Skype VOIP Service

Painting a bedroom last weekend, I discovered something peculiar. Scattered throughout our home are all these mysterious little faceplates with incorrectly sized Ethernet jacks in them. Apparently, they are tied to a quaint 19th century technology called "telephones." Remember those? They are just like cell phones and VOIP, except that they do a whole lot less, and ground you to one location.

There are so many reasons NOT to use a landline, I won't waste time listing them. However, backing up your cell phone with a secondary device at home or in the home-office is a must. You'd have to live under a rock not to know that you've got plenty of options. I say this because if you're like me, you get about 4 postcards a week from your cable company trying to sell you on their voice-over-internet-protocol (VOIP) service. For a roughly comparable cost to a local phone line, it may sound like a good option to simplify your billing. But wait! Hold the phone, and say Hello to Skype.

I LOVE Skype. It's easy, a fraction of the cost of the competition, provides exceptional service, great voice quality, and they've recently implemented some impressive new plans/features that anyone trying to simplify their lives (and budgets) can appreciate:

(see them after the jump)

What's Terifik about Skype:

~$40 per year unlimited calls in the US/Canada (yes, $40 PER YEAR)
FREE calls to anyone else using Skype (worldwide)
Get a LOCAL number in your area code with Skype-In
Your number, voicemail, and other Skype services are active wherever you have an internet connection. Take your home phone on vacation with you, or check your Skype Voicemail from that Internet cafe in Cannes, it's that easy.
CHEAP Int'l rates and plans for the "I have to call Mumbai" business types et al.
Forward your Skype-In phone number to another line (say your cell phone) in a snap
Connect with any computer, a headset, or a host of other equipment that requires no computer at all
Use Skype-To-Go to call anywhere in the world from any phone (including cells) with low Skype Rates
Fancy tricks that would scare Mr. Watson into a coma: chat / video conference / file transfer / direct-to-voicemail.
Reliability and Reach- our friends across the pond have been at it since 2003, you'll be surprised at the number of people using Skype

I've been using Skype for over a year now. In that time, it's saved me thousands of cell phone minutes and thousands of dinnertime tele-marketer interruptions. Caveat Emptor: Skype is a great add-on service, but it can't be used for calling 911 services. Keep your cell phone charged, or get a hand-crank charger (review coming soon).

If you have a broadband internet connection and the need for a second phone line, there is no better way to go. Oh, and did I mention that it's CHEAP. As a replacement phone line: a price of less than $40 per year has got your local phone company's CEO quaking in his $6,000 boots.