VOIP technology?

Are you talking about running it on your PC, or a turnkey product from, say, your cable company?

In either case you can surf the Internet while talking.

I actually own a Mac at home, so I'd prefer something that doesn't involve using my computer (most stuff like this I think doesn't run on OSX).

In any case, I'd feel more comfortable with something I can plug a phone into and have it work like a normal phone.

I guess my broadband/cable company probably has a service, but I've also been seeing commercials for other services that are out there and they look cheap. Guess I'm just trying to gather some information on them as I'm contemplating making the jump. I don't use my phone much, and I pay way too much for it.

You need broadband and a router. The provider will give you an adapter
that connects your regular phone to the router. You can use your
computer and phone at the same time.

NOTE that with VOIP you do not get 911 service, your phone won't work
when the power is out, and your connection will only be as good as as
reliable as your internet connection is.

Good to know.

I don't think that will be much of an issue for me though, I have a cell phone. Basically I just want something I can use when I make a phone call (I don't use my phones much) without paying an arm and a leg. My landline is expensive, and charges me for long distance. My cell phone is expensive and gives me a quota of minutes I can use per month for long distance.

VOIP, at least from what I'm told, works like a cell phone in that calling anywhere in the US costs the same, but unlike a cell phone doesn't limit your minutes. I think that depends on the plan/company though.

Does anyone know of some companies that provide this service? Does anyone actually have it?

Well over the weekend I was looking into a few companies, and some names came up.

Vonage seems to be a big one--anyone heard of it? I also heard some talk about Lingo?

Also, as I write this I'm looking at an ad for a company called Sun Rocket. $199/year it looks like, which sounds really nice.

Anyone heard anything about any of these?

Alright, checking back in. I spent some time doing research, and from what I've been told, SunRocket is the best deal by far. I ordered their service over the weekend and all of my stuff arrived last night (free of charge), and I had it working within 10 minutes.

I love it. It doesn't slow down my internet, the quality is great, and best of all, I got a deal where I have $100 worth of international calls for free--on a $200 service!

Anyway, I haven't played with it too much so far, just made a few calls to friends to see how it worked, but so far so good.