Assuming that you already have an internet connection available, VoIP provides a cheap way of making phone calls over the internet.
Call Costs
| Prices including VAT | Call to landline (pence per minute) | Call to Mobile (pence per minute) |
| Localphone | 0.5 | 1.8 |
| Cheapvoip | 0.8 | 0.9 |
| Andrews & Arnold | 1.5 | 4.0 |
The three VoIP providers listed above are just examples. There are plenty more from which to choose.
Incoming calls
With some VoIP providers (e.g. Localphone and Cheapvoip) it is possible to use the service for outgoing calls only. This avoids the cost of a number for incoming calls.
On localphone, it’s possible to get an incoming number for 75p per month.
With Andrews & Arnold the VoIP service is only available with a number which costs £1.44 per month.
What do I need
In order to make use of VOIP technology you will need a compatible phone. Instead of connecting directly to your phone line, it will connect instead to an ethernet port on your broadband router.
If you are using VOIP for both incoming and outgoing calls, and have an ethernet connection where you plan to locate the phone, then you can use any VOIP phone.
However, if you don’t have an ethernet socket in the right place, or you want to use a mix of VOIP and the standard phone line, then a cordless phone where the base station connects both to ethernet (for VOIP) and to the phone line (e.g for incoming calls) is a good solution.
Examples of such phones would be gigaset N300-IP or gigaset C470-IP.
Easy phase over
If you start by just using VOIP for outgoing calls, the transition is easy. You still have your landline for incoming calls (and for outgoing calls if there is a problem with your voip setup).