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The free services are genuinely free but have
drawbacks, namely;
- You need to install some software on your
computer to use it (knows as a softphone)
- The person you are calling needs to have the
same software loaded to take your call
- Your computer needs to be on
- You can't have your own telephone number
(other VoIPUser gets round this)
You will generally see that all the providers
that offer free VoIP services also push their subscription services, Skype,
Gizmo (SIPphone) for instance. Paid for
services can still have some of the drawbacks of the free service but
the main advantage when you pay for a subscription is that you can call
any landline phone and it will generally be cheaper than equivalent
landline services. The same applies to calling mobile phones (always
check tariffs for all services) The
reason you have to pay for this service is because the VoIP provider has
to pay to connect your VoIP call to the PSTN network which routes to the
landline (or mobile) that you are calling
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