5 Considerations When Choosing A Residential VoIP Provider

With so many choices for a VoIP provider for your residence, where do you start? Here are some considerations to keep in mind when choosing.

1. Quality of the call.
   For some people, this is the most important constraint. It may not be for you. Reports indicate that the MOS (Mean Opinion Score) of most VoIP providers are approximately at the same level. An in-depth study of the call qualty for different vendors may help.

2. Economy. Some VoIP services require that you use additional hardware, and it typically costs extra. Maybe you can find a similar service that includes the hardware in the plan. Compare the monthly charges, as well as features and quality.
3. Standard and optional feature set. Prioritize your requirements and your calling patterns. Where you are and where you’ll be calling will likely make a difference in the provider you choose. For example, Skype has unlimited North American calling for a year for US$14.95 (until Jan 31st) for Canada and the US. (Other countries to follow.) There are some restrictions on this plan, though, and unless you have a Skype-certified phone, you’ll have to call from your computer. But if you live elsewhere, or plan to call internationally, you might prefer something like Jajah or Gizmo Project, which lets you use a regular phone to call between up to 60 countries (Gizmo) at no cost, under certain conditions.
4. E-911 service. Most VoIP providers do not offer e-911 service (999 in the UK). It’s a technical issue rather than anything else. Vonage has been making progress in this regard, but is really one of the few, despite the new mandate from the FCC. It may not matter to you, but consider those around you. If you have children or the elderly at home, e-911 is a good idea. Else you may need to retain your regular phone line, if the VoIP provider you would otherwise choose does not have e-911 capability.
5. Keeping your regular phone line? You might have a primary phone line at home and decide to get a VoIP line for long distance calls. If you are handy with tools and wiring, you can keep your regular line and install VoIP yourself. If you’re not handy, go for a provider that’ll offer you an ATA (Analog Telephone Adapter), such as Vonage or Gnomephone.