Recently I started getting very frusterated with my lack of care in consumption. I started realizing that I was spending way too much on a bunch of services I didn’t really need. I decided that I wanted a fresh start so I paid off the balance on my credit card and start accounting for my expenses to see where the money was going and how I could stop the bleeding. I realized that my comunnication services were accounting for between $300 - $400 a month. Basically if you break it down I was paying the following:
- Rogers Blackberry Voice and Data - Advertisted : $70 / mnth- Actual : $135-$225 /mnth
- Shaw Cable Bundle - $115 / Month (basic cable, land line phone, internet services)
At this point I had been reading a lot more about agile development practices and attempting to implement them in my web practices. The idea of being agile certainly didn’t really apply to my operating costs. So I started thinking about business operations, how one can operate an infrastructure with agility and minimize the wastefulness of their consumption without impacting their day to day standards. I set a goal for myself. I wanted to replace my solution with a new solution that cost me less in a year then the amount of my highest monthly blackberry phone bill ($225.95)
Looking at this scenario specifically, I realized that the majority of my impact revolved around phone, internet and the combination of these. The cable package is sort of a mute point, because it doesn’t really fluxuate. However my blackberry bill with Rogers was was all over the place. So I devised a plan to rid myself of the mobile phone service. This would reduce my expenses by over 200% in some months. I decided my solution would be to operate my phone services (including land line) using VOIP. Now I’ve had a very little experience with VOIP but my impression is that there are a ton of Internet based communications companies who "specialize" in VOIP. To me these companies look like they were all reseller ISPs or hosting companies who jumped on the communications band wagon as another way to milk a client’s contract with minimal service standards… I used to be in that industry, it doesn’t appeal to me. Lets find an alternative that is popular and proven. Well what about SKYPE?
There’s nothing really all that new about this conception. Skypes been around for a while now, and they just released Skype 4.0 which is a great improvement on their client. The beauty of this decisions is that it’s not so astounding or original. Skype is proven, I’ve seen roughly 10 million people on the network on any given day. So that to me says that it’s proven. I looked at the prices, and at $2.95 CAD a month for unlimited calling in Canada and the US, I would say it also passes requirement 2. It’s cheap. Roughly $17 a month cheaper then my current provider. So now how can I convert this service into something that is transparent to the outside world while maintaining flexibility? The only things really needed in order to fully substitute alandline with this solution are…
- A phone number routed to the Skype account
- An answering machine service that is capable of recording missed calls
- A Skype handset to allow for me to pace while I talk
You would think that hte first option would be completely simple. Oh Skype sells those! Your right, they do. Just not in Canada. FTW! I searched around a little and found this company. DID World Wide was able to sell activate immediately a local phone number for anywhere I wanted for $65. They let you route it to your skype for free! So do the math so far (12×2.95)+65 = $104.43
Answering machine next. EASY! Pamela - $20 one time licensing fee. Comes with everything you need for any kind of Skype recording / answering / automating. Total: $124.43 The last thing is a handset. I went on craigslist and got the Vtech 7100 for about $80. That puts me @ $204.43 - Success! Agile communications. I can even sign into Skype in multiple places and get the phone calls! Right now I’m signed in from home, work and my girlfriends place! If I don’t want to answer it, it still goes to voice mail on my home computer and then emails me a copy of the message!
Now that I succeeded, the final task is to cancel my services. Shaw was no problem, they are no contract, so they will cancel it anytime. Rogers however request a $500 early cancellation fee. Now if I had to endure that charge I would not have achieved my original goal. So I moved to Nunavit. Yes, that’s right. Nunavit. Where there is no Rogers service. I called them and let them know that I was moving there, and when they realized they had no service to offer me, they cancelled my contract with no cancellation fee.
… And that is the story of how I rided myself from over priced communications services and started a home phone system that costs me roughly $8.33 a month. Try it out for yourself.
