Land line sort of
I’ve been using Voice-over-IP (VoIP) for about 1 year now and have tried out 3 different services and I’m the happiest with my current one. I’ve used Vonage and Gizmo Project and had issues with both of them. Then I started using Skype and found the connection to be very clear and the price to be right (free for domestic calls to U.S. phone numbers until 2007, at which point I think it goes up to 1 cent per call).
The problem I had, however, was that I was using a USB headset, which is fine if all you want to do is make a couple of outgoing calls per day. However, if you make many calls in a given day, and you have people calling you, it’s terribly inconvenient because you have to put the headset over your head each time you make or answer a call.
Then, I recently learned that I could get a device like the one above - a Linksys CIT200 - that would connect to my computer and allow me to make calls using Skype but would feel like you’re using a landline. The device you see above is cordless and it comes with a base station which connects to your computer’s USB port. When someone calls you, the phone rings, and you lift it off the cradle to answer it. Making calls is almost like a reguar phone - you just have to dial + and 1 before the area code and then press the button with the green phone on it.
Worth noting is that I paid Skype $12 to get a phone number for 3 months. However, I’m saving a bundle over what I would be paying for an actual land line. If you’re interested in the phone that I bought, here’s a link to the Newegg listing.