[DasFox]

Ok I said newbie in that title so please don't beat on me bad, I'm only a noob with some of the VoIP technology, but I am a UNIX geek, just wanted to make sure I don't get beat up to bad, LOL...

I want to use a VoIP provider but I live in Hawaii and there are only a few with 808 area codes, and I was looking at some of the VoIP services that Verizon and Vonage offered, but with my lack of experiece from what I gather since I can't get an 808 area code if I want people to call inbound locally I'll need a toll free number, or some other means, otherwise whoever calls will pay long distance charges with an out of state area code.

But them I'm reading about DIDs and Virtual numbers, and I'm clueless...

First question besides Broadvoice & 808netphone.net are there any other VoIP providers with 808 area codes that offer good inexpensive residental services?

Second, if there are no other VoIP providers for Hawaii, what's the best way to deal with an out of state area code and getting inbound calls?

THANKS

[hwittenb]

Originally Posted by DasFox

but I am a UNIX geek

If you are a UNIX geek I predict you will be able to figure this stuff out.

First question besides Broadvoice & 808netphone.net are there any other VoIP providers with 808 area codes that offer good inexpensive residental service?

You're right about the lack of providers with 808 areas codes. That limits the field somewhat.

I would look at starting with a pay-as-you-go provider. I see that CallWithUs has some Honolulu numbers that they can add to your account which, if you live in Honolulu anyway, would solve the incoming call problem from your friends. I use them for outgoing calls and they provide good service. You wouldn't have to make a long term commitment and you can find out how much you use the phone by paying for the outgoing calls by the minute at a little over a penny a minute.

You can get a toll free 800 number from a number of providers and forward the toll free number to your account at the provider you obtain the toll free number or in some cases other VoIP providers.

If you are talking about giving up your pstn line, it may be possible that you can "port" your local number to a VoIP provider and then you will have that number for incoming calls to your account. I have no idea if this is possible in your case. If possible, this can sometimes entail lengthly delays.

The smaller pay-as-you-go providers allow you to "bring your own device" which means you buy an analog telephone adapter such as a PAP2T or a SPA3102. You configure the device for your VoIP account.

The PAP2T will allow you to have up to two providers (with two phone lines and two different phones, however) for incoming and outgoing calls. The SPA3102 would be my choice because while it only allows a single VoIP account for incoming and outgoing calls, you can easily add up to four additional outgoing only VoIP accounts with other providers.

Most of the largest providers, such as Vonage, control the adapters that you can use, and lock them so they can only be used with your account with them,

Second, if there are no other VoIP providers for Hawaii, what's the best way to deal with an out of state area code and calling? Like for instance if I signed up with Vonage and had a California area code and for example a friend needed to call the house without paying long distance charges to the California area code, how would I resolve this?

If they have a cell phone, most of them include calling the U.S. as part of the plan so it wouldn't be long distance. Otherwise the next choice is to get a toll free 800 number and forward it to your VoIP account. A third choice which doesn't seem to apply here is to use 2-stage dialing and dial a local number which then forwards the call to your account. The classical case here would be SipBroker but they don't show any Hawaii access numbers.