Switching to the Net Cut Jim's Phone Bill

March 28, 2006

By Emma Lunn

We’ll soon be ringing the changes in the way we make phone calls.

Using the internet to phone family and friends is tipped to hit the mainstream this year -and it will slash bills. That's on top of the price war predicted this summer after Ofcom removed the shackles from BT and allowed them to set their own charges.

More than ten million households now buy phone services from BT's rivals. About a third of all calls are made on mobiles but calls via the internet are growing fast.

Rather than sending calls via the standard phone network, internet telephony or voice-over-internet-protocol (VOIP) carries them via the internet using broadband.

Signing up to VOIP is simple and, in some cases, free -joining BT Communicator, Skype, SIPGate or VoIPCheap costs nothing.

Tesco charge £19.97 for their pay-as-you-go service, which includes a headset and £5 of free call time.

Vonage charge a joining fee of £9.99 and offer free calls between subscribers anywhere in the world, as well as inclusive calls to UK landlines for £7.99 a month.

But with Vonage you don't even need to have your computer switched on. To get going, all you need is a broadband connection, the relevant VOIP software which you can normally download from your chosen service provider and in some cases a special headset or microphone and speakers.

Some VOIP systems are even easier to set up, such as Wanadoo Wireless & Talk.

Experts reckon VOIP is the way forward. Phone calls between subscribers to the same system are often free while others can be cheaper than landline charges.

Vonage internet telephony is much cheaper than using a traditional phone line, with free calls to UK landlines and cheap rates for mobile and international calls. BT Broadband Talk has any time calls plan for £7 a month which includes local and national calls. However uSwitch, the independent price comparison and switching service say VOIP depends on the user having a high speed internet connection and warns availability and quality of the service is affected by internet traffic levels.

One fan of VOIP is IT consultant Jim Owen, right with wife Jackie, who switched from his BT landline after getting bills of around £90 a month.

The dad-of-six has two teenage children still at home and they were racking up big bills talking to their pals.

Jim, 53, from Woolley Moor, Derbys, chose Vonage and found his monthly bills came down to £25

He said: "It used to be a fact of life -large family meant large phone bills. But with Vonage this is no longer the case."

SIGN up to Vonage at www.vonage.co.uk or by calling 0800 008 6000, via online retailers amazon.co.uk and dabs.com, or buy on the High Street from stores including Comet, Staples and Maplin.