Todd Allcock <elecconnec@AmericaOnLine.com> wrote in news:iA%Ki.902
$5b5.481@fe099.usenetserver.com:

>
> Besides E911? ;-)

I asked our 911 operators if there was a local phone number I could call
to accesss their terminal...without the GPS pinpoint, of course. There
is. It's programmed into my Skype phones at home. I'll tell 'em my
address when I call. Problem solved.

>
> Their most interesting feature is "Cellular Bridge"- you enter your
> cell phone number (or any phone number you want to use) on the VS site,
> then when you call your VS number from that phone, you get a dialtone
> and can dial an international call through your VS account- kind of
> like a pinless calling card (or Mobivox, I suppose.)

Yes, MobiVox. You call it from any telephone. If "she" (voice prompter
is female, Canadian accent) doesn't recognize your caller ID, you just
say your username/password when she asks. From the pre-loaded phone, the
caller ID bypasses this request and opens your account automatically so
you can use your Skype contact list, which in Skype is server-stored, not
phone-stored, eliminating the need to duplicate it. Too bad cellular
isn't smart enough to do this so when your phone fails or you get a new
phone, your phone book isn't destroyed or requires copying. Cellular's
still dumb.

With your international calls already pre-stored in the contact list,
whether landline or Skype-to-Skype, you simply say, "Call Graeme Smith"
into it and she dials him. (Put another name on Graeme's Skype username
makes it easier to use than waiting for her to prompt you for his 3
different modes, Cellular/landline/Skype.) MobiVox is cheaper than
Skype, has no monthly bogus "service charge" and charges up airtime just
like your Skype, with your credit card. www.mobivox.com Works great, I
was a beta tester for them. From the cell, any of the access numbers in
the country are free LD calls only costing me airtime weekdays. Alltel
starts free N/W at 7 on my plan.

>
> They ruined the feature last month by charging $4.95/month extra for
> it, though!

I expect Mobivox to follow suit. It's an industry trend. They all
usually follow-the-leader.

>
> The ATA box they used to use could do it automatically via hardware,
> without their help. "Coincidentally," they changed some settings last
> month, stopping those boxes from working with Voicestick, and sent us
> free replacements without that particular feature, forcing us to
> subscribe to the feature to get it.

No "boxes" on Skype, of course. I call on the computers or laptop or my
Netgear SPH101 Skype Phone, depending on whether I want to transfer files
and have TV or not. Too bad Netgear or someone doesn't upgrade the Skype
phone to included a little vidcam and a web browser so I can use it at
lots of remote locations that require webpage spamming to logon free,
that the Skype Phone cannot connect to.

>
> On the bright side, both old and new boxes are unlocked, so I can use
> them with any of my other VoIP accounts (except Skype, of course,
> which isn't SIP-compliant.)
>

Skype won't be SIP-compliant because it would hobble up their excellent
service too much. They'd have to delete the toys that make Skype fun,
not just a phone.

>
> I didn't mind the end of the free incoming calls last month- that
> seemed fair- they cut the price of outgoing from 2.1 to 1.1 to offset
> the new 1.1-cent incoming charge. I suspect too many people were
> abusing the free incoming and using cheaper VoIPs for outgoing. But
> going from "unlimited" free incoming to $4/month (with no incoming or
> outgoing included) in the span of 60 days is going to cause quite a
> few casual users (like me) to disappear when my existing credits run
> out, which I'm sure is their goal.

AS it doesn't cost any internet VoIP carrier more than a few bytes of
disk space to continue your account, I doubt they care about trying to
get rid of you. The account numbers make borrowing money from the money
changers much easier, so they want lots of accounts, if for no other
reason.

>
> VoIP is just a backup for my backup (I have both a landline and
> multiple cells) so VoIP is kind of a "when my free-WiFi-equipped
> hotel is in a Cellular dead spot" kind of thing. For as little as I
> use VoIP, $0.01/month and $4/min would be cheaper than $4/month a
> $0.01/minute! I guess it's back to the rural Iowa USF-skimmers at
> FreeDigits.com aka SIPNumber.com for me!
>

There's no reason to have a landline any more. I dumped Bell$not in
1992. One of life's greatest pleasures was asking them to take their
wires off my home, after being their slave since I was a teenager. It's
a feeley-good kinda feeling..(c; Message delivered!

I don't need the Skype, either, but have lots of international friends so
would miss our chats without it. I'm online with it at home, but it's
only a way to bypass cellular's stupid by-the-second charges, a throwback
to an older time.

I'm retiring Jan 2008, but haven't decided to close my little music
business or not. If I close the business, I no longer need full contact
on-the-road, other than free 911 service from the bagphones in my cars,
so will probably just dump cellular's price gouging and keep Skype.
Without the business, I can easily pop the Netgear wifi phone into my
pocket, instead, and let it logon to whatever it finds open to get my
Skype voicemails...which it does, automatically, when it connects to
Skype's server. That will be plenty of phone service for me in
retirement...(c; All my fav restaurants either have free wifi or are
next to a hotel with free wifi. There's free wifi in the malls, The City
of Charleston provides 110Kbps free wifi downtown all over and the
marinas where my friends' boats are located all have amazing bandwidth
for free with repeaters across the marinas, a feature the affluent
yachtsmen now expect for $100-200/day transient dock rent. The only
place the Skype phone doesn't work is on the road, which I won't care
about cruising around on my motorcycle.

Larry
--
Search youtube for "Depleted Uranium"
The ultimate dirty bomb......