VoIP phone service providers offer many advantages to the residential and small office/home office user. If you have a high speed internet connection then choosing a VoIP phone service might be right for you

Lower Monthly Fees

The price of a VoIP phone line is a fraction of the cost of a traditional telephone line, the long distance calls are much less expensive if they are made via a VoIP provider, and applicable taxes are far lower with VoIP phone service than with a traditional phone service. Some VoIP phone service providers offer a phone line for around $9 U.S. dollars per month and will charge you for calls you make at the rate of 1-3 cents per minute depending on the provider. Most VoIP phone providers offer a bundled service offering unlimited incoming calls and unlimited long distance calls to anyone in the U.S. or Canada for one small fee. VoIP unlimited calling plans start at $19.95 per month. Click here to see a list of VoIP Providers.

Lower Taxes

As of the writing of this article, governments have taken a hands off approach when it comes to VoIP phone service providers. Since the calls are being carried over the Internet, governments have not heavily taxed VoIP phone services. Right now the only tax you can expect to see on your VoIP phone service provider's bill is a Federal Excise Tax, which is only 3% of the cost of the service. For example, if you were to choose a $19.95 unlimited calling plan, the Federal Excise tax would be 3% of $19.95, or 60 cents. Your total bill would be $20.55. Compare that to your local telephone bill (go ahead and take a close look) and you will see you are spending quite a bit on taxes each month. Therefore, choosing a VoIP provider could add up to significant savings for you and your family.
Included Features

Most VoIP phone service providers offer features that are included, while most traditional phone companies charge an extra $20 to $30 per month for. Most VoIP phone providers include the following features in their low monthly fee: Free voicemail, call forwarding, caller ID, call waiting, call waiting ID, 3 way calling, speed dialing and much more. Click here to view a side-by-side comparisons of the top VoIP providers.
Flexibility

When you choose a VoIP phone service provider, you will be sent a converter to allow a regular phone to use the VoIP phone service. (Click here to get an explanation of how VoIP phone service works) Your phone number is programmed into the converter. This means that you can take your phone converter and phone number and use them wherever you travel in the world, just as long as you have access to a high-speed Internet connection. Because your telephone number is based in your converter (and not your home), you have the option of choosing any area code for your phone number. Some carriers will allow you to have more than 1 phone number in different area codes for a small additional fee (called a virtual phone number). For example, you can have one number in your local area code and another phone number with an area code from another city. By having a virtual phone number in another city where you have a lot of friends and family, you will be saving them money because they can call you on a local number instead of paying for long distance charges to contact you. Both phone numbers will ring your VoIP phone wherever you have your converter and regular phone hooked up to a high speed internet connection.

Chris Landry is the foremost authority on residential and small business VoIP providers. Chris is the founder of http://www.VoIPChoices.com.
Chris has prequalified several high-quality VoIP providers and compares them by price and features at www.VoIPChoices.com. Chris can be reach via email at Chris@VoIPChoices.com