Well now it seems that a new solution to peoples Voip needs has been created, MagicJack . MagicJack seems to be very comparable to Skype. The price is a little cheaper at $20 a year. It also is neat in that everything runs off of the USB device, so you can just unplug it and take it with you. The biggest advantage is that the you can connect a regular handset into the usb device and use your telephone as you normally would. I would suspect that you could even backfeed the device into your existing house wiring if you would like to do that.

According to the review at http://www.getusb.info/usb-review-magicjack-phone/ the Voip phone software has the following options.

* Menu – Switch to headset, download Outlook plugin, and other configuration options.
* Contacts – This is your list of contacts for quick reference.
* Calls – This provides call history. Using this feature allows you to quickly and easily reconnect to past calls.
* Favorites – This lists your favorite contacts like Mother In Law, Sister In Law etc.
* Redial – redial
* Vmail – This lets you set your own voice mail. To set MagicJack voice mail message you must login to their website and select user options to set voice mail for different locations. I also like the fact MagicJack sends an email with the .WAV file of the voice mail.
* 411 – Is an internet linke to Free411.com.
* Google – A simple hot link to Google for web searching.
* 911 Address – This function defaults to your original entry in MagicJack, but it also gives the benefit of adding multiple address in case you use this at work, home, families houses etc.

At being only $20 a year with a free 30 day trial I am tempted to go out there and get me one, to see how it works. I like the idea of just taking it with you. I wonder how it does compare to Skype, which seems to be getting cheaper and cheaper and has some really great functionality.