About Internet Phone Service....

Hi all.
I live in the country and have Comcast cable modem for my Internet.
It seems to work fantastic and I very rarely ever catch it down.
Here is my question.......
I'm self employed and depend on my land line phone for income. I can't afford to miss any calls.
It looks like I can keep my same # and get internet phone service DIRT CHEAP compared to my land line.
Is this service as reliable as my land line?
And if my cable goes down, would customers who call me be routed to voice mail or would I have to hope that they call back?
Thanks!
- Dave

 

No, it's not even close to as reliable, if you lose power or internet you lose your phone. I would assume calls would be routed to voicemail though. You should confirm that with your service provider to be sure. One more thing, if you call your local phone company and tell them you're going to switch, they may match the offer or at least give you a better deal.

 

Hmmm, that's interesting.
Perhaps my best bet would be to keep my business number on the land line just to receive calls and use the Internet phone service for making calls.

 

Or, you can use Skype to make your calls over the existing cable modem connection without paying anything extra for the phone service (you'd still pay for calls). You'll need to get used to making calls via the PC and a headset, as opposed to a 'normal' phone handset, though I've seen some companies making handsets that work w/ Skype that plug right into your phone.
www.Skype.com
Radio Shack Skype Handset
Linksys Cordless Skype Handset

 

Or just go with a cell phone.

 

Yes, I have a cell phone also, but I work from home and my cell phone has very poor reception here.