Best alternative for now, but wait for IP phone
Written: Jun 13 '00 (Updated Jun 13 '00)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Better voice quality than most other PC-based telephony providers, no need to renew calls
Cons: One cent per minute (though worth it)
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| asarfatti's Full Review: Net2Phone |
I should start by stating that Net2Phone has very poor customer service, a quite common complaint that seems to be falling on deaf ears. I find this lack of customer consideration odd in light of AT&T's recent $1.4 Billion investment in Net2Phone. What AT&T's vested interest is I am not yet sure. I speculate that it is either to quell the IP telephony industry altogether by purchasing the industry leader, thereby forcing everyone to continue to use AT&T's higher priced service, or as a risk-management hedge between the IP Telephony and standard POTS (Plain Old Telephone Service).
Aside from the customer service, my gripes about VoIP and IP telephony voice quality echo those already voiced by almost all past users. Invariably connections are beset by aggravating background noise, largely because of Microsoft.
I say this not as another indictment of Bill Gates and his unrelenting quest to snuff out everything that doesn't contribute to his fortune. Rather, it is to highlight the graphical nature of the Windows operating system, and the repercussions it has on non-graphical programs.
Microsoft designed Windows to make users happy by establishing a priority hierarchy for procedures. The result: most graphical procedures found themselves at the top of the hierarchy, leaving non-graphical tasks (such as IP telephony) a meager share of system resources.
What does this mean?
If you want to improve voice quality, heed Net2Phone's suggestions and close all other programs. This will eliminate some of the higher-priority functions and enable Net2Phone to eliminate some of the higher-annoyance noise.
Another advantage specific to Net2Phone is its fee-based service: users are not required to sit by their PC, constantly renewing their calls as in most ad-based services. For just one-cent per minute, it's definitely worth avoiding the hassle, even if you have to register with a credit card. Too many times I've had my calls disconnected by I-Link and Dialpad because I either forgot to renew the connection or reached the call duration limit.
However, this is not to say that I think Net2Phone is a perfect substitute for long-distance -- at least not yet. If you're really looking to save money without sacrificing quality, I'd wait until the release of the second generation thin-client (a separate piece of hardware) IP phones. This way, you have a device dedicated to error correction and improving voice quality.
Currently, KomodoFone (also called YapGear) has an okay (but better than any PC based service) device out for $139, but I hear there are better ones under development from HippoInc and IP Star. In any event, if you make lots of long-distance calls, sign up for Net2Phone, get a good headset with a microphone (it comes gratis with a Net2Phone registration, another reason to use Net2Phone over other services), but keep your eye out for other IP telephones that circumvent the PC.
Recommended:
Yes
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Epinions.com ID:
asarfatti
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Member: Aaron Sarfatti
Location: Princeton, NJ
Reviews written: 9
Trusted by: 1 member
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