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Internet Distribution: The Future of Entertainment.
A friend and I were having a discussion recently. I asked him what he thought the next method of distribution for films and music would be. My thoughts were that we would have to come up with some new method that was convenient, sturdy and didn't...
The Skype Approach to VoIP - A review of Skype
With internet usage reaching almost every country, and economic
class, and with its permeation throughout the western world,
applications designed to harness its potential in ever more
practical ways are constantly arising. One such application...
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Broadband and the Internet Contents | Entire Site Contents
An Honest Review of Lingo, "The Talk of Broadband"
Lingo is establishing itself as a VoIP service in the same space
as its competitors AT&T, Verizone, and Vonage. Despite tough
competition, Lingo has emerged as a real contender because of
the dynamism of the features they offer and, equally important,
at a price that is easy on the pocket. Lingo is the most
competitively priced, and this is the deciding feature for many
subscribers.
Lingo works on the same principles as any VoIP service. It
comes with a software and hardware package that converts sound
signals to data and transmits this data through shared lines,
thus getting around the charges applicable to the regular
telephone network. In simple terms, it enables you to receive or
make calls through the Internet. The Lingo functionality sends
your calls through the Internet to your modem, and then directs
the call to a regular telephone through your Lingo phone
adaptor. Your Internet connection remains uninterrupted, so
Lingo works seamlessly with your regular Internet tasks such as
email and data access.
Lingo is widely available, with unlimited calling plans for
residents in Europe and Asia. It offers an unlimited monthly
business plan at $49.95, in which you can call anyone in the
U.S., Canada, and Western Europe, an unlimited international
business plan at $99.95, an unlimited Asia plan at $34.95, and
an unlimited international plan at $79.95. Lingo carries all the
features that you normally associate with a traditional phone
line, and has the following Lingo-specific benefits:
* An emergency call service
* Portability of your local phone number
* Flexibility of selecting phone numbers from across the US or
the world
* Free Lingo-to-Lingo calls
* Online account management, and one convenient monthly bill
* A connection booster
* Money-back guarantee
The Lingo Website lists the countries for which telephone
numbers are available. Unfortunately, this list is limited now,
and one hopes that Lingo will build this further.
With its impressive list of features, Lingo sounds like a good
option. However, if your need is to ensure consistent voice
quality rather than save money, you need to look beyond Lingo
because most often Lingo will give you only average sound
quality. The Web interface is not particularly friendly, and the
menu design leaves room for improvement.
These disconcerting factors notwithstanding, Lingo is still the
lowest priced VoIP with its set of advanced features. If you are
making a large volume of international calls, particularly to
Europe and Asia, it is time to switch to Lingo because you will
lower your telephone bill to a miniscule amount. For example,
the call rate from the US to Mumbai (India) is $0.13 and to the
UK (personal) $0.28.
To top it all, you have the flexibility of the Lingo money-back
guarantee to fall back on. Moreover, like Vonage, there is an
incentive for recommending friends and family to Lingo: you will
both get a $25 credit to your account.
About the author:
Hamesh Brown enjoys writing about VoIP. For more information,
see this Lingo review.
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