There are numerous benefits to using an Internet phone company, but there are also drawbacks.

No Broadband (High Speed) Connection? No Internet Phone Services:

You must have some type of high speed Internet connection (DSL, Cable, T-1, etc.) to use an Internet phone company. It will not work with your regular phone connection and won't work with a dial up Internet connection.

Quality of the Connection:

We use VoIP phone service and it is almost always as clear as traditional phone service. The worse we have experienced was a slight echo on three calls and one dropped call. We have also read numerous articles where others have tested VoIP service and some have said their calls sounded like a cellular call, while other reviews have said the connection was as clear as traditional phone lines.

In short, it would not be fair to say the quality is always as good as regular phone service, but in our situation it has been close. Much will depend on the speed and workings of your Internet connection.

911 Service:

This is currently one major downfall of Internet phone services, although some providers are working on the issue. If an Internet phone company does have 911 service it will usually be much different than using traditional phone service.

Realize that because your calls travel the Internet and because you can take your phone with you as you travel, any 911 capabilities would involve you pre-registering your physical location. Your 911 calls would then be routed to the Public Safety Answering Point (PSAP) for your area.

Once your 911 call is placed, you will still need to provide your physical location, phone number, etc. to the PSAP. They will not be able to see your number and will not have access to your physical location because unlike Enhanced 911 (E911), there is no Data Management System/Automatic Location Identification (DMS/ALI).

Note: It's only a matter of time before the FCC requires VoIP providers to offer true E911 service, and some carriers are now starting to add it.

Lose Your Power, Lose Your Service:

Unless you have some type of backup power, you will lose all Internet phone services if you lose your power. Some providers will let you set up a call forwarding feature that will automatically activate if you lose power or Internet service.

Using DSL Service:

If your connection is provided by a DSL provider, there is a very good chance you will still need at least a basic traditional phone line and number. In fact, this happened to us. Our DSL provider requires their customers to have a phone line and number from them to use their DSL service.

We decided to make this line basically nothing but a dial tone with no calling features. If we lose power and therefore lose our Internet phone services, we can still use our traditional phone line to make calls.

Keeping Your Current Phone Number:

If you want to use an Internet phone company and keep your current phone number, you might not be able to do it. If you are in an area code that is not currently available with Internet phone services, you will not be able to transfer your current number. There are numerous area codes now available and more area codes are being added each month. When you find a plan you are interested in, you will be able to view a list of available area codes.

Calling 900 Numbers: If you normally call 900 numbers, you will not be able to call these numbers using Internet phone services. You also cannot use any 10-10 numbers and cannot receive collect calls.