September 11, 2006
Does VOIP Jump the Generational Fence? I Think Not
Is VOIP a generational thing? When I told my parents about my great scheme to use VOIP for my business line and long distance calling, Mom gave me that worried look that says “Are you sure that’s not illegal?” You should try it, I cry! Vonage, my service of choice at the time, was only $19.95 a month. A simple calculation on my phone bill told me I was spending more that that on long distance every month, so it seemed a no brainer.
Then Dad says, why don’t you just use 10-10-YAK? Only 5 cents a minute.
That’s what my parents use. YAK is a dial-around service you can use for long distance calling. The charges appear on your regular phone bill so there’s no subscriber contract to deal with.
But Dad (I’m deflated now), YAK isn’t VOIP, and VOIP is COOL. VOIP is the WAVE of the FUTURE…OK well whatever.
Now I don’t know if it’s just my parents, but the idea of only paying for what they use on a regular old telephone makes total sense to them. Hooking up a Vonage phone adaptor to their PC and broadband modem to make phone calls does not.
But my Dad did get me thinking about this question of unlimited calling vs. pay as you go. If you ask the folks at SIPphone Gizmo Project, they’ll say that unlimited plans won’t save you money. Only paying for minutes you actually use will.
“A calling plan that involves unlimited calling is almost never in the best interests of the consumer. When you just pay for what you consume, you end up paying far less.”
It grieves me, but lets do the math. At 5 cents a minute, I would have to spend about 400 minutes calling long distance calls (6 1/2 hours) to break even with my $20 plus tax Vonage charges for unlimited calling. I spend way less than 400 minutes a month talking long distance, so (a) I was paying way to much at my telco before for long distance, and (b) I can do way better than Vonage.
Most VOIP long distance rates are around 2 cents a minute or less, so for me paying as I go makes sense (400 minutes at 2 cents/minute is $8)!
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5 Comments on Does VOIP Jump the Generational Fence? I Think Not »
September 12, 2006
Mark @ 12:38 am:
Moreover, to your point about pay as you go: when you do pay as you go, you also find yourself consuming less. I find my consumption more mindful, I pay closer attention to real value.
I’m now looking at pay as you go for my mobile plan, too. Best case I pay about 8c/min if I use *all my minutes per month*. Well, I never use all my minutes because going just a bit over *really* hurts (20c/minute. Ouch!!). So my mobile calling minutes end up costing me about 12-20c/min, depending on how many minutes I left on the table that month.
Mark
September 13, 2006
Jaanus @ 2:13 pm:
at Skype, we don’t really find the generations to be a problem. We constantly hear true stories about grandmas who have taught their children about this thing.
Randell @ 10:52 pm:
You use less than 400 minutes of long distance - now. Partly because we’ve all been trained since birth “long distance costs money”. When I was young, a long distance call was a Big Deal, and an international call was a HUGE Deal. Even unlimited local wasn’t common until later.
Since we switched our verizon landline to unlimited usage, we (me, my wife, my inlaws) use a LOT more long-distance minutes than we did before. People with big minutes packages on cells (or unlimited night/weekend/family, which is common) use a LOT more minutes than if it was all 2 cents per minute.
The son of our (Worldgate’s) CEO has dinner every night with his girlfriend; however, they’re hundreds of miles apart. While cooking dinner, they start an Ojo call (videophone call; http://www.ojophone.com/) in their kitchens, and talk and “hang out” while cooking and eating dinner. If that was costing money per minute, you can be sure that they wouldn’t be doing that.
Whenever my parents call me (when it’s not an Ojo call), I tell them to hang up, and I call them right back, since we have unlimited long distance. Then we may talk for an hour.
September 18, 2006
Signal to Noise » Is there a VoIP generation gap? @ 9:46 pm (Pingback)
[…] She’s got some tidbits about how her telephony habits differ from that of her parents. Check it out: […]
December 7, 2006
hmatura @ 11:17 am:
Interesting…Worth mentioning for those not so keen in new technologies that “10-10″ long distance services are also a very popular an easy alternative to enjoy cheap long distance calls. How it works? You simply dial the “10-10″ plan’s 7-digit access code, and then the area code and number you wish to call - and receive the discounted rates offered by the “10-10″ company. This is an easy way to take advantage of lower rates - without having to sign-up, internet or switching your long distance company. The Internet is a great resource for finding the rates and numbers of “10-10″ companies in your area.
For example, you can now call Australia, Canada and most European countries for only 1¢ per minute by simply calling 1010228 before each call (e.g. 1010228 + 011 + country code + number you wish to call). http://www.1010228.com is one of the leading discount “10-10″ numbers in the US for interstate and international calls.