Google Voice

[seekermeister]

I've only recently became aware of this service, and am wondering if it would be practical/possible to replace my regular land-line telephone?

I scanned over a Wikipedia article, but it wasn't clear if this could be used from a PC, or if it needed to use a cell phone? I don't use a phone much for any purpose, and all of my calls now are either local or toll free. If it could be used from a PC, does it require any special software or telephone equipment?

 

[rap33042]

The first thing I can think of about VOIP is that 911 (ie, emergency calls) are not available with these services.
For me, this is totally unacceptable.

Skype, for instance, says in their agreement that emergency calls are not available.
Based on that alone I would say they shouldn't be used as a replacement for a land-line that provides this service.
Unless, of course, you feel that you don't need it.

VOIP services are less expensive; that's the plus side.
They also don't offer the stability; that's the negative side.
If the 'grid' goes down for any reason, then the internet goes down, too (that includes VOIP [Voice Over Internet Protocol]).
Whereas, phones don't depend on the grid- they are on a separate system.
If you don't believe me, then think about how many times you've lost power, but the phone still works.
(This presumes you have something other than a wireless phone system in your home.)

Your call... no pun intended

Just a thought.

 

[seekermeister]

All valid points worth consideration, but my current service is via my cable service, and is not comparable to the reliability of a true land-line, though far more reliable than Skype. I had a one year subscription to Skype, and never got to use it once, because of compatibility factors between it and my software/hardware. I won't go into details, but for more reasons than this, I don't care for Skype at all.

If Google Voice wasn't much better than Skype, I would definitely stay with what I have. One reason that this question comes to mind, is that my cable company is playing games with their rates, and whether I go to VOIP or not, I'm probably going for telephone service elsewhere. It would be nice to get two birds with one stone.

 

[rap33042]

I would love nothing more than for you to succeed; and if you do, I would like all the details!