New Shop Phone Service

By next week I finally won't be using my cell phone anymore. Today I ordered a business line from Bell... but it's kind of, at least I think, an interesting service. Rather than a regular line, it's similar to Vonage/other VOIP services BUT you don't need an internet connection. They come, hook it up, you have a regular looking jack on the wall, regular dial tone when you pick it up, no extra equipment or required internet access. Apparently they do all that at the service station or whatever you call it ?

http://www.bell.ca/businessipvoice

Obviously Bell's offering is only for Canadians, but I didn't know a service like this even existed? I just like the fact it's independent of the internet access and won't go down with power outages and from what I've heard around here, is just as reliable as regular line... except dirt cheap. It also obviously includes all the features (call waiting, call display, voicemail, etc) and even a fairly advanced method of call forwarding (great for when I'm not in the office). Anyway, not really a point to this, just thought I'd share and see if there's similar offering's in the State's

sounds great. Keep us updated on how it works for you

I recently read an article in a computer magazine that talked about something simiar. You did need a internet connection though but the phone number you recieved had most if not all of those features mentiioned above and it was at a cost of 19.99 per year. One of the selling points is you can take the number with you if you move say across town. It sounded too good to be true. I will see if I can find that info again. I have absolutely no idea if it is reliable or anything else. Reading this post just made me think of reading it.

I've got Vonage and love it, but damn, no internet connection? We switched to Vonage because what we saved over Bell South (100.00 or more per month) more than offset the cost of the internet service (55.00 per month). Our phone now costs 87.00 per month, still less than Bell South, and we have broadband. We offer free High Speed access to our auto customers.

Still, no internet connection required would be sweet! (although I cannot imagine ANYWHERE not having reliable high speed access)

The Bell guy on the phone told me that originally they had tried the same method as their competitors here like Rogers and Vonage using a highspeed connection and the box or whatever that you hook up, but they seemed to have more reliability issues than they liked, plus some people who weren't tech savvy were turned off by the drawbacks. So since they're already the most established "land line" phone company here they already had the infrastructure to go this route. I just like that it saves me money, doesn't rely on the internet and has none of the drawbacks really. Plus I won't have another stupid piece of equipment stuffed behind my desk. I've never heard of this before though, so I asked the guy several times just to make sure I was hearing him right, and the website explains it well too. I'll let you all know how it works

I have vontage and i love it!! but no internet is good too

Call me a dinasaur with technology . I have a business line that I pay for that I call forward to a cell phone when I leave the shop . Switching to this system..what does it do for me that's better ?