Comments on: Original PhoneGnome concept still stands alone, after all these years

By: PhoneGnome

PhoneGnome — Thu, 27 Sep 2007 03:20:45 +0000

User, I don’t think PhoneGnome works the way you think it works. You are expecting it to be like Vonage or whatever. It is not. As our headline says “PhoneGnome doesn’t replace home phone service – It just makes it better!”

It is not a replacement stand-alone phone service. It augments an existing service with new capabilities, including free calls, discounted calls, and things like voicemail to email and on-line call logs.

It doesn’t have monthly fees.

By: PhoneGnome

PhoneGnome — Thu, 27 Sep 2007 03:16:27 +0000

Melinda,

Yes, you can buy the PhoneGnome box http://www.phonegnome.com/box.html plug it in to your existing phone line (even if you have phone service through cable?) and call anyone, either free or at a discounted rate.

They have a regular land line phone, no internet service, and you can call them in Mexico at the rates shown here: http://www.phonegnome.com/ratecalc.html

You can also call them on their cell phone (again, rates shown on the page referenced above).

By: Melinda

Melinda — Thu, 27 Sep 2007 01:18:05 +0000

Never heard of Phone Gnome till tonight, so let me make sure I understand this correctly. I can buy your unit, plug it in to my existing phone line (even if I have phone service through cable?) and call anyone for free or at a discounted rate. For instance I want to call my friends in Mexico and they have a regular land line phone, no internet service, and I can call them for 5.1 cent per minute instead of the 9 cents a minute I have been paying for calling cards? I could also call them on their cell phone with this unit? Thanks for confirming or correcting anything for me.

By: User

User — Tue, 18 Sep 2007 22:42:47 +0000

like to know how much is for phone number, what area codes available, how much setup cost, 1st month, any incoming call charges, what SIP devices supported, settings etc, any contracts… … …etc. Nothing listed on your site!!!

By: Phil Wolff

Phil Wolff — Mon, 13 Aug 2007 23:55:25 +0000

after all this time, PhoneGnome’s “zeroconf” still seems like magic.

By: PhoneGnome

PhoneGnome — Mon, 06 Aug 2007 16:06:09 +0000

I don’t think you read what we said. Can a user take a FRITZ!Box device without ever signing up or creating an “account” with any provider, plug it in, and use it? One never has to get any settings, etc. and program the PhoneGnome box. One simply connects PhoneGnome to their existing phone line (phone service from their phone company, or the output of the box for their VoIP/cable phone service, and it configures itself in a few minutes. The user never enters any data, no IP addresses, no usernames, no passwords, no settings at all. When the PhoneGnome box is finished setting itself up, the user can lift the handset and make a free call to any of millions of regular telephone numbers plus users on many SIP systems by dialing SIP numbers.

As far as we know, FRITZ!Box is like all the rest of the VoIP products, where it must be configured for a given service, either manually or when you order the service from the provider, and you must set up an “account” with said provider.

By: Paul Fanta

Paul Fanta — Fri, 27 Jul 2007 22:55:49 +0000

I found something similar: Fritz!Box which is given away in Germany with your DSL. They don’t have the free calling between PhoneGnome users which is obviously a huge plus. I would rather have most of my contacts in the same system as a free call. Can you differentiate the products in any other way please.