Have residential broadband Internet access but want fully explore all possible phone service options available to your home. Than what you need is something called an "Over the Top" broadband Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) service provider. Residential broadband VoIP has evolved over the years thanks to some early adopters and rapidly maturing technology. Today, residential VoIP has not only become increasingly reliable (some services boast three nines of availability - 99.9%) but the costs to deliver it to consumers is dropping to nearly half of what traditional lines cost. Best of all, VoIP services are generally flat rate - meaning you can call as much as you want (both local and long distance) and never pay more than your fixed monthly rate. This article provides a comparison of the most popular plans out there from a cost, feature, stand point to help consumers get their arms around all their choices.

Table 1.0 Price Plan Comparisons of VoIP Residential Services

The average monthly price for residential VoIP services from Table 1.0 is $23.81 and those services that are priced less than that average are highlighted in GREEN. While you may find "introductory" prices or promotions on VoIP services, the rates in Table 1.0 reflect those prices of un-discounted services that can be purchased month to month. Some discounted prices require certain term commitments that prevent customers from quitting the service without paying a termination fee. To help you compare and contrast these services, we have done a call feature comparison in Table 2.0 and again highlighted features in RED that you should want to have from your provider but are currently missing in the standard features offered. In addition, certain features are highlighted in GREEN that indicate an above and beyond service provided.

Table 2.0 Call Feature Comparison of Residential VoIP Services

VM - Voice mail
CID - Caller ID
CIDB - Caller ID Block
ACR - Anonymous Call Rejection/Blocking
SD - Speed Dial
CR - Call Return (Last Call Return)
DND - Do Not Disturb
3way - 3-Way Calling
CW - Call Waiting
LNR - Last Number Redial
Oper - Operator Services
SR - Simultaneous Ring
CFA - Call Forward Always
CFB - Call Forward Busy
CFNA - Call Forwarding No Answer

Most broadband residential VoIP services will require some kind of activation fee and will charge customers for above and beyond services that may be used by subscribers. The activation fee covers the porting of your phone number and any handling costs encountered by the service provider. A summary of these charges are shown in Table 3.0.

Table 3.0 Additional Charges/Fees Associated with Residential VoIP Services

In some cases you can side step activation fee in exchange for signing a one year contract or in the event you already have your own equipment. Do keep in mind that very few VoIP services offer Emergency 911 (E911) support and thus do not represent a life-line phone service. If you require such service, you will need to purchase a more expensive VoIP router (one with built-in battery backup) and you must also run your DSL or Cable modem with a Uninterruptible Power Supply (UPS) to have such services available in the event of a power outage. It is important to size your UPS in terms of how long you require your VoIP services to run while the power is out (SMART-UPS 3000RMT 3000VA LINE). If you plan for your UPS to keep your in-home network up and running for 48 hours worth of power outage, that should cover 99.99% of the power outages.

Check out these other Birds-Eye.Net papers/products regarding VoIP:

• Over the Top VoIP Service Providers - Guide to available VoIP Service Providers
• Skype, Vonage, Net2Phone - To be or not to be any more than a "residential secondary line service"
• VoIP Market Research - Great place to start learning about VoIP

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