Is VoIP phone service a good choice for everyone?

While VoIP is definately less expensive than traditional land line service, it may not be a good choice for everyone. First of all, VoIP phone service is completely dependent upon your internet connection. If you tend to experience a lot of problems with your internet provider, you will experience the same problems with your phone connection. While this may seem like a huge issue, it's actually not a major problem for most consumers. Internet connections have become incredibly stable over the past few years and consequently, VoIP phone customers experience very few problems with their connection. Of course a power outage would mean the loss of phone service, but with most consumers using cordless phones, it does anyway. If this is of great concern, customers can simply use a batter powered backup system with their router/modem. These devices are readily available from many stores.

The other popular concern about VoIP phone service is the lack of availability of E911 emergency service. Because VoIP is not tied to a specific physical address, relieble E911 service becomes a challenge. When using 911 emergency service through a VoIP phone provider, the system relies on information provided by the user rather than the caller ID information that is transmitted by a traditional landline connection. E911 through VoIP is also not available through all VoIP providers, so you'll want to check availability if this is a concern. It should be noted that all VoIP provides are now required by law to disclose the risks associated with E911 over a VoIP connection and alert consumers if it isn't available. While the local phone companies like to make a big deal of this, as long as the VoIP service is being used in a single location, E911 will reliably transmitt the physical location that the call is originating from.

The bottom line is that the customer has to make the decision on whether VoIP phone service is right for them. However, there is one thing for certain about VoIP. It is catching on like wildfire and sweeping the country at an amazing rate. According to market research firm, The Radicati Group, VoIP phone lines are projected to grow from about 39 million in 2005, to about 532 million by 2009.