Phone Service Provider

How phone service has changed. What your phone service provider should offer.

Changes to Phone Service

Phone service has changed a lot recently: with a few well-placed telecommunications acts and the growth of broadband Internet, the most common method of phone service is by VoIP – phone calls over the Internet. Most phone service providers are now better known as VoIP phone service providers. Old-fashioned and hardwired phone networks from old-fashioned phone service providers are quickly becoming a thing of the past – the only factors now for VoIP's inception are the spread of high speed internet and how quickly the VoIP market can expand.

Internet speed is the only limit to VoIP phone service. If your internet speed is fast enough, you should strongly consider a VoIP phone service provider.

VoIP is now offered by just about everyone. Cable companies that offer a bundled phone service with their broadband internet - they're VoIP phone service providers (usually with a redundant old-fashioned telephone network as a backup). Big companies like Verizon and AT&T saw both their exclusive VoIP services collapse under their own weight; now they're back with brand-new VoIP and cable bundles. Then there are the VoIP providers.

Some of these dedicated VoIP phone service providers were founded during the dot-com bubble at the turn of the millennium. But the market for VoIP service exploded in 2004, in no small part thanks to an advertising blitz by VoIP's most famous (and in some cases, infamous) phone service provider, . Read their reviews to get a feel for how VoIP worked in the bad old days.

There are other, better VoIP providers out there too. Use list below to help you pick the right VoIP Phone Service provider.

What you should get from a Phone Service Provider

1. Cheap per minute rates or a cheap unlimited plan

A phone service provider that uses VoIP technology should be cheap. Otherwise, what's the point of switching from the old, expensive phone system to a new one?

Providers vary their rates, of course. But anything more than the rates that follow is too much for phone service alone:

• $50 a month per user for unlimited business phone service.
• $20 a month for unlimited home phone service.
• 5 cents a minute for pay-as-you-go VoIP plans.

2. Easy customer service contact

Your VoIP phone service provider should have an easy contact for customer support.

Most VoIP phone service providers offer a customer service hotline. Some guarantee a service response time.

The most reputable VoIP service providers customer care centers on their website. There you can post questions to an FAQ. You can see other customer's problems – and how they are solved.

The phone service provider may also have a live chat options.

VoIP is still a relatively new technology and there some kinks remain. You need to have someone you can talk to. Praise them or complain about them with us.

3. VoIP Features you want/need

You should check and see which features your VoIP phone service provider offers – and if they cost extra.

Frequently, services like voicemail, call waiting, call forwarding, and three-way calling are included with the price of a VoIP phone service plan.

Other services, like auto attendant, find me follow me, call splash, or hunt groups may or may not be included with the price of a simple plan. You may have to negotiate with the VoIP provider to get them included for a lower price. Or they may be included.

Large-scale call conferencing services and call center options usually cost extra. Some VoIP providers may not offer these options.

4. A good user rating on voipreview.org

All our reviews are written by VoIP phone service customers. By reading the satisfied and unsatisfied customer reviews, you can really learn something about a prospective VoIP provider – how they treat their customers or which customer service tricks to follow.

As you can see, most of the business VoIP providers below are rated rather highly. Compare their services and offers to find the best deal for your business. Some of these providers offer residential service, too.