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If you are reviewing your bills or working on a budget plan, your phone bill is a great place to start. I recently discovered an Irish company called Blueface which offers telephone services over the internet so if you have broadband you can make very cheap or free calls. I have used Voice over Internet Protocol or VOIP in the past using Skype with mixed results in relation to quality although using Skype this week to talk to a company in India, the sound quality was very good.
I found Blueface very easy to set up and to use. How it works is you download a free trial to your computer, which I did last week and you download a “Soft phone” also. A soft phone is basically a picture of a phone on your computer screen which can use with you mouse or by using the number keys to dial phone numbers. I spent about 5 minutes signing up for the free trial and downloading the soft phone. Then I made a couple of local calls and the people I spoke to could not tell the difference. If your computer has a microphone and speakers, you can dial and start talking straightaway. I have a headset attached to my computer so I used that.
The savings can be considerable by making calls over the internet and in some cases you can drop the dreaded line rental depending on who your broadband provider is. For example Blueface have an offer of Free local and National calls for life including a Siemens cordless phone for €199 plus delivery charges. I spoke to a salesperson in recruitment who makes a lot of calls everyday and she only uses Blueface, saving a lot of money.
There are some draw backs with VOIP such as you have no phone if your broadband or electricity goes down and the quality of the calls can be weak from time to time. You may also need your phone line for your alarm or subscription TV services.
One service that seems to get around the problems of VOIP is Wimax from Imagine. I have been testing this at home for several months. I have no line rental as Wimax does not use phone lines. The quality of the calls is the exact same as my standard phone line. Unfortunately Wimax is only being rolled out around the country now in stages so not everyone can receive it. But if it is in your area, it is worth looking at.
We have added Blueface to our Bill savings page www.homepayments.ie/BillSavings.aspx
Compare Telephone, Broadband & Mobile costs easily
This month we have added Callcosts.ie to our Bill savings page. Callcosts.ie is the official website of Comreg, the telecommunications regulator. The site is very helpful in easily comparing the numerous offerings in telephone, broadband and mobile phone packages in the market. If I was a sceptic, I would think the companies were deliberately trying to confuse us!
If you have ever wondered whether you are getting a good deal or not but felt it was too much hassle to figure out, it is now some what easier by checking out Callcosts.ie at
www.homepayments.ie/BillSavings.aspx
Tax Back on the Income Levy
From last month’s newsletter, several people have started to check if they are due a tax refund. Taxback.com have highlighted to us that since P60’s for last year have been issued, it is worthwhile checking out if you are due a refund on the Income levy that was introduced during 2009. They have found people have overpaid or have paid when they are exempt from the levy. www.homepayments.ie/BillSavings.aspx
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