Phone Power Review: VoIP

Phone Power is a relative newcomer to the VoIP landscape but has hit a sweet spot in the market with their nice range of very cheap plans. For those that aren't afraid of a longer term commitment and are looking for a great value on domestic calling, Phone Power provides two years of service for just about $100.00 per year ($8.33/month).

Included are the now-standard VoIP features such as conference calling, caller ID, voicemail to email, and call waiting. You also get a cloned second line, which allows two lines to share the same number. This means incoming calls will be routed to either connected line, even if one is busy. Likewise, you can also call out while the other line is in use.

Phone Power is one of the few VoIP providers to offer a VoIP adapter other than the standard Linksys model. The Grandstream router that's included is a little finicky though. It did not like being plugged into our Apple Airport, and had trouble with our office router too. It was fine when it was plugged in directly to our Linksys wireless router. We mention this little caveat because if you have any kind of unconventional setup, Phone Power is a little unforgiving without some tinkering.

Once we got it set up, Phone Power was fine. It delivered acceptable voice performance. It has all the standard features such as voicemail to email, caller ID, call waiting, and conference calling. All this comes in pretty inexpensively too; if you can stand the two-year commitment you'll pay the equivalent of $8.33 per month for unlimited calls in the U.S. and Canada, though you'll pay all of that up front, a total of $253.27 after fees, shipping, and taxes. While that may seem like a lot to pay up front, there is a 30-day guarantee if the service fails to meet your expectations (your first month, equivalent to $19.95, is non-refundable, as are shipping charges). There are a host of other options ranging from $14.95 to $19.95 per month, if you don't want to pay upfront or you want a month-to-month plan. It's also worth noting that in our rate-comparison test, Phone Power had the overall lowest international rates of any provider (though we suggest you check their site to check the prices on the countries you call the most).

Just note that if you cancel after 30 days you'll have to pay the remaining part of your contract, or a $99.95 disconnect fee (whichever is less).

Phone Power's technical support is based in the United States. We had to leave a call-back number. It took several hours for our call to be returned; support was thorough, however.

If you don't mind the commitment, Phone Power is a great choice for VoIP. The plan is the cheapest we've found, and the cloned second-line is very useful. Try the 30-day trial, and see if it's right for you.

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