I've been tinkering with various Internet phone applications for years, wondering if the quality would ever become acceptable. The widespread availability of broadband Internet, combined with inexpensive gateway access to the public telephone network, make VoIP worth looking at again. However, traditional telephone-quality sound is still not quite there. High-end systems ensure "quality-of-service", giving voice packets priority over data (voice is data too, of course, but thinking that way can make your head explode). In any case, VoIP sound quality is roughly similar to a cel phone.
There are a number of ways you can try out VoIP. Free software "phones" are available, which can connect to another softphone anywhere on the Internet. These solutions aren't really free, because someone's paying for the Internet connection. There are far more softphones available on Windows (grr!); Mac users can try X-Lite or Nikotel.
Most softphones can also be used to access the public telephone network, using gateway services such as Vonage, VoicePulse, Packet8, and Nikotel. They allow you to call (and receive calls from) any regular phone in the world at a cost of only a few cents per minute. The big deal about VoIP, which is causing the regional bells to cry foul while at the same time has them scrambling to figure out how they can benefit: VoIP is not currently subject to the same taxes and fees as traditional phone service.
Computer softphones with strap-on headsets rarely pass the wife test. Fortunately, Vonage and most of the others provide a box that plugs into a regular phone on one end and a router on the other end, allowing you to use your existing telephone.
It's difficult to predict how these services will fare in the months ahead, as large phone service providers are working on their own VoIP offerings. In the meantime, you can try out VoIP right now by downloading one of the softphones, or by signing up for one of the gateway services that offers pay-as-you-go service using their telephone adapter.
Visit the Broadband Reports VoIP forum to learn more.
VoIP can provide considerable cost savings over traditional telephone service, but you get what you pay for. Dropped calls, poor audio and service outages are routinely discussed in the Broadband Reports forums.
As much as I want to like Internet telephony, cel phones with national access plans are currently the best alternative to a traditional phone line for domestic calls. Voice over IP will most likely be incorporated with, rather than replaced by, the public and cellular phone networks. [Mac IT]
8:19:45 AM 
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