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.

March 28, 2006

By Andy Shaw

Vonage (Winner of 2006 WebUser Silver Award)
Price: £7.99 per month

Features: 5 out of 5 stars
Performance: 5 out of 5 stars
Ease of use: 4 out of 5 stars
Value for money: 4 out of 5 stars
Overall: 5 out of 5 stars

This review updated: 21/03/2006
Featured in magazine:
Issue 130
Manufacturer Contacts:
Supplier: Vonage
Web Address: www.vonage.co.uk

Vonage is another service that slots a regular phone in-between your broadband connection and a network router. If you don't already have a router you can buy one from Vonage for a much discounted £14.99, but if you're running broadband via a USB modem you'll also need a new Ethernet modem to hook it up (available for around £30-£40).

March 27, 2006

By Greg Scoblete

The three keys to merchandising VoIP at retail are education, education and education, according to service providers, vendors and retailers.

Call-quality issues have been vanquished, but there is still a lingering perception among consumers that VoIP call quality is inferior, said Huw Rees, 8x8's sales and marketing VP. “Once people hear a VoIP call, they're shocked at how good it is,” added Bob Laikin, chairman/CEO of distributor Brightpoint.

Harking back to a strategy used by some retailers when AT&T gave up its monopoly on landline-phone sales, CompUSA has dedicated space to demonstrate working phones from Vonage and 8x8 to show customers how VoIP works and let them place calls directly in store to anywhere in the world, said Brian Woods, Comp-USA's merchandising executive VP.

Well, you won't have to dig through any "haystacks," because we do that for you every business day here on the Digest. Speaking of,  in the news, we'll see where a Grand Prix race car co-sponsored by Vonage will be competing this weekend. Today is Friday, the day for our popular In The Blogs Feature. We'll also go over an Vonage VoIP Forum thread about . And finally, we'll tell you about how you can "Digg" what you read on the Vonage Forum.

March 23, 2006

By Staff

Got friends in Europe? Do you like to call them now and again? Then European virtual phone numbers from VoIP telephony firm Vonage may be of interest.

The service is essentially as described - you can now get a virtual phone number in addition to your current Vonage number in an area of your choice. So, if you have a friend in Milan, get a virtual number for that lovely city and you can talk away at local rates to your heart's content.

March 23, 2006

By Howard Gensler

YESTERDAY, Tattle was assailed as a "liberal" because we mentioned that President Bush's environmental policies may actually be bad for the environment.

So today we will wear our "L" badge proudly and commend "liberal" George Clooney for doing something Tattle has been begging celebs to do for years - he donated his Academy Awards gift bag to charity.