By Monica Gleberman, Contributing Writer

Voice over IP (VoIP) has continued to grow in popularity offering voice communications and multimedia sessions over Internet Protocol (IP) networks. Users can use services such as voice, fax, SMS, and/or voice-messaging applications that can be transported using new platforms verses the older method, public switched telephone network (PSTN).

VoIP setup can be extremely easy with an installation that involves downloading software, getting a VoIP capable phone, having an Internet connection and being able to connect a desktop/laptop computer to the same Internet Router.

Jeb Brilliant, community manager for Phone (News - Alert).com, recently decided to change over his older phone service for a more upgraded VoIP service called Home Phone Plus. Brilliant said he had no trouble completing the installation.

“Installing the Phone.com (News - Alert) ATA takes all of two minutes and involves no drilling, no climbing under my house, and no running attaching wires to the outside of my house, none of that. It was as simple as plugging in our ATA to your modem and plugging your hand line phone into the ATA,” said Brilliant (News - Alert).

Brilliant referred to Phone.com’s Home Phone Plus service, which according to him not only offers a quick install, but also has a lot of benefits that make it worth switching from a standard PSTN service. Home Phone Plus offers consumers the ability to transfer an existing number or get a new number, create customer greetings and pre-recorded hold music, implement customer call routing, read your voicemails, manage your account online, and send faxes directly from your computer.

On top of those features the service offers; call blocking, call recording, transferring, call waiting, caller ID, caller ID block, three-way calling, and a custom outbound caller ID. Included in the service is a free 2-line adapter to connect standard phones, 24/7 customer support, and no long-term contracts. There are three plans the service currently offers. The first one gives the user 300 minutes per month at a cost of $9.88, the second plan offers users unlimited minutes for only $19.88 per month, and the third offers an annual unlimited plan costing $17.88 per month.  

Brilliant said the service is so simple that just about anyone can use it. “Phone.com has an enormously superior VoIP phone solution to the national carriers, it’s so simple my 80 year old mother in law can figure it out and she’s not all that tech savvy. If you’re even considering switching phone services I can’t recommend highly enough Home Phone Plus,” said Brilliant.