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Free SIP - Is it worth it?

Free SIP

There are a plethora of SIP service providers out there, from reputable to fly-by-night, from free SIP-only to quite pricey SIP plus a host of various services, and from local to international in size. The temptation to use a free SIP service is strong -- after all, the entire purpose of SIP is to cut phone costs in the first place, so isn't 'free' pretty much the ultimate cut in phone costs?

If you're not sure what we're referring to, SIP -- or Session Initiation Protocol -- is a technology that allows you to connect a data network (like a business intranet or a LAN) to the public telephone network. It's much akin to VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) technology, except that VoIP is centrally controlled (like the normal phone system), whereas SIP is controlled by the computers at each end of the call (more like instant messaging.) The end result, however, is that you get to make phone calls without paying all of the rates, fees, and taxes that the phone company puts on you.

Of course, you do still have to pay a monthly fee for your service -- unless you get free SIP from somewhere. And why wouldn't you? After all, it's free!

As it turns out, there are some very good reasons to avoid free SIP services. After all, business is business, and the people hosting that service aren't doing it out of the goodness of their own heart. Here are some classic example of what free SIP services are really 'costing' you:

Connection Fees for Normal Phones:

The most common 'free SIP' only actually offers free calls to other IP-based users. This is great if you have someone that has VoIP or SIP telephony, but if you call any phone on the public phone network, you'll be charge an (often exorbitant) connection fee.

Telemarketing:

This is a doozy -- many free SIP providers actively sell your assigned phone number to telemarketers. You won't pay in money for these services, but the telemarketers are pushy, obnoxious, and they call with startling regularity.

Incoming Only Calls:

There are a few companies claiming to provide free SIP that are actually only offering you the opportunity to receive SIP calls. They charge the people who are making the calls; offering you the ability to receive them is basically a way to claim a larger network.

Low Quality:

This is kind of the obvious one of the bunch -- when you're not paying for a service, you have no reason to expect anything from it. Poor sound quality, masses of lost packets both in the voice stream and in the datastream running alongside it, zero customer support should anything not work as expected -- you can expect all of that from free SIP.

Contrast all of this to the relatively low cost of a paid SIP service, and it becomes a no-brainer. Universally free calls in both directions without any hassle and with quality customer service -- that's worth a small monthly investment.

Free SIP -- you get what you pay for.

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