Scooped By Skype and Rebtel

I don't do a whole lot of overseas calling, but I do know plenty of people that rely on Skype to stay in touch with their families in Germany, Spain, Switzerland, Austria, Poland and the UK. Without Skype, these folks would be utterly isolated because the cost of overseas calling is nearly usurious. Many Skype services are free and their basic international subscriptions start at under nine bucks a month.

So, what's the big deal? I use VOIP (Voice Over Internet Protocol) via Magic Jack and have done for some time. It's reliable and dirt cheap, considering the only reason I have a line "tethered" to my house is . . . you know, I don't really know why. Perhaps it's because cell service could go down and, in case of emergency, like a frickin' heart attack, I would like to imagine that I could get me dog to knock the phone off the desk so that I could call for the EMTs and not get, "Sorry, all circuits are busy now. Please try your call again from the afterlife." I used to have, like most folks, a real, hard-copper line but I wound up never using it except as a backup. My cellphone has been my sole mode of contact by voice and now, text and e-mail, for at least five years.

So, there are a whole host of service available to not replace, but to augment cell-phone service. After all, cell service is a personal point of contact rather than a connection to an organization, like a home. Yes, a home is an organization - if it isn't for you, I would suggest it's time to take a fresh look at what's going on at your house. Anywho, if you want to have a home identity and you need to make calls overseas, there are a whole host of choices, like Vonage, who I personally dislike and services like the aformentioned Skype and Rebtel, which offers a range of domestic and international calling that's web-based but tailored to a variety of interfaces so that it's easy to use and pretty darn cheap.

Vonage is currently running a promotion targeted at international callers that slashes their international one-pay rate from $14.99 to $9.99 a month for three months. But why do that when you can get Magic Jack for twenty bucks a year and get Rebtel's offer for international calls at under $8 a month for the foreseeable future? I think Vonage has missed the mark yet again, chasing down customers by implying reliability by spending tons on advertising. Same internet, same technology, so, why pay too much? I don't get it. It seems more than a little condescending. Oh, well: as usual, caveat emptor - let the buyer beware!