Local telephone service has changed

A not so long time ago, in a galaxy not so far away, the phone company was the phone company.  Take it or leave it.  Fortunately today many of us have some choice when it comes to who provides local telephone service at our homes.  While not as great or as common a set of choice as would be best, at least we have some choice in residential  phone service.  For those of us who work out of a home office, choice in our local phone service is a life saver (not to mention a cost saver).

Some of us are fortunate enough to live in localities where local phone service can come from more than one company.  Today companies like Talk America or even a giant like MCI offer an alternative to the traditional local phone service providers like BellSouth, SBC, Verizon, Sprint, and all the others.  Many of us live where we can get high speed internet service, either dsl or cable modem, and thus have the option of VoIP service from the likes of Vonage.  Last but not least, and used by a surprising number of people, cellular service with some of today’s low cost plans offers a viable alternative. 

It’s about choice, or in capitalistic terms competition.  Where we have choice in our local telephone service, we can either save money, get more features, and in many cases both at the same time.  Some of these alternate providers of local phone service provide us with a fully featured phone service (voice mail, call forwarding, caller ID, etc.) and unlimited long distance service for little more, and sometimes less, the cost of a fully featured line from our traditional residential phone service provider. 

Word to the wise, local phone service can also at times be a life line.  We recommend that if at all possible, you keep at least one traditional landline phone operating in your house. 

That said, check out the options you may have for your local phone service.  You may be pleasantly surprised.