How Vonage Works

Vonage is the leading independent provider of VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) calling services, also known as Internet telephony or Internet phone service, in the United States. As of June 30, 2009, Vonage had over 2.5 million phone lines in service. Vonage was founded in May 2000 and went public on the NASDAQ in May 2006. Vonage is based in Holmdel, NJ. Unlike smaller VoIP providers, you can be confident Vonage will be around for the long haul. In fact, despite the difficult economic environment, Vonage completed a $250 million debt refinancing in November 2008 that ensures they'll be around for a long time. Learn more by visiting Vonage.com.

Vonage makes use of a technology called VoIP. VoIP ("Voice over Internet Protocol") uses your broadband Internet connection to place phone calls over the Internet instead of traditional phone lines. This is much cheaper than having to use the phone companies’ phone lines and thus allows Vonage to offer their service at a lower price. Since everything is done digitally, it also enables Vonage to offer extremely useful features that traditional phone service is not capable of, such as getting your voicemails emailed to you or checking them online. All features (such as voicemail, call waiting and caller id) are included in the service and at no extra charge.

Make calls the exact same way you do with a regular phone service. Just pick up the phone, listen for a dial tone and then call your number.

No. The person you’re calling won’t be able to tell that you’re calling from Vonage vs. the old phone company and they don’t need to have Vonage or do anything differently.

Yes. As long as you have a touch-tone phone, you can use your same old phone and it still rings and calls exactly the same as it did before. Both cordless and corded phones are OK.

The only extra thing you need is a Vonage Phone Adapter, which Vonage gives to you for free and ships to you for free. Other than that, you just need a high-speed Internet connection such as cable or DSL, a touch-tone phone (either corded or cordless is fine) and a U.S. or Puerto Rico billing and shipping address.

No, you don't have to keep your regular phone line active. In fact, the majority of VoIP subscribers cancel their existing phone service. Some people choose to keep their old phone line because of the following reasons:

1. Vonage service won’t work during a power outage because it depends on your broadband connection, which depends on electricity. Most people don't find this limitation to be an issue because they use cordless phones which depend on electricity and also won't work during an electrical outage. Additionally, with Vonage if for some reason your Internet connection isn't working, you can set up your service to have your calls forwarded to the number of your choice.

2. If you happen to have a home security system, most require a regular phone line in order to communicate with the security system provider and make calls to emergency services. Those with home security systems should consult their providers for details.

3. If you currently use DSL service to connect to the Internet you will need to keep a phone line to get maintain the DSL service. If this is the case, you can downgrade your existing phone service to the minimum required. Otherwise, you could change over to a cable Internet service provider.

Yes. When you sign up for Vonage, you'll be asked whether you want a new number or you want to keep your existing one. If you choose to keep your existing one, Vonage will initiate a number transfer for you. This usually takes approximately 10 business days (it would be faster but the phone companies are in no hurry to release your number!) and Vonage will give you a temporary number in the interim so you can still start using Vonage right away if you like.

Yes, it will. Vonage provides Enhanced 911 (E911) service to new customers. E911 can find your location and phone number immediately when you dial 911. During the Vonage signup process you are asked to enter your 911 physical address and this is what will be used in case of emergency. If you move or take your Vonage service with you when traveling, you can easily update your address at Vonage Online.

Vonage offers over 30 features that are included in your service, including:

• Caller ID with name
• Call waiting
• Voicemail
• Online voicemail
• Voicemails emailed to up to 5 email addresses
• Vonage Extension
• Call transfer
• Enhanced call forwarding
• 3-way calling
• Caller ID block
• Call return
• Do not disturb
• Anonymous call block
• Repeat dialing
• Call hunt
• Vonage online account
• Ring lists
• 411 Enhanced dialing
• 511 Traveler information
• 211 dialing
• 311 dialing
• 711 dialing
• 811 dialing
• And many more…

Extensions^TM is a feature of Vonage service that allows you to associate one non-Vonage telephone number to each of your Vonage lines. You can enjoy the same low rates as your Vonage home calling plan on any phone, even mobiles, at no extra charge. As an added bonus, if you have one of the international plans, like Vonage World or World Premium Unlimited, you can enjoy unlimited¹ international calling from your associated mobile phone. You can also add a second Extensions^TM line to your Vonage World plan for only $4.99/mo (plus tax). NOTE: The second Extensions^TM line is not available for the World Premium Unlimited plan.

Yes. There are several ways to use mutliple phones with your Vonage number. One of the easiest ways to do this is with a cordless phone system that has multiple cordless handsets. You can purchase these at any phone retailer or you can buy them from Vonage when you order your service. If you already have multiple phones set up at different phone jacks connected to the same phone line at your home, you may want to modify your existing home wiring so that all your phones simply work with the existing jacks as they do now. While this may sound a little scary, it's actually quite easy and you can find a guide to do this at Vonage's Support Center. Alternatively, you can purchase a wireless phone jack from a phone retailer or home improvement center. These turn any ordinary electrical outlet into a phone jack.

Here's an alphabetical list. A * indicates that calls to mobile phones are also included:

Yes, Vonage offers a separate dedicated fax line free as part of its business calling plans. It also offers a dedicated fax line as an add-on to its residential phone plans for under $10 per month.

Vonage-Info.com is a web site dedicated to giving consumers the best deal available anywhere on Vonage phone service. We have a close partnership with Vonage that allows us to always have their best promo anywhere and often have exclusive promotions. Vonage-Info.com is operated by a group of Internet marketing veterans.