Back in September I blogged about VoIP telephone service, and the VoIP telephone services that Packet8 offers. I made mention of my own experience with VoIP telephone service, which at this point has been a year’s worth with Vonage. Well, the company I blogged about, Packet8, liked my post so much that they sent me a free Video Phone (the phone is worth $199, but when you order the phone and new service you receive a $100 mail-in rebate) and included six months of free service.

I received the phone package in mid October, but with being so busy with all of the family stress that has been going on, and is still going on (I just made and served dinner to four kids, and now have a double sink full of dishes waiting for me – joy!), I didn’t get the opportunity to actually open up the box and set up the phone and its cords and such until today.

Setting up the video phone was incredibly easy. Plug in the power, plug in the network cable, and bam, ready to go. Or so I thought… While the video phone loaded right up, automatically configured itself with our network and appeared “ready”, I was stumped. How do I make phone calls? The quick start guide instructed me to simply pick up the handset (handset? where?) and dial, and then enter in my activation code (received via email several weeks prior) when prompted. It wasn’t until I pried off the casing that goes over the top/front of the video phone that I realized I had better RTFM. So I did. And lo and behold, one key thing was missing: an actual phone. Turns out, the video phone works almost as an add-on to a regular phone. It works on its own as a router, if need be, works to transmit live video between two callers who both have the Packet8 video phone and VoIP service, but on its own, aside from hogging up a portion of my desk and storing names and phone numbers, it doesn’t do anything.

So I grabbed my phone and hooked it up. Ta-dah! Activation was instant, and after a quick (prompted) reboot of the video phone, I was ready to rock and roll. Any time I pick up the phone to make a call, the live video starts, in the event that I am calling someone that I want to video-phone with. It also reads the numbers I am inputting into my regular handset and displays them on the screen, as well as the status of the call (connecting, connected, disconnected, etc.).

Overall, the phone, so far, works great. The quality of the calls seems excellent from my end, though I have noticed that the volume is rather low, so I had to adjust my phone settings. Also, three different people I have spoken to have mentioned that they hear static during the phone call, even though thing sound crystal clear to me. Two of those three people have regular land line service through two different regional phone companies, and the third has VoIP with Vonage.

I would love to try out the live video feature, which is what the Packet8 Video Phone is designed for, but sadly, I do not know of anyone with their service and phone.

Lastly, what review isn’t complete without pictures?!

What was in the box – phone, carrying case, cords, quick start guide, CD-ROM.

The video phone booting up and configuring all of the necessary settings.

Ready to go!

Do you see me?

A close-up of me on the phone, thanks to the video phone’s awesome camera features.

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