[entspeak]

In reply to:

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I assume the answer is that the products reviewed all include (or consist solely of) software which runs on the Mac. This doesn't apply to Vonage.

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Actually, regular vonage service is OS independent, it's a box that hooks up to a modem or router and then to a phone. I only use my computer to adjust the settings and I do that through an internet browser. As far as Vonage's softphone, it works on both Mac and PC. I know because I use it on my iBook G4.
As far as the sidebar is concerned, it tries to say that there is a difference between an Internet Telephone Service and VoIP. The truth is an Internet Telephone Service uses VoIP protocols to work. So, there is no difference between ITS and VoIP. There is a difference between hardware and software options for VoIP. And Vonage has a Softphone option. It combined with the hardware box runs a bit over $30 a month. Yes, you have to pay for an ITSP, but in order to make landline calls or get incoming calls with Skype - something specifically mentioned in this article, you have to pay for the service. So, again, I wonder why Vonage was left out of this? It has a Softphone application that is comparable in terms of VoIP to Skype.

[macnews]

Curt -
Thank you for the link to the sidebar story. That is more what I would have liked to see along with the reviews.
I checked the story and did not find a link to the side bar. Am I missing something? BTW, I'm normally not this picky but I have really been looking into VoIP as a method to ditch my landline. I would like to stick with a cell phone but still have a "traditional" home phone for local calls and so my less technology driven parents don't freak out when I ask them to call me on the home phone. It just hit home as I have had a difficult time finding sources I could trust on this topic. Thank you for the story and links!

[entspeak]

I'd suggest Vonage. You can even get a Virtual Number with the area code of your parents hometown and then when they call you its a local phone call. This saved me, my family, and my work a huge amount of money when I was working in Canada. My regular Vonage number was a Chicago number that my family used and I also had a Virtual Number with a Candian area code so that my friends and colleagues in Canada didn't have to make an international call to reach me. When I was in a hotel, I used my Softphone and had my regular and virtual numbers forwarded to the Softphone. In terms of the regular Vonage number which was connected to a box that I connected to my router, I had very, very few problems in terms of sound quality. It did go down slightly when I was playing America's Army online while making a phone call, but... not bad enough to be annoying. In terms of the Softphone, it's not so bad either, though I have a 1Ghz iBook G4 and I couldn't really do much apart from talking without it having an effect on the phone call. With a direct ethernet connection, the sound quality was excellent all the time. Over Airport, it really depended on the signal... I did use it with 801.11b and it worked fine as long as there was a strong signal.
I'm hoping that Vonage will eventually make the V-phone USB adapter compatible with the Mac.

[cpoff]

All the headlines appear in the daily news roll as they're published. And they're also linked from the lead area on the news page & MW homepage, which I'm about to update right now.
You may also notice that this review package ran in the print version of Macworld, July 2006. Click on that link and you'll see all three VoIP stories atop the reviews section.
- cp

[beans]

I don't get it? My brother living in California, I'm in Pennsylvania.
We have been video conferencing for over 4 years now, why pay for it?
I don't get it? It's not hard to setup, it's free! Why?