VoIP Reliability
Cautions about cutouts and dropped calls
Service reliability is a relatively big issue in VoIP at this point in the history of the industry. There are three specific instances where the reliability of VoIP can become an issue.
911
This is one of the biggest concerns with VoIP, as noted by the FCC and other government organizations. No one should ever be without 911 service. With VoIP, your location is not traceable by 911 operators. You can manually input your address so that it is recorded by operators. If you do not do this and you phone 911 in trauma, unable to give them your location, they will not be able to find you.
Power outages
The problem with VoIP is that it relies on a powered modem. In a situation where you may be in a power outage (a scenario where the need for 911 also increases) your VoIP may not be available. You can plan for this by having a cell phone (also spotty in service consistency and also not traceable in location, except units with GPS locators). If you have a private generator that keeps your household energy running, your modem and consequently your VoIP service will still be working.
Living in the country
Those who live in the country will bear witness to the fact that telephone service can be interrupted in severe weather conditions (like a wind storm, for example), and once interrupted, rural lines are the last ones to get serviced. Your VoIP will be just as susceptible to outages. Cable will be more reliable, but of course, power outages will affect your cable modem. On the other hand, rural houses are often equipped with a generator, so service interruption can be less likely to happen for those folks.
The issue of reliability in service as provided by the VoIP provider
Service reliability can be an issue that varies widely form one company to another, and companies do have different reputations for service (e.g. Vonage: bad; AT&T: fair). You need to read up on the service record of your company before you purchase. You may be one of those people who doesn't care so much about service consistency. The service provider profiles on this site will go a long way in informing you of potential problems and issues with some companies. Make sure that you research and read as much as you can about your VoIP provider before you sign up for their service.
Complaints about reliability
Complaints about reliability seem epidemic in the VoIP industry. To be fair, it is difficult to separate whether these complaints ought to be pointed at providers or at the local telephone infrastructure. In some cases, the provider is consistently the culprit, but many complaints originate from people who live in an area of the country with older phone lines or where phone service or power outages are already a problem. While VoIP providers usually do promise good service, they may not be able to account for all the issues that arise from the infrastructure in your area.
