subject: 5 Advantages The Softphone Has Over Traditional Plans [print this page] 5 Advantages The Softphone Has Over Traditional Plans
Imagine you are in an antique store ten years from now looking over all the 20th Century technological relics. You'll find a Boombox. A walkman. Likely, a VCR. And chances are if you hang around long enough, tucked away in a back corner like some element of dark past, you will find the traditional land line. This piece of telephony was once a modern marvel, but with all the current technological advancements, it is quickly becoming a forgotten relic. The reason is that it is no longer practical. Here are five advantages the softphone has over this dated piece of technology: No wires or hardware to worry about. Just install your softphone on the family laptop or desktop computer, and you are good to go. No sense having wires hanging out in the living room or the kitchen or wherever else you keep your land lines. Free up the space and remove the eyesores, so you no longer have to worry about tripping over them. Free local calling. Most locations around your residency will never cause you to have a charge of any kind. The supposed free local calling you get with land lines aren't free at all, since the monthly act of keeping the service requires you to pay, at minimum, around $30 per month. All you have to do to take advantage of Internet calling? Register your account, install the software, and begin dialing. Your provider will never ask for a dime for this service. Cheaper long distance. Not all calling online is free, but that's where your softphone's provider packages come in to play. Rather than racking up big charges for one call, or for "going over your minutes," as you would on a land line (or even a cell plan), simply purchase the option that works best for you and enjoy calling cheaper than you will get anywhere else. Why can't land lines and cell plans compete with these prices? The answer is simple. They route you through too many other exchanges that charge you "tolls" before your voice gets to the one that it needs to communicate. Most of the time with softphones, there is only one exchange you will have to deal with. Hence, one (much cheaper) toll. International affordability. Have you seen the rates on overseas calls through a traditional phone service provider? Good luck affording that. You'd be better off shipping them a package overnight. Calling overseas on a softphone costs anywhere from nothing to a few dollars. Just make sure your plan allows for it. No need to change your number when you move. If you're a student or mobile, you don't have to change your number every time you move as you would have to with a land line.
