provider you’re considering has a good record in your area is to get online and look for complaints and critical web sites and blog postings. Of course, these must be taken with a grain of salt; not everyone will be happy with every provider. But you can certainly make a good judgment as to whether a provider has an unreasonable number of complaints by doing a web search.
Support is the next important factor to consider in choosing a provider. Again, checking web sites for complaints is a...