The next generation in local telephone service will most likely be dominated by the players you find below. Such names as: Packet8, SunRocket, FonVantage & Opex Internet Voice. All that is required to take advantage of these valuable services is a broadband connection (such as DSL or Cable Internet) and a computer. You can even use your current phone. These companies will send you an adapter that you will plug your phone into and then you will plug your adapter into your router (in some cases, the adapter you receive will have a built in router). Don't let the technical jargon fool you, within 5 minutes of receiving your adapter you should be up and running!

Packet8 Freedom Broadband VoIP

One of our personal favorites! Packet8 builds their own hardware and their service resides upon the Level3 platform for stable and reliable calling. Of course, Packet8 has many more features than can be discussed here. See for yourself why we are such big fans!

• Freedom Unlimited for Home - $19.99 per month. Unlimited USA & Canadian calling with many top features, such as Voicemail, Caller ID, 3-Way, Call Waiting and more. With this plan you can add unlimited calling to Western Europe & Asia for a monthly fee.

• Freedom Unlimited with Videophone - $19.99 per month & get 2 videophones for only $299. Be seen as well as heard with this popular video phone service. Great for long distance relationships.

• Virtual Office for Small & Medium-sized business. Unlimited USA & Canada, pbx-style features and much more. Only $39.99 per line. Highly recommended!

SunRocket Signature Service

SunRocket Signature Service comes packed with everything you need automatically included in the Bottom-Line Price™. With either the Monthly or Annual Edition, you get all-inclusive service without having to worry about all those extra fees. Whether you choose a monthly plan or a yearly plan, you'll get: unlimited calling within the USA and Canada, free international minutes ($3.00 per month), free extra phone number (choose a local or AnyWhere Number), two free directory assistance calls per month, over 10 built-in calling features, all the necessary equipment you need to get started... all taxes and fees are included in the SunRocket Bottom-Line Price!

• Annual Edition for Home - just $199 per year (that's less than $17 per month)! Additional number and all taxes and fees are included in price.

• Monthly Edition for Home - only $24.95 per month. Additional number and all taxes and fees are included in price.

FonVantage Quality VoIP

Discriminating consumers choose FonVantage because of its stability and reliability. No other provider backs their service with a 99.9% network uptime guarantee! FonVantage has built a nationwide NPLS backbone (carrier class network) from the ground up, which allows them control of the network your calls use, rather than you being at the whim of the Internet. FonVantage also has the most robust features list of any VoIP we've seen... check them out for yourself!

• Unlimited Standard - $24.95 for the first month, includes Unlimited USA & Canadian calling, with large feature set, $29.95 thereafter. Standard features include 3-way calling, call waiting, caller ID, do not disturb, call forwarding plus voicemail and other great extras. Use the web portal to manage your account features.

• Unlimited Premium - At only $34.95 for your first month, $39.95 thereafter, this is the complete broadband phone service for your busy home or home-based business. Loaded with features to give you extra functionality such as 3-way calling, caller ID, selective call acceptance and rejection, call forwarding and follow me, plus voicemail and lots more. Manage your account features with included CommPilot Call Manager™ PC dashboard and web portal. More features on FonVantage page than can be listed here.

Opex Internet Voice
Opex has long been a leader in communications, certainly not a newcomer, with services such as traditional long distance and prepaid cellular... now Opex brings you their Internet Voice product. There is a slightly higher start-up cost for this VoIP, but there are no agreements or early termination fees. Service is strictly month-to-month.

• Resdential Unlimited - $24.99 with all the features you would expect and unlimited USA & Canada calling.

• Residential Basic Plan - $14.99 with 200 minutes of long distance calling per month and features like Voicemail, Caller ID, Call Waiting, Caller ID Block, Call Transfer and 3-Way Calling.

• Home Business Unlimited Plan - $44.99 includes unlimited calling (USA & Canada) and all the popular features.

• Home Business Basic Plan - $34.99 with 750 long distance minutes per month and extra features like Contact Management and Call Logs.

May we suggest:

If you don't currently have broadband service, either through your cable company or local telephone provider, try our broadband search tool. By entering your phone number we can search over 40 different broadband providers in your area to give you the best possible deal. Try our broadband search engine today!

If one of the above VoIP services isn't your cup of tea, we would happily refer you to a more traditional route with companies offering local and long distance bundles for home or business, like: Trinsic, MCI, Cleartel, Blue Casa and Spectrotel. For home service click here and for business service click here.!

If you've decided you don't want to try another local service provider at this time, you may want to take advantage of our super-low long distance rates. We're not hyping them. It's the truth. We only carry the best of the best! If you don't mind programming a number into your speed dial, then we would recommend Tel3. With Tel3 you can call anywhere in the USA for just 1.9 cents per minute. If you'd rather just pick up your phone and make a call the old fashioned way, Opex LD and Pioneer are the way to go, with rates as low as 2.7 cents per minute -- and all three services have really low international rates. Not as concerned about rates, but want a robust service with a bunch of features? Then you've got to try one of Trinsic's long distance programs... still a great rate, as low as 3.9 cents per minute in-state and state-to-state, but the voice capabilities and address book are really what make this service shine! You can see and compare them all here.