Claude Montpetit -- Montpetit.net -- en

We just switched our home to Voice Over IP (VOIP) last week. Videotron, my cable provider just offered this service for free for the next 4 months. I like to be on the bleeding edge so I jumped on the offer. Also, I had swear some 6 years ago that when there was an alternative to Bell on any service they offer, I would switch. So no more Bell.

In term of reliability, if I forget about 2 line cuts, and someone who said he got redirected to my voice mail when I should have received the call, I can say that the service appears to be fine.

Also, besides the obvious issues such as limited battery backup during power outage (maximum 6 to 8 hours), and the dependancy on one and only one communication infrastructure for the entire house, I now realize other impacts of this choice:

• I read an article on Wired about security issues with VOIP.
• Ah, and one important thing about your home phone is that you have no idea that it is not working until you need it.

Buy first, read info after! But hey, some fools have to risk it if we want technology to evolve. So I am a proud fool. And there are 2 cell phones that can come to the rescue in case of emergency.