My longest held business has a phone number, and paying for phone service costs me around $21/month. Since I deal with people in all states, I always call people back with my cell phone….this confuses customers with different area codes and intermingles my personal and work life.
The perfect answer seems to be Vonage. So long as you have a broadband connection, you can get unlimited phone service anywhere in the United States and Canada for $25/month. You can also select ANY area code and number, no matter where you are.
I bought a nice Vonage Router from Fry’s this weekend which also doubles as a wireless router. Cost: $118 with $100 rebate. I just sign up on their website and hook my phone directly into the router.
On Another Note:
For some other side projects, I’ve learned to use the Wordpress blogging system. I installed it on my server with ease and picked it up quickly. It was extremely dynamic, quick and intuitive. Anyone with just a little bit of web publishing experience can pick it up in minutes.
On Yet Another Note:
Here are my current longterm stock holdings:
And on One More Note:
I did a Google Guide a while back, and to prove I knew what I was talking about, I did an experiment concerning the keyword “Starbucks Liquor”.
Well, the experiment worked and put me in the #1 spot when “Starbucks Liquor” is searched on Google. I get several hundred hits on my site p/week from people typing that keyword, so I decided to give them what they were searching for: Starbucks Liquor Recipe’s!
More booze? I am seeing a horrible pattern developing…..
Boss Hogg
thanks for the google tips!
here’s a nod for wordpress.
i switched to it recently, and I gotta say its definitely more flexible than blogger.
plus I finally get to use my SQL database. it was just sitting there lookin pretty.
they werent joking about that 5 minute install.
vonage is good but lingo.com is better and cheaper.
Starbucks liquor? That’s hilarious!
Been using Vonage for a couple of months already.
It has provided savings already for both, local, and international calls.
Money and Investing
How’s the experience been with Vonage so far? Good, consistent connection? I used Skype through my computer right now, but I’ll be moving back to the US soon and am looking into Vonage. I love Skype, but sometimes my connection isn’t so great.
Nev, I had another question…do you take all of those pics with a cell phone or a regular digital camera?
I had a HORRIBLE experience with Vonage. First, they are NOT compatible with Mac, as they claim to be . The router is NOT compatible with Airport. Further, if you DO manage to configure everything after (literally) 5 hours on the phone with non-english speaking customer service reps, and english-speaking but RUDE reps, the voice quality is absolute CRAP. The echo is unbearable. When you try to cancel, you’ll have a major battle on your hands to get your money back, in spite of their so-called guarantee. Also, although I cancelled the service the same day, they still sent a purchase order to my regular phone service provider, after having promised not to do so, and a week later my usual provider cut my phone off! Vonage’s proposed solutions to this problem were a) go out and buy another router, hook it up and we’ll see if we can help you (!!) or b) phone your regular provider and open up a new account (!!). They promised to reimburse me for these actions, but they have yet to reimburse me for the $150-odd in charges they originally made to my credit card. DO NOT, UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES TAKE THE CHANCE OF SIGNING UP WITH VONAGE.