Whether you go through VoIP providers that you find on the Internet or order VoIP phone service through your cable company after shopping at Allconnect, it’s not hard to find VoIP providers or set up Internet phone service. Let’s look at the steps involved.

1. Shop around for Internet Phone Service through your cable company and VoIP providers. You’ll probably want to read reviews of the best VoIP providers around, ask your friends and co-workers which VoIP providers they use (and how they like them!) and compare the prices, offerings and service of each of the VoIP providers you consider.

2. Decide on a calling plan. How much do you plan to use your Internet phone service—and where will you be calling? Before you compare prices amongst VoIP providers, you’ll need to know how you’ll be using your Internet phone service. When you find the plan that’s right for you, you can compare prices. Hint: You may find the best deal with an unlimited calling plan—and you won’t have to worry about going over your allotted. But if you don’t plan to use your Internet phone service frequently, don’t pay for features and minutes you won’t use. A more limited plan can save you money in the long run.

3. Compare prices for Internet phone service. Once you have an idea of the calling plan that will work best for you, search the Web for the best deals on VoIP providers and Internet phone service. You can find out the rates offered by your local cable company for Internet and Internet phone service, DSL providers like Verizon Wireless, and even for satellite Internet, which makes Internet phone service possible if you live in a rural area with no cable or DSL lines. Use AllConnect to simplify your shopping and get the best deals in your area.

4. Look out for hidden fees, set up charges, and contract commitments—along with early termination fees. Once you’ve narrowed your selection down to two or three VoIP providers, make sure to read the fine print on each website to make sure the price you’re quoted is the price you can expect to pay. Some hidden fees include overage charges, connection fees, taxes, and equipment. Find out if you’ll be locked into a contract—and for how long—and how much it would cost to get out of the contract.

5. Find out if you can keep your home phone number. This is important to many people. Some major VoIP providers allow you to keep your home phone number. So will your cable or DSL company, if you sign up for Internet phone service through them.

6. Call or sign up for Internet phone service online. After you select VoIP providers and begin placing your order, find out what special equipment is needed. In some cases, you’ll need a special telephone, often provided by the company. In other cases, you’ll just need an adapter that’s shipped to you.

If you sign up for Internet phone service through your cable company or your DSL Internet provider, they will send a service person to your house to install all the necessary equipment and cabling and provide you with a cable modem for your Internet service. Often, set-up and installation is free if you purchase a
Cable TV/Phone/Internet bundle.

VoIP through your cable company is the most popular form of VoIP service available today, and you can find the lowest rates in your area shopping through Allconnect. Why not skip the extra steps and order through Allconnect today?

Can Skype VoIP service replace your cell phone? Probably not—and the service doesn’t claim to. But Skype can work in conjunction with your cell phone service to offer a host of features at low prices, including some services that may not be available with your cell phone.
Let’s look at what Skype can do—and what it can’t do.

Skype-To-Go from your cell phone

Normally, you can use Skype to make local, long distance and international phone calls through your computer. But with a service called Skype-to-go, you can use Skype to make phone calls from any telephone —including your cell phone.

Simply subscribe to one of Skype’s subscription services, which start at $2.99 per month plus a small connection fee. Then sign online to activate your Skype To Go number from your account overview page.

You can make local, international or long distance calls from your cell phone using Skype-to-go in three easy steps:

1. Use your cell phone and current cell phone service to dial your local Skype access phone number.
2. Use your Skype credits or subscription service to call any number, anywhere, by dialing from your list of phone contacts, using voice dialing or speed dial, or simply punching in the numbers on your phone’s keypad.
3. Talk as long as you like at one low rate!

Skype is a great, low-cost alternative to calling people outside your cell phone calling plan or for making international calls. You don’t have to worry about who’s in your network, who uses the same cell phone service as you do, or where they live.

Skype Mobile

If you have a Smartphone with Verizon Wireless cell phone service (such as a Blackberry or a Droid) you can get Skype Mobile on your cell phone. You can do everything you can do on Skype, including talk to anyone, anywhere in the world on Skype, use text-based chat, and video calling through your Smartphone. Best of all, you won’t use your wireless minutes for Skype calls.

One Phone to Do It All?

By using Skype-to-Go or Skype Mobile on your cell phone, you can keep your cell phone bills low—you won’t have to worry about counting minutes or paying roaming charges for international calls. This is a great feature if you travel abroad.

However, you still need a cell phone plan (or a data/Internet access plan) to access Skype-to-go or Skype Mobile. That’s why Skype can’t actually replace your cell phone. It’s just not practical to carry a laptop or netbook around the same way you carry your cell phone—so for convenience alone, you’ll still need a cell phone for making calls when you’re away from home.

With Skype and a Cell Phone, Do You Still Need a Home Phone?

Just as Skype can’t replace your cell phone, in most cases your cell phone can’t replace a home phone with home telephone service, either. You can’t use Skype to dial emergency numbers, which means you need either a cell phone or a home phone in the event of an emergency.

And, in the event of an emergency, nothing provides more reliable service than a conventional home phone. Cell phone coverage can be spotty in some areas. People often forget to charge their cell phones. And cell phones are more prone to damage and malfunction than a home phone.
Even if you only use a home phone service plan for local calls and 911 access, having those features could save your life.

Only you know which communications decision is best for you and your family. If a combination of cell phone service, Skype and a home phone with local limited calling is the right choice for you, shop online at Allconnect to make sure you’re getting the best rates on your home phone service.

In local telephone company news, Verizon launches its “enhanced digital phone service”, FiOS Digital Voice.

According to a press release issued by Verizon, FiOS Digital Voice is the perfect compliment for its existing line of FiOS services,  ”the ultimate broadband and home-entertainment experience”. Going head to head with landlines, VoIP, and cable phone packages, FiOS Digital Voice is an attempt to provide superior call quality using Verizon’s all-fiber-optic network.  Eric J. Bruno, vice president for Verizon consumer product management and development, claims the new phone service will set a new standard in the same manner as FiOS TV and FiOS Internet have in their respective markets.   With over 20 features, including live voice-mail screening and on TV caller ID, FiOS Digital Voice is certainly an appealing product.

To sweeten the pot with more than superior call quality, Verizon is advertising a limited time offer on its FiOS quad or triple-play bundles.  If you signup by July 24, 2010, you can get a FiOS triple-play for as low as $99.99.

FiOS Digital Voice is currently available in areas of California, Delaware, Florida, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island,  Texas, Virginia,  and Washington, D.C., but you can use the “Savings Widget” to check your specific address.

Commercials and ads for VoIP services, Voice over Internet Protocol, have inundated the local phone market in recent years.  In  most cases, VoIP claims to be a cheaper, yet equally capable, alternative to the traditional landline.  Companies like  Vonage, Skype, and even Magicjack offer unlimited calling plans with free long distance.  The commercials would have you believe there’s nothing to do, but save on your phone bill.  Is it true?

At least one report brings up a valid counter point to VoIP’s potential savings.  A story on TMCnet by Hans Lewis brings up a very good point – security.  Lured by the influx of commercials and promise of low prices, Internet security may be the furthest thought from your mind if you consider ditching your landline and switching to VoIP.

Writing about a review of VoIP Security by Emerson Devleopment, Lewis points out that VoIP is a currently unregulated and unprotected Internet–based service.  Unlike the closely regulated phone lines, voice over service relies on the open nature of the Internet.  It’s the very nature of the Internet that poses the problem.  According to Harry Emerson, author of the original security report, the very nature of the Internet means the honest folks share that open structure with every malicious person in the world.  It sounds outlandish, but it makes sense.

That said, we’ve been subject to traditional phone scams for years.  VoIP is just the latest technology to exploit.

No one wants to be without a telephone for very long. Even if you already have a cell phone, having home phone service can make you feel more secure. With home phone service, people can always reach you regardless of cell phone reception or whether you remembered to charge your Bluetooth. You can also dial out for crystal clear reception every time.

When you move, your home phone service is one of the first things (along with electricity) you should consider turning on in your new home. Follow these tips to make ordering home phone service easy.

1. Decide on a phone carrier. Many regions have more than one home phone service provider. You may want to set up your home phone service through your cable company, or bundle your home phone service with your cable and/or internet. Use Allconnect.com to shop around for the best prices in your area.
2. Schedule a phone service install appointment. It could take 2 or 3 weeks to get an appointment, so decide on a carrier and order your service through Allconnect a few weeks before you move.
3. Plan to be home that day. Technicians may need to run new wires to connect your home phone service. Often, phone service providers offer a window of four hours that they may arrive. You may need to take a half-day from work or telecommute that day. Since you just moved in, you’ll find plenty to do while you wait for the service technicians to arrive. Make sure your phone is unpacked, so that you can test it before the technician leaves to avoid an additional appointment.

Teens love to talk. Many parents struggle to regulate their teenagers’ cell phone and text usage – teens can text in bed at night, surreptitiously in their rooms at any time of day, and parents may have no idea who they’re texting or why.

If you keep your home computer in a common area of the house, you can monitor (to some degree) your teenager’s social media and instant messaging activity. But there’s no better way to keep tabs on your teen’s social life than a home telephone. After all, you can find out just by answering the phone who she’s talking to, and when, and why.

Encourage your teenager to keep her cell phone for emergency use and use your home phone for social engagements. With features like call waiting on your home phone service, you don’t have to worry about missing an important call because your teen is on the line.

Some other tips for sharing home phone service with a teen:

• Set hours for phone use, or limit hours per day.
• Set up separate numbers on the same line, each with their own ring, so you can know who the phone is for. Most phone service providers offer this feature as part of a plan.
• Establish separate voice mail boxes (also available through many phone service plans) so you can retrieve your messages quickly and easily.

Thinking of switching home phone service providers?  Here’s what to ask before you buy home phone service. Once you’ve identified your phone service needs, use Allconnect.com to shop around for the best and most affordable phone service. Where do you call? Do you:

• Mostly make local calls?
• Frequently call out-of-state?
• Ever have a need to call internationally?
• Frequently make international calls?

What features do you need? Do you:

• Find call waiting a bother, or need to be reachable through call waiting at all times?
• Ever need three-way calling?
• Prefer or require an unlisted number?
• Want the ability to block anonymous calls?
• Want to send voice mails to your mobile phone or email?
• Prefer online bill pay options?

Other questions to ask: Do you:

• Need more than one phone line?
• Want to bundle your local and long distance under one carrier?
• Prefer VoIP (Voice Over IP) or conventional telephone service?
• Want to bundle your phone, cable and Internet with one provider to save money?

Finally, consider your budget for phone service, and then begin your search for the features you need at a price you can afford.

As with many home utility services, not all phone service providers are the same. Phone service providers vary in the services they offer, their prices, and even the technology they use to deliver your telephone communications.

For instance, three different means of delivering telephone signals currently exist:

1. Traditional telephone lines
2. Cable lines
3. VoIP (Voice Over Internet Protocol, where the signal goes through your home Internet connection)

Traditional telephone lines are considered analog while cable and VoIP are digital. So which is better?

Analog v. Digital

Traditional telephone lines deliver an analog signal, while cable lines deliver a digital signal. Without getting too technical, an analog signal delivers your voice as a series of electronic pulses across conventional phone lines. A digital signal converts your voice to data (a series of binary numbers – that is, 0’s and 1’s), transmits it across the line and then converts it back into your voice signal. A digital signal affords better clarity, although to true audiophiles, analog sounds – particularly in music – tend to have richer tones.

In general, digital phone service offers more features than conventional analog services, but the prices for basic local and long distance calling over analog phone lines (traditional phone service) may be lower.

Conventional phone service providers like AT&T and Verizon now offer digital packages, as well or you can get digital phone service through your cable company.

If you use your cell phone for all calls, you may be wondering what the options are for Internet service without a phone line. Here are some solutions to consider if you’re thinking about dropping your phone line.

1. Use cable Internet, available through most cable TV providers. The Internet signal will run through a cable hook up to your home, and will require a modem, usually supplied by the cable company, to connect the cable to your computer or the wireless router. Allconnect.com can not only summarize the cable Internet providers available at your address, but can also compare promotions and bundle options that are available.
2. Order satellite Internet. While the technology is similar to satellite TV, the two services can not share a dish. The dish has to be installed with an unobstructed view facing south. Allconnect.com can provide a summary of plans that are available for your address as well as any bundle options.
3. Air cards aka as mobile broadband, allow you to have Internet without a phone by using the wireless network. These USB modems and PC cards, which plug into your computer, connect to the standard cellular network. However, they have the same limitations as other cell devices regarding inconsistent coverage in enclosed, underground or remote locations. Wireless carriers offer numerous plans and pricing ranging from monthly fees to daily pre-paid access. Also take into consideration the carrier’s coverage as it relates to where you’ll be accessing the Internet with the card. If you have spotty cell phone coverage at your house, you’ll also have spotty Internet access with an air card.

If you decide to go this route and you have several wireless devices, look into an Intelligent Mobile Hotspot that taps into the cellular network and allows several wi-fi enabled devices to connect at one time.

4. DSL Internet providers have created a service known as “dry loop,” “naked DSL” or “stand-alone” to allow consumers to use DSL Internet service without a phone line. This technology runs through existing phones wires, and you do not need to subscribe to phone line service to use it. However, not all DSL providers offer it and pricing varies depending on speed and current promotions. This option for Internet without a phone is evolving, so check plans and pricing under DSL Internet at Allconnect for the latest.
5. Wi-fi hotspots. Grab your laptop and log-in at the thousands of wireless hotspots. Many are free, though some have policies as to how long you can remain online. Websites that allow you to enter your zip code for a list of nearby wi-fi locations include wi-fihotspotlist.com, hotspothaven.com, wi-fifreespot.com, and openwifispots.com.

New options for home phone service - and new pricing from phone service providers—constantly becomes available in today’s competitive market.

Many people don’t think about shopping for home phone service—or cable and Internet service, for that matter—unless they are moving. But if you are not locked into a contract with your current phone service provider, now is a good time to shop around for a better rate on your home phone service.

You should compare rates from phone service providers at least once a year. Make it a habit to evaluate your home phone service budget when you renew you car insurance policy, pay your property tax bill, or take care of another annual task.

Before you begin comparing prices from phone service providers through Allconnect, make a list of your needs and wants in home phone service. Here are some features you may include on the list, depending on your family’s telephone use:

• Unlimited local and long-distance calling
• Distinctive ringtones for different members of your family
• Voice mail
• Caller ID
• Call waiting
• Three-way calling
• Additional phone lines

With this list in hand, you can compare prices easily through Allconnect.com. When you shop, keep in mind that you may be able to save money by bundling your home phone service with your cable television and broadband Internet access.