Maxwell Smart (Don Adams) was way ahead of his time when he used “his” version of the “wireless phone” all those years ago. We thought it was funny and kind of cool. These days is doesn’t seem so outrageous. We are now living in an age where there is even a Skype “phone” that resides on a very small USB flash memory stick. There are now VoIP providers offering “WiFi” VoIP phones and of course computer-based software phones have been around for awhile. Although, I still have not seen an actual “shoe phone”, YET!

VoIP (voice calls over the Internet) is getting lots of attention with eBay now getting their “verb” Skype for something like 2.7 billion. I use Skype daily, but I thought I might tell you what I am up to with GizmoProject and Vonage in my daily digital lifestyle. GizmoProject can be running on your regular analog home phone by just adding an Analog Telephone Adapter (ATA). The upside of this is that your computer does not have anything to do with this and does not have to be on.

Skype utilizes a proprietary peer-to-peer (P2P) network and GizmoProject is based on a standard-based, Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) system. Using Skype, your host machine is used to route calls for other users. This causes your computer to use more processor cycles even when “you” are not in a call. Your machine and bandwidth is being shared among all of Skype’s users. This is the nature of P2P networks and Skype works very well. Skype has client software for Windows, Mac OS X, Linux and Pocket PC and I run it on all of them. The downside, unlike GizmoProject, your computer must be on to use Skype. See my post VoIP: Is GizmoProject the “Skype killer”? from August.

GizmoProject is owned by Sipphone.com, and when you download the GizmoProject client you are given a SIP phone number. The GizmoProject software client runs on Windows, Mac OS X, and now Linux. GizmoProject recently added IM (Instant Messaging) and is similar to Skype for much of its functionality. But a nice advantage is running GizmoProject on your regular analog phone using an Analog Telephone Adapter (ATA) and not needing your computer at all. What you need to do is buy an ATA that is “unlocked”. This means it is not “locked” to a particular VoIP vendor.

If you visit your local BestBuy or CompUSA, you will see ATAs being sold for Vonage, Packet8, iConnectHere, or some other VoIP vendor. These are usually ATAs that are “locked” so you can only use them with these particular VoIP services. They are simple to use. Just connect it to your high-speed Internet (DSL, cable modem, etc) and your analog telephone, activate your account with your credit card and for a monthly fee you have VoIP. Not much different from what the cable companies and telcos are offering. My only problem with this are that you are “locked” to this VoIP company with this equipment and the monthly fees. Cancel your account, throw away the ATA?

Some people have “hacked” these ATAs to unlock them to use with VoIP services of their choice. Finding and buying an “unlocked” ATA is really not that hard. Sipphone sells adapters that are “unlocked” right on their website. I recently purchased a Linksys PAP2-NA (NA means it is unlocked) from a vendor on eBay. This is the same adapter being sold “locked” for Vonage and iConnectHere. Linksys has been pushed not to sell this adapter “unlocked” to the general public and there is even a pending law suit between SIPphone’s founder Michael Robertson and Vonage, related to Vonage’s alleged false advertising regarding packaging of Vonage phone adapters. The Linksys PAP2-NA is a nice two line VoIP device and is based on the Sipura SPA-2000. You can use two separate VoIP accounts, even from two separate VoiP services. So you can try whatever service you like and are not “locked” into any of them. Do not like the service, try a new one.

I quickly set up the Linksys PAP2-NA with my GizmoProject account and connected my analog home telephone. Using GizmoProject this way gives me 1.8 cents a minute calling anywhere in the USA (international rates are also quite low), with no monthly fees. I do have a virtual phone number so plain old telephone users (POTS) can call me and I pay $5 a month for this optional Gizmo Call In phone number. You can get Gizmo Call In numbers in many USA area codes and pay $5 a month each, for more than one. This would be good if you wanted to have POTS using relatives call you and only pay for a local call. SIP to SIP calls are free. This also includes some SIP calls to other VoIP service providers that have not “locked” down their networks to only their own users. VoiceMail is free and comes by way of email attachments. Recording of conversations is one mouse click as it is built into GizmoProject’s software client. The Gizmo Project also provides a free conference calling system.

After connecting the Linksys PAP2-NA with GizmoProject I made two long distance calls to relatives. Both calls were for about 15 minutes each. Neither person had any idea I was not using a regular POTS phone as the calls sounded very good. At 1.8 cents a minute and $5 a month, it is quite a bit cheaper than what my telco charges me and also cheaper than what most VoIP companies would charge including Vonage, OptumunVoice, etc. With VoIP competition heating up, some of the providers like Vonage has had to drop their price. Even at Vonage’s new $24.95 per month of unlimited calls, GizmoProject stacks up at 1.8 cents per minute being over 1380 minutes for the same $25.

Using GizmoProject this way allows me to have the best of both worlds. I have a cordless phone at home on my old trusty analog telephone and also have my software phone on every one of my computers. VoiceMail comes to me as an email with an attached .wav file so I can listen to it on my computer. You can purchase VM Rover (Windows only) is a multi-service voicemail client, to simplify voicemail. I just use email.

Skype “stick phone”

What I don’t get using GizmoProject is call forwarding (GizmoProject is working of this), call waiting, 3-way calling (they do have conference calls thru their website), call transfer, “keep your old phone nember”, or call return using *69. There is also no 911 service. Vonage and some other VoIP services do offer all of this, as do cable companies and the telco’s VoIP offerings. But just like the traditional telephone companies regular phone service, it comes at a price.

Vonage offers an unlimited service for $24.95 per month, but charges an extra $9.95 a month for using a software phone (no 911 dialing on software phone), including only 500 included minutes when using the soft-phone. Vonage allows you to keep your existing phone number if you are switching from another phone company. Vonage offers no IM (Instant Messenging). Vonage to Vonage calls are free. But Vonage blocks free SIP to SIP calls and charges for them, unlike GizmoProject.

Which service is right for you? You will need to decide. Pay as you go with GizmoProject with very low monthly fee of only $5 a month for Call In number or Vonage unlimited minutes at $24.99 (plus $9.95 if you want a soft-phone). Vonage also offers a Basic 500 minute plan for $14.95. I just wish Vonage would toss the soft-phone in or at least reduce the price. In Vonage’s defense they have already dropped the price of the unlimited plan $10 in the last year or so.

Traditional telephone service has the best “quality of service” with its better consistant connections, non-reliance of high-speed Internet, and the fact that traditional phones work without commercial power (power is present even in a blackout as the telcos provide un-interruped power). Of course if you are using a plug in telephone like most people do today you will still be out of luck in a blackout. But price is the real issue for why most people are move to VoIP. Portability, take the phone with you, is another big reason.

More modern “shoe phone”, watch your nose! Think 99 had one of these?

Ok, what am I using? I have Vonage at home and I am using the same Linksys PAP2 ATA as I have for my GizmoProject account, but of course the Vonage adapter is “locked”. The Vonage adapter was $59.99 from Circuit City, with $125 in rebates! I paid $70 including shipping for my “unlocked” Linksys PAP-NA. Both adapters are right next to each other and connected to my home network which is a cable modem and a Linksys wireless router. My Vonage phone adapter is connected to a VTECH 5.8 Ghz cordless phone system. I am using GizmoProject on the “unlocked” ATA to connect my fax machine with a Gizmo Call In number ($5 per month) which is cheaper than Vonage’s $9.95 per month fax line. Fax has sometimes been a problem for VoIP. But, GizmoProject seems to be working just fine this way for faxes, so far.

I choose Vonage to replace my traditional telco phone because of all the included features offered by Vonage such as NO ANNUAL CONTRACT, e911 Dialing, Voicemail Plus, Caller ID with Name, Call Waiting, Call Forwarding, 3-Way Calling, In-Network Calls (Vonage to Vonage is free), Area Code Selection, Call Transfer, Click-2-Call, Call Return, Caller ID Block, Repeat Dialing, International Call Block, Ring Lists, Call Hunt, and allowing me to keep my old phone number from my telco. I purchased the $14.95 plan with the included 500 minutes. I have not needed to pay for an “unlimited” plan ($24.95) or get an addtional fax line from Vonage. They charge $9.95 a month for, as I am using GizmoProject for fax and to make some calls. I also did not buy the soft-phone for making calls from my computer, from Vonage as they charge $9.95 for this add-on and include 500 minutes. I am using Skype for a soft-phone, it is cheaper and includes IM (instant Messenger and file transfers.

Using Vonage as my main line has worked out well. Vonage has a nice SimulRing feature that rings all the numbers you set up in a Ring List simultaneously. The call will connect to the first phone that’s picked up. Just add your cell phone, work number, or Skype number. The call will ring on all of them and if you do not answer will go to Vonage voicemail system. Voicemails can be fetched from your Vonage home phone or their website and you are notified by email. This is great, as you can finally have “one” number for people to find you!

Vonage service has been quite excellent so far. They are one of the oldest VoIP companies and the maturity seems to matter. The call quality has been very good, so far no one has really noticed I have been using VoIP. I have had no outages or problems. Vonage also has a feature where if my “home” network fails, my calls would be fowarded to the number I choose. I use my cell phone for this. Vonage’s website is very nice for managing your account and getting and listening to your voicemail. Transferring my old phone number from my telco to my new Vonage account took less than 14 days, 6 days less then the 20 day minimum that Vonage quoted me when I filled out the online form. It would have happened even faster, but it took my telco 3 days to cancel the distinctive ring feature I had (this needs to be turned off before transfer). So far I have not missed my telco, I especially do not miss the very high bill.

Speaking of the bill, my telco bill was about $76 (after taxes, etc) a month for unlimited calling and all the calling features. My Vonage bill is about $18 (after taxes, etc), GizmoProject is $5 a month for Call In number, and Skype is $5 a month for Skype In number. My outgoing call out minutes from GizmoProject and Skype are never more than $4, as most of my Skype calls are free Skype to Skype calls. That is a whopping $32 a month or a $44 per month savings! All this came with better features, more portability, and beter management. I was still using Skype for the road even when I was using the local telco.

X-Lite Soft-phone

I would like to mention BroadVoice here. I have been using Broadvoice with the X-Lite soft-phone also. We will be using BroadVoice to add VoIP to a Marratech conferencing portal I manage. They are one of the only VoIP providers that offer an unlimited plan and allow you to “bring your own device.” So if you have an “unlocked” ATA or want to get one, you might want to check them out. They offer much of what Vonage offers.

BroadVoice is also offering a “WiFi” VoIP phone for $99. Vonage has not released theirs yet. If you spend a lot of time in hotspots this may be a service you might consider. Skype is now offering SkypeZones that gives you access to Skype through thousands of Skype-friendly hot spots (Windows only right now). I have Skype loaded on a Samsung i730 Pocket PC phone allowing me to make Skype calls from a WiFi hotspot or over the EVDO network. With Skype, GizmoProject, and X-Lite soft-phones on all my computers making VoIP calls from just about anywhere is possible.

I hope this post helps guide you through the “maze” of services now available from the telcos, cable companies, ISPs, and VoIP providers out there. The choices, and the price plans are endless. Shop and find what best works for you. Watch out for the pitfalls. Especially, the annual contacts. Do not get “locked” in.

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