Is internet telephony a reliable method of communication?
A lot of people have signed up for internet telephony, though they may have actually used it only once due to poor results. Has it gotten any better? Is it as reliable as a standard telephone call? Well, yes, and sometimes. I’d have to say that right now the main advantage of internet telephony isn’t convenience or clarity, but price. And whether the connection is PC-to-PC or PC-to-phone, the quality can be fickle. Once in a while you get only one side of the conversation, and sometimes you don’t get a connection at all and you have to redial. To ensure better bandwidth and hence a clearer connection, it’s best to make calls during the continental United States’ off-peak hours, on weekends and on weekdays between 7 p.m. and 7 a.m. During normal business hours, I’ve found that about 1 out of every 7 calls is as clear as a regular telephone call. The other 6 calls have had passable connections with some breakups. However, during off-peak hours I’ve found that almost every connection is e
