Making the Jump to VoIP by Russell Shaw
There's no doubt in my mind. Of the services I've used, Packet 8 is by far the best VoIP provider out there.
Packet8's several monthly plans include the $39.99 Virtual Office, with auto attendant and conference bridge, the $29.99 Freedom Unlimited Videophone, which includes a full-motion real-time video phone made by Packet 8 owner 8x8, and Packet 8 Freedom Unlimited—the one I opted for. Freedom Unlimited specifies unrestricted free calling throughout the U.S. and Canada, as well as to all Packet8 subscribers worldwide
Packet 8 requires extra equipment and installation step, but it's worth it. Packet 8's kit comes with a Packet8-branded DTA 310 terminal gateway. You simply Plug the DTA310 into your PC using a standard Ethernet cable (included in the kit), plug in your power supply, and the plug your telephone into the DTA310.
Packet 8's shining virtue is its superior configurability for home and office networks. If you want to use your Packet 8 service on more than one phone line, purchase a multiple analog jack extension connector and then plug it into the DTA-310 phone jack. This connector will allow you to use up to three phones on a single Packet8 line.
To aid in your selection, I've pulled the important points of each of the services I tried into a handy table. You'll note that one thing that's not included is a rating of voice quality. This is because I found very little noticeable difference in call quality among these services.
That's not to say that you won't experience an occasional garbled call or annoying metallic echo. But a recent TomsNetworking poll had almost 50% of respondents choose "hardly ever" as their answer when asked how often they had problems with their VoIP service.
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