[LINK] Naked ADSL and dumping the voiceline

[Tom Worthington]

Rick Welykochy wrote:
> ... considering dumping the voice line, keeping the land line and adding VoiP ...

The Whirlpool forums have an extensive discussion of VoIP:
<http://forums.whirlpool.net.au/forum/107>.

> * what device can I then connect to the naked line to give my current
>    (simple residential) telephone equipment full POTS connectivity? ...

Some years ago I bought a two line Cisco ATA adaptor for about $100:
<http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000HCX7UG?&tag=voip-telephones-20>.

There are assorted other VoIP standalone devices, as well as ones built 
into ADSL modems and cordless handsets. See my Amazon.com store (but you 
can probably get these cheaper elsewhere): 
<http://astore.amazon.com/voip-telephones-20>.

I got an ordinary phone number from a VoIP provider. I plugged this into
my wireless, not very broadband, and it worked (just about). But the
novelty wore off after a few months and I ended up simply using mobile
phone.

In theory I could plug a fax into the second phone port on the ATA. But
the novelty of faxing wore off years ago.

If I was wanting VoIP now, I would likely get a dial-in number for
Skype. There are also assorted bundled VoIP services which should be
easier, such as IINet's Bob: <http://www.iinet.net.au/bob/>.

For something more exotic, Vodafone are planning femtocells (wireless
VoIP to your mobile phone):
<http://www.itnews.com.au/News/235976,vha-eyes-mobile-data-with-network-expansion.aspx>.


Roger Clarke wrote:
> Great start, but please add some more questions:
> -   what number(s) can you get for people to call you on?

You pick the locality of the number (most VoIP operators let you pick
from Australian capital cities and others around the world)

> And, switching from the personal to the policy level:
> -   what constraints on number-choice are inherent in technology?

None.

> -   what constraints on number-choice are reasonable ...

It would seem reasonable if you have an Australian phone number it
should be where you are located, assuming your location is fixed. If not
fixed, then you should have a number prefix which indicates a non-fixed
number (similar to the prefixes on mobile numbers).

ps: The Australian Federal Police have issued a Request for Tender for
Provision of IP Voice and Telephone Equipment:
<https://www.tenders.gov.au/?event=public.atm.show&ATMUUID=05C53717-D4C0-D2D7-BC0346B4CE7EBDDC>.

Hopefully no one is going to argue that the AFP do not need battery
backup for their phones. ;-)


-- 
Tom Worthington FACS CP HLM, TomW Communications Pty Ltd. t: 0419496150
PO Box 13, Belconnen ACT 2617, Australia  http://www.tomw.net.au
Adjunct Senior Lecturer, School of Computer Science, The
Australian National University http://cs.anu.edu.au/courses/COMP7310/