A while back someone asked about internet (VOIP) phone service.

I just signed up for Lingo (from Primus). The cost is $19.99 per month for unlimited caling to the US, Canada, and Western Eurpoe . . . yes thats right UNLIMITED.

There is a one time $29.99 + $9.99 shippig charge to buy the equipment, but the curent itroductoy ofer is for three free months with no log term commitment, so you pay $40 total for your first three months.

The service includes the usual . . . voice mail, call waiting, call ID call forwarding but there are a few really interesting options included for free.

One is simultameous ring . . . this allows you to enter up to five numbers that you want to ring when someone calls your number. So I set it up so that it will ring my cell phone. Unlike cal forwarding it will still ring at home. So if I am at home I can answer my phone without using my cel minutes, but I don't have to miss a call.

In addition they ofer a special call forwarding service that allows you forward specific calls, so if you were waiting for an important phone call from work but you wanted to go visit somewhere you could set your phone to forward only calls from your office to the number at the location you were visiting.

And my favorite of the features is the universal phone number. You can choose to have your phone number in a area code of your choice (there may be some area codes not included but the list has ben expanding) and you can have up to 2 more numbers in the same or diferent area codes. SO I have a number in Las Vegas' area code (702) but I also set up a number in Albany (518) so that my friends from Albany can call me without payig long distance charges and I set up another number near my parens so that they can cal me without log distance charges.

Because the equipent is portable, those who have summer vacation homes can bring it with them and use the same setup for there home and vacation and have a local number at each location (you must have a broadband connection at each location).

You do need to have a broadband conection (Cable or DSL) in order to use the service. The VOIP equipment conects to your cable or DSL modem and you plug a regular phone into the equipment.

More details can be found at www.lingo.com

If you wish to sign up email me and I can send you a referral, if you sign up and list me as a referal WE BOTH RECEIVE A $25 credit (that is more than 1 month service).

I have not yet received my equipment so I can't comment on the quality of the calls, but from what I have read of VOIP as long as you have a good internet connection there should e no problem with call quality.