Head to head: traditional phone Vs internet phone

Dreading your quarterly phone bill? Then you should consider ditching the landline for a phone that saves you money by routing your calls over the internet. Once the money-saving secret of computer experts, internet phones have now hit the mainstream market – you can even buy them from Tesco (buy.tescointernetphone.com).

These phones have the advantage of offering cheap or even free calls but, in the past, audio quality wasn’t always particularly good. The technology has improved, though, and call quality is getting closer to that of a traditional phone.

Also known as VoIP phones, which stands for Voice over Internet Protocol, internet phones are becoming a plausible alternative to a landline phone and, depending on the volume of calls you make, they can offer substantial savings.

VoIP technology is steadily replacing traditional phones in business and, increasingly, in the home – although you’ll need a broadband connection to take advantage of the technology. The key benefit of VoIP services is that PC-to-PC calls are cheap or free, providing your contact is using the same VoIP software as you. This means that you can call anybody, anywhere for nothing.

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We took two comparable units from the same manufacturer. The Philips CD5351S DECT Phone is a traditional landline phone that retails for around £50, while the Philips VOIP 433 Dual Phone offers both DECT and VoIP, but at a £20-odd higher tag. So will placing your calls over the internet provide you with savings that offset the cost of the handset? That depends on who you call and how many calls you make.

Philips VOIP 422 Dual Phone | Price £72 | www.philips.co.uk

Landline phones are ideal for short local or even national calls. If you make international calls regularly, however, you’ll find the numbers don’t make quite such happy reading. Calling abroad for long periods from a landline is still expensive, and this is where VoIP can offer big savings.

Philips CD5351S DECT Phone | Price £50 | www.philips.co.uk

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