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New nav computer/Skype phone/PDA aboard!
I have no direct experience with Vonage but my impression is it is a
replacement for the regular POTS phone. You pay a monthly fee and it is up all the time regardless of what your PC is doing. Skype is PC based and turns your laptop or Larry's new gadget into a telephone. It does not work with your regular telephone and your PC has to be running to make or receive calls. It was originally for PC to PC VOIP then they added Skype Out so you can dial a POTS phone for a couple of cents per minute. You prepay $10 or so and talk until it is used up. PC to PC is still free. Long distance to a regular phone varies from 2 cents to about 15 cents/minute depending on what country you are calling so 2 cents from the BVI to the US beats the heck out of the $2.50/minute Cable & Worthless charges. Calling a phone in the BVI costs 12 cents/minute. You can get a regular phone number for a small monthly fee (no long term contract) so POTS phones can call you. The caller pays what ever his normal rate is to your home area code and Skype forwards it to where ever your PC happens to be. You can also set up a calling order so that if your PC doesn't answer it will call your land line. If that doesn't answer it will call your cell phone and finally send it to your voice mail. It has been especially helpful to me as I spend my life in front of these damned computers fixing problems for clients. Being self employed I can never be to far from communications. Last week I was helping a friend move into his house in Little Apple Tortola. I set my laptop up on the deck, plugged in my EUB-362 wifi adapter and cranked up Net Stumbler. Found the strongest unsecured AP in the area and checked my voice mail. Called the client, logged on to his VPN and worked on his system while talking to him about the merits of Presidentes over Red Stripes and Caribes. :-) Skype also handles video now so you can see who you are talking to. One of my side projects is testing the coliform load at Cane Garden Bay to counter all the flames about bareboats polluting the bay. One of my petridishes was showing some unusual results so sitting at the bar at Myett's in Cane Garden I plugged in the USB camera, Skyped a biologist friend at the CDC and showed it to him. I am looking for a Bluetooth handset now to replace my USB handset so I have less wires to deal with. -- Glenn Ashmore I'm building a 45' cutter in strip/composite. Watch my progress (or lack there of) at: http://www.rutuonline.com Shameless Commercial Division: http://www.spade-anchor-us.com "Wayne.B" wrote in message ... On Thu, 26 Oct 2006 10:56:09 -0400, "Glenn Ashmore" wrote: In places like Tortola where Cable & Worthless charges outrageous fees for LD Skype is a life saver at 2 cents/minute to a POTS line and free Skype to Skype. I especially like the video feature. I was down last week having diner with some friends and we decided to call some other friends in Dallas. Spent 30 minutes video conferencing for zero dollars. Glenn, I'm curious on what your opinion is on Skype vs Vonage. |
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