Internet phone services growing in popularity; user base tops 1 million

• Internet phone service is growing in popularity, according to 12 On Your Side's Marilyn Moritz.
• Moritz reported that about one million people are using the Internet phone service to connect with friends and family.
• The technology is called Voice Over Internet Protocol, or VOIP, for short.
• Internet phone service customers Joan and Andy Murphy, have their telephones connected to an adapter that sends calls over a high-speed connection.
• They have a cable connection, but Internet phone customers can also use DSL.
• Consumer Reports tested Internet phone service from five leading providers, including AT&T, Time Warner Cable, Verizon and Vonage.
• "For the most part, quality was very good, although some of our panelists reported an echoy sound on some of their calls," said Consumer Reports' Mike Gikas.
• In some cases, incoming calls didn't get through.
• Some panelists also said they found it difficult to install the phone service by themselves.
• Overall, Consumer Reports found cable connections seemed to have fewer problems than DSL connections, but found that neither type works in a power outage.
• The magazine also found that dialing 911 can be a problem.
• To solve that problem, Andy Murphy kept his regular line as a backup.
• Even with the cost of the backup, Murphy said he has cut his phone bill by one-third since he switched to Internet phone service.
• Internet phone service can be affordable, costing $25 to $40 a month for unlimited calling anywhere in the United States.
• Consumer Reports said if you spend more than $60 a month on local and long distance calling, you could save money using an Internet phone service, even if you keep a backup line.