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Report on Growth and Economic Impact of the IT Industry
THE U.S. INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY INDUSTRY A Report on the Growth and Economic Impact of the IT Industry 1940-2010 Prepared by the Information Technology Industry Council (ITI), Washington DC Helga F. Sayadian, Vice President, ITI Industry Statistics...
The Future Of VOIP
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With all the advantages of VOIP (Voice Over Internet Protocol), there is still 1 drawback -- it cannot give you total wireless phone communication like a cell phone. Cell phones and VOIP seem to be 2 different animals. True,...
THE LANDSCAPE IS CHANGING, ARE YOU READY?
As if the Nasdaq news weren't bad enough, Forrester Research (FORR) said most Internet retailers would be out of business by 2001. Retailers find themselves being forced from the market by depleting bank accounts and saturated markets. The story...
When You Create A Web Site, Don't Make A Splash!
Don't make a splash!
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Generally, it is a fancy entrance graphic which requires your visitor to click...
Wireless Alphabet Soup: What's the Difference Anyway?
Wireless Alphabet Soup: What's the Difference Anyway?
Michael Knowles
You may have read a few feature lists for wireless cards, and you're about to ask a very common question: what's the difference anyway? Well, answering that question requires a...
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Get the most out of your VoIP provider
Features and pricing are the two prime considerations in
selecting your VoIP provider and deriving the maximum benefit
from the product. With most VoIP users, all the features
available in a particular product will rarely if ever be used.
All leading service providers promise a range of features that
look impressive as a marketing strategy, but often do not
deliver as practical options. "Features" do not always translate
as "benefits." Pricing is also a relative factor and is linked
to "quality" in the long run. Let us look closely at the
packages offered by three market leaders of today: Skype, Lingo,
and Vonage.
Skype has three basic usages: a PC-to-PC call, which is free
voice communication between two computer users across the world
with an Internet broadband connection; a paid SkypeOut voice
call from a Skype user to a landline/mobile phone; and a paid
SkypeIn call from a landline/mobile phone to a Skype user. For a
home requirement of chatting with family and friends, the Skype
PC-to-PC free call delivers on most promises made on the
official Skype website, including voice quality. If you are not
against being "wired" to your computer with your multimedia
speakers and headphone, this free offer is the best option in
this category.
However, if your requirement is for a full-scale voice service
that caters to PC-to-telephone and telephone-to-PC services, you
need to step up to the paid categories. SkypeOut offers a flat
global rate of € 0.017 per minute for some of the most popular
destinations worldwide, and has specific rates for other
destinations. SkypeIn, which is still in Beta, makes it possible
for your family, friends, and business acquaintances to reach
you from a landline by dialing a number assigned to you. SkypeIn
charges are independent of your location; if you are assigned a
Chicago number but are currently in Japan, the party making the
call only pays for a call to Chicago. If you buy a Skype
number--an annual
Stefon Harris And Blackout On JazzSet
At the KC Jazz Club bandstand, Harris' vibes run parallel to the edge of the stage and perpendicular to his marimba. Like a boxer in the ring, he works the corner where the keys meet. Hear Harris and his band Blackout pound on OutKast and Jackie McLean in two sets at KC Jazz Club.
When Jazz And Not-Jazz Converge
The Dirty Projectors is a weird rock band. Guillermo Klein is an idiosyncratic Latin jazz composer. But their bodies of work converge in several surprising ways. Where do you see alignments, intentional or not, between jazz and its fellow genres?
subscription will cost you € 30 and a
quarterly subscription comes at € 10--you also get Free Skype
Voicemail bundled in the package.
Skype's cost plans are uncomplicated, and making a choice is
relatively simple. Compare this with Lingo's Home, Office, and
International plans, and the corresponding plans from Vonage:
From this analysis, Lingo emerges as the service that will save
you more on your telephone bill. However, to get more out of
your VoIP, you need to look at the international pricing because
that's where VoIP scores over a traditional connection. If you
make frequent international calls to Asia, you can take
advantage of Lingo's Asia package. Lingo's international rates
to individual countries are also lower than those of Vonage, but
higher than Skype. Here is a comparison of the rates for three
destinations:
Skype has the lowest call rates, but is limited in features. At
the other end of the spectrum is Vonage, which offers the most
consistent call quality and delivers on features, but is heavier
on your pocket. Although it loses out on voice quality, Lingo
has the features to match Vonage.
There are a few other features mentioned by both Lingo and
Vonage--such as Anonymous Call Rejection and Do Not Disturb in
Lingo, and Click-2-Call and Call Hunt in Vonage--but these are
more in the way of cosmetic embellishments than utility tools.
The features are many, the utility diverse. To get the most out
of your VoIP provider, you need to place the key factors of
pricing and features at both ends of a see-saw, and weigh them
with the cornerstone of quality--that will position you
enticingly in making the right choice and getting the maximum
out of your service provider.
About the author:
Hamesh Brown enjoys writing about VoIP. For more information,
see this comparison of Lingo, Skype and Vonage.
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