My Take on Vonage and VOIP


I recently switched my company telephone services to Vonage based on the recommendation of several people who have used the service. So far it’s working great.

It’s really nice when you first sign up they give you a virtual telephone number which you can transfer all of your calls to. So it means you can be up and running immediately and it will be transparent to your customers. They even spoof your outgoing caller ID to look like your regular phone number while you wait for the numbers to switch from your phone company.

Some benefits:
Voicemails automatically record and I can customize the number of rings. My voicemails arrive as WAV files in my inbox and there is also a control panel where I can access and manage everything.

I can take it anywhere I go. Theoratically, this will be the last time I should need to change phone providers. I just unplug my phone and Vonage device and go to my new location.

On a whim I can easily have my office line forward calls to any other number. Handy for when I’m out of the office or traveling.

One thing that bugged me was that they sent a big honkin’ router when I first signed up. I wish they had given me the option to choose a PAP2 device. The PAP2 is smaller, plugs into any internet connection, and requires zero customization. I ordered it separate from Amazon and it worked out great and I don’t need to keep a router plugged in this way (and I can use my own).

The other drawback is that if the power goes out or I lose my internet connection for any extended period of time my telephone service dies with it. However, since voicemail functions on Vonage’s servers I don’t have to worry about customers getting dead air.

In our new office, we are also sharing internet with another company. This combined with Vonage has enabled Tornado to cut our telecommunication costs by over $1,600 / year.


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