Cheaper alternatives to landline phones

More people are not only using wireless phones however using their home computers as telephones. Here are the major alternatives to traditional phone service at home. Switching could save you money by allowing you to cancel your landline.

CABLE COMPANY. If you want cheaper, high-quality, low-hassle phone service, look no furthermore than the local cable TV company. It will nearly surely offer a TV-Internet-phone bundle that could save you money over paying separately for phone service. And the call quality is likely to be very good, said Andy Abramson, author the telecom blog VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) Watch. During getting phone service from a cable company might be relatively easy, it will probably save you the least money over traditional phone service.

WIRELESS PHONES. Another simple alternative to home phone service is using the wireless phone service you already have. There are considerations, even though. One is potentially needing more minutes on your wireless plan to accommodate the time you would have spent on the landline phone. Reception around your home is another problem some people have.

OOMA. The Ooma Telo device plugs into your Internet router and your phone. Ooma's attractive selling point is you pay once for the device - about $200 - and never pay for phone service again. Then, kind of. You'll have to pay some taxes and fees, which in many areas amounts to $3.47 per month. Similar services, just as Vonage and Broadvoice, work the same way nevertheless charge a monthly payment that as well is likely to be lower than a traditional phone bill.

COMPUTER-BASED INTERNET CALLING. MagicJack, $39.95, is a small device that plugs into your computer's USB port. You plug in a regular phone line to its other end. You can make unlimited calls, including long-distance in the United States. Renewing the service in subsequent years costs $19.95 per year.

Skype offers ways to call regular telephones, both landline and mobile for 2.3 cents per minute, or lower with a subscription. Receiving calls requires you to buy an "online" phone number. It costs extra, $18 for three months, or less with other price options.

Google Voice or Gmail account

With a Google Voice or Gmail account, you can place calls for free - for the moment, through 2011 - by entering a phone number on the computer screen.