[Asterisk-Users] VoIP Termination

[Dorn Hetzel]

On Fri, Dec 17, 2004 at 07:51:00AM +0100, Wilson Pickett wrote:
> > I'm looking to change from a standard telephone line to a VoIP phone line at
> > home.  I'm looking for recommendations for VoIP providers that I can use with
> > Asterisk.
> 
> Don't forget about emergency services (lack of) with voIP. 
>
For myself, I would NEVER give up my last lone 1FR (analog home line).
I route it through *, but at least one phone in the house is an old
fashioned analog phone that has direct access to the analog line for
when the poop is really hitting the fan ...  That's the phone all the
kids know to use for 911.  We just never use it for much of anything
else :)
  
> > One of the catches is that I often telecommute and sometimes I do some side
> > business; these practices violate many provider's acceptable use policies.
> > So, I need a provider who doesn't care how I use the phone, and one that
> > works well with Asterisk.
> 
> I agree with those who have said you should use metered services, but
> you need to measure the time you spend on the phone to see.
> Fortunately, asterisk will do that for you to the second, looking at
> the cdr records and totalling up the duration column for a specific
> period will tell you what your bill would be at the few cents a minute
> you'll be charged.
>
If you use so much time that at $0.013/minute you will spend more than
the $20.00 most unlimited plans cost, then no unlimited provider is
going to keep you as a customer for long, since they are almost 
certain to lose money on you.  Just accept the fact that if you
spend 2000+ minutes/month on outbound calls, your LD bill WILL
eventually exceed $20/month :)