unlimited long distance calls

[heehaw]

now i don't have any stock or ties to this company, i just happen to see this at walmart the other day: for $10 a month, "supposedly", you get unlimited long distance calling within the U.S. and Canada. (ChatterBug™) is the web site. if anyone knows how, and if they really do this, i would sure like to know.
heehaw

 

[RavensRoost]

Heehaw, I went to the URL you pasted and clicked "ChatterBug" at left side of page then "How it Works". They provide a box you plug your regular phone into, you dial LD#, their box calls their "office", call completes using the internet for transport. Not sure how they get from internet to the local telco at the far end though.

RavensRoost

 

[dooleysm]

Nothing more than VoIP technology then. If you have high speed internet you can go with vonage or something similar and get unlimited calling anywhere in the world for $25/month. Get rid of your landline. It would not suprise me if the internet put telcos out of business in the next 10 years. Or at least became their sole source of income.

 

[RockyMnt1]

Except for those of us who are out in the sticks and have to rely on dial up connections! Also keep in mind that wireless is not as secure as a land line.

 

[midlf]

Also with VoIP if your power goes out and you don't have some type of emergency feed to your PC you are SOL, no 911 or anything.

For me it's kinda hard to have the DSL w/o the phone line. (no cable here)

 

[Tig]

I use VOIP for business. Allows me to work from the cottage on Fridays or whenever. I have a wireless ISP there.
My network and VOIP are power protected and the system is configured to route calls to another number if your internet is down. I have not replaced my traditional phone line at home because the 911 implementation uses a call center to route the call. Not all VOIP is like that but it's a pretty serious minus if it is. IMO.
The long distance calling is great but the best feature of VOIP is call screening. The online call log records all missed calls. Tele-marketers get special screening treatment. Either the virtual ring, which rings in their ear but not my phone or I can forward them to each other. It is very flexible to forward calls to different numbers. All done through a web portal. Many more nice features too.
VOIP make a great second phone line whether your first line is cell or land line.

 

[thcri]

My wife got us on a program with qwest. Which is our telephone company and we pay $25.00 per month and we get unlimited long distance. This is not an internet connection or anything like that. Just our normal phone service.

murph

 

[heehaw]

we're using unlimited ld from our local phone co now: but its a lot higher than $10 a month: but the reliability and quality is great.
heehaw

 

[Bird]

Yeah, we have unlimited long distance also. And the bill is several pages long, and more confusing than any bill I've ever seen. I figure I'm probably paying at least twice as much as I should be paying, but everything is on one bill from our local phone company. I guess we have every option available on telephones; i.e., call forwarding, call waiting, caller ID, unlimited long distance, three-way calling, and I don't even know what else (and most of the features are not used), we have unlimited DSL Internet service, and I guess we have all the premium TV channels on satellite (Dish Network).

When I asked about reducing the bill by dropping some of the features and TV channels we never use, but keep the ones we do use, they said it would cost even more than this "package" deal.

But for nearly a year, when we supposedly had 5 cents a minute long distance that was never used even once (we used the cell phone for all long distance calls), our bill varied every month by as much as $15 for reasons they could not explain. But when I finally called to complain is when they decided they could lower the bill, add the unlimited long distance and double my DSL speed, all at a slightly lower cost (a "new package" deal they had just come out with, she said ). So sometimes it does help to complain a little.

 

[heehaw]

Bird: that sounds like the same package i have except for the dish: i already had dish so i just left it separate: i pay @ $87 a month for 1.5M dsl, all the phone features, and unlimited long distance: i do like the caller id, the second ring line, i use it just for the kids so i know when its them calling without looking at the caller id: have used the call block a few times and sometimes use the call forwarding: we will forward our home calls to the mother in law when we are visiting..with unlimited ld, it doesn't cost any more to do that.
heehaw

 

[Bird]

Rick, you may even have the same phone company. I had never heard of Centurytel Telephone Company until we moved here, but I understand they do have some of Arkansas, also. I still don't know why the variations in the billing, but I was paying from about $190 to $215 for nearly a year. That was with all the premium Dish Network channels, two TVs, and all the features on the phone except for the 5 cents a minute long distance, and 750k DSL service. Then a lady called and wanted to offer the unlimited long distance and 1.5M DSL for "about $10 a month" more. I declined, but a short time later, I called to tell them I didn't understand the bill fluctuations and that it was so high anyway that it was time to change. That's when they decided they had a "new package" to give me everything for $184 a month, including all the fees and taxes.

 

[kenmac]

I was paying about $200.00 per mo. for dsl- unlimited long distance & 3 cell phones (no direct tv)I had them remove my u.l. l.d. since I have free l.d. on my cell phones .Now my bill is about $180.00 per mo with tax & fees. Bird my bill is also several pages long also & is kinda hard to understand. I think they want it that way so that they can add a fee in & you won't read all those pages & catch it

 

[Bird]

Yeah, Ken, our cell phone is completely separate; different company, so that's another $37 a month and we used it for long distance until we got the unlimited long distance on the house phone. At least I only have to pay for one cell phone. The second one is paid for by our youngest daughter.

 

[kenmac]

If I were to go with another cell phone co. ,my home ph & dsl rates would increase. Since I have all with 1 co. they give me a better rate on all the stuff.Most of the cell phone companies here are about the same in price.

 

[heehaw]

yep, i have centurytel too: our dish bill runs $60 a month, no premium channels, 3 tvs, local channels and their service plan: all 3 tvs have digital recorders, so i figure its worth it to pay $6 a month for their service plan:
heehaw

 

[BillyP]

If I were to go with another cell phone co. ,my home ph & dsl rates would increase. Since I have all with 1 co. they give me a better rate on all the stuff.Most of the cell phone companies here are about the same in price.

Just be glad you have a choice.

Where I live, there's one phone company (Mom & Pop) which also owns one of two cell phone companies and the only DSL available. They also own the only cable tv service. There's No deals here.

 

[DUMBDOG]

We have five cell phones on our plan which runs about $140 per month, very seldom do we use the house phone, which runs $16 per month according to the cable company. They also have a unlimited long distance, but everything is local for us so it would have been a wast of money. For the few long distance calls that we make, we just use the cell phone.