Talk Is Cheap: Switching to Internet Telephones

by James E. Gaskin

Fed up with the high tolls charged by your ordinary telephone service? If you're itching to cut the copper cord with your costly, traditional phone service, you need Talk is Cheap , the new,... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0596009607
• ISBN13: 9780596009601
• Release Date: August 2005
• Publisher: O'Reilly Media
• Length: 272 Pages
• Weight: 0.80 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 6.3" x 9.2"

Customer Reviews

Nice intro to VOIP services

Now that there are alternatives to using Ma Bell, people are switching (or contemplating it) to broadband phone services. Granted, those on dialup are still out of luck, but some of the services offered provide motivation to get a broadband account. With the proliferation of broadband phone companies, it gets confusing when trying to decide which service is the best, or which one offers the options you need most. This book explains the services that broadband companies like VONAGE offer, as well as the ones that companies like Skype offer. It also explains (in the first chapter) how internet phones work, as well as an explanation how Voice Over IP works. I also liked the analogy about how innovation over the years has forced traditional phone companies however grudgingly to offer better service. It makes one wonder how they eventually will adapt to VOIP. There's also a chapter devoted to features that you now pay for that you can get for free using an Internet phone (several of them are the various fees your phone company adds on to your bill), such as call waiting and forwarding. I find it interesting how the phone company manages to slip in various fees as a "cost of doing business." 911 service is also touched upon. Broadband phones will likely have complete 911 service within the next two years, whereas their computer-centric counterparts may not for a few years. It seems to be one drawback to using this type of technology, but one that will likely be ironed out the more popular this technology becomes. This is a great "consumer guide" to Internet telephony, one that you should buy if you're considering the move to Internet phones.

I saved money

I'm a prime candidate for using voice over Internet (VOIP), so it was with much interest that I dove into this book. The first few chapters are background information describing VOIP, how it works, and how it is different (and the same) as landline phone service. There is even a comparison of what you might pay in each case. Since there are a myriad of choices in the VOIP universe I was glad to see a clear (and sometimes humorous) explanation as to what each offers. It helped me select which way to go for my own personal situation. Implementing the information from this book is saving me at least $10 a month initially and perhaps a lot more in the future. Anyone wanting to adopt VOIP should read Talk is Cheap before deciding which (if any) provider to use.

Well done introduction to Internet telephony for home

With Internet Telephony gathering acceptance and converts daily many people are trying to figure out what service will work best for them and the differences between the various offerings. With a straight-forward analysis of Internet telephony as compared to traditional phone lines and the various options available, this book is well done and very informative. I happen to use one of the services mentioned in the book and found the author's review of it right on the mark. He provided an excellent discussion of the differences between a broadband phone-centric service and a computer-centric service as well as the offerings of specific vendors. If you are thinking about making the move to Internet telephony this book will provide you with sufficient background information to determine if it would be useful for your needs as well as how to shop intelligently for the appropriate product. Although the information also applies to small businesses this book is aimed squarely at the home market. Written in a very non-technical style Talk is Cheap is easy to read and understand and suggested for anyone interested in learning about the subject.

Say good-bye to Ma Bell...

Want to say good-bye to your plain old telephone service with the high cost of taxes, add-on fees, and long-distance? Check out James E. Gaskin's book Talk Is Cheap - Switching To Internet Telephones (O'Reilly). I certainly learned quite a bit from this book... Contents: How Internet Telephone Calls Work; Your Internet Phone; Free Internet Phone Features That You're Paying For Now; Choosing Your Internet Phone Equipment; Vonage And Other Broadband Phone Carriers; Skype And Other Computer-centric Services; 911, Alarms, And Other Outgoing Calls; Tips, Tricks, And Techniques For Advanced Users; Go Wireless; Index As more and more people switch to broadband internet access, there's an emerging option for telephony services in the home. Using your internet connection (DSL or cable), you can switch to internet telephony, also known as Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) and go all digital. Gaskin does an excellent job in explaining exactly what this is, how it works, and the pros and cons of switching to a service like this. He's a pretty strong advocate of VoIP, so you can pretty much figure out where his bias is going to lie. The book focuses on two major types of internet telephony: phone-centric and computer-centric. In the phone-centric area (using your phone much like before, but only through an internet service) he uses Vonage as the primary example of what to expect. On the computer-centric side (no telephone, just headphones and speakers attached to your computer), he uses the Skype package as the leader in that area. In this growing technology area, it's impossible to write a book covering every option such that it won't be out of date before it's printed. To Gaskin's credit, he does a good job in covering the current playing field, as well as giving enough detail to figure in new options as they emerge. Even though you can come away from a book like this thinking all is rosy, that's not quite the case. There are very well documented customer service issues with Vonage, and no player in the field is mature enough to get it right as often as Ma Bell does. Still, if you're an early adopter of technology, this is definitely an area you need to check out. And if you have no exposure to residential VoIP up until now, I'd recommend a copy of this book to get you up to speed quickly.

Fun, informative and easy read

I like this book a lot. It's got a fun and quirky style that makes it accessible and fun, while being very informative. The book teaches the fundamentals of voice over IP protocols. It focuses primarily on Skype. There is some advanced material at the end that will interest even the advanced VoIP user. Highly recommended.