[thelist] VoIP questions

[Alex Beston]

Hi Guys

A fellow contractor in town recommended me get a VoIP phone to mitigate 
the exorbitant startup costs involved in business.

skype [1] have a USB plug n play phone (looks like a normal phone) that 
costs £30. before i rush out to get one, what are the differences 
between this phone regards to phone costs and a normal phone?  
differences in general? sound quality for instance? what are the 
downsides of using it? how frequent are cutoffs? is the sound quality of 
a consistent kind or does it range from good to bad erratically?

my contact said that there is some sort of central switchboard that you 
dial into which make the calls to conventional phone lines on my behalf 
(ie i dont have to run a VoIP server on my machine). ok so thats how it 
works, but  if i plug this thing in to my computer, does the 
"switchboard" give me a temporary phone number? how would i go about 
getting a permanent telephone number? surely someone must be making some 
money out of this. are BT / AT&T worried? is there a line rental?

any ideas /  refs welcome..

[1] http://www.skype.com/  i can read http://www.skype.com/products/ but 
i was hoping from someone that doesnt work for skype marketing dept - 
you get my drift...

-- 
Alex Beston
Business Director
deltaTraffic
Tel: 01273 691234
Room 32, Level 6,
New England House,
Brighton, England
www.deltatraffic.co.uk
--