Savvy Student

"The gold standard for service provision."

"The gold standard for service provision." That's the verdict from 26-year-old PhD student Justin Bishop.

Justin, from Barbados, first used Vonage when he was in Canada doing an MA. So when he moved to the UK, he immediately got a new Vonage account, opting for V-Plan 2. "I didn't consider anything else," he says. He also bought a Virtual Phone Number for his ex-girlfriend, in Canada, with her local dialling code. She could then ring his Vonage line in Cambridge for next to nothing. "It worked out beautifully," he said.

His current American girlfriend has just moved to Cambridge, too. Again, Vonage proved invaluable. "She needed to sort stuff out with banks, with her old job, etc. It was so convenient for her to be able to just pick up the phone without worrying about the cost." Justin reckons he saves at least £80 a month.

When Justin goes back to Barbados, he simply packs the hardware. "It doesn't matter where I'm calling from, he explains. "Only where I'm calling to." His family has a network of three computers, so Justin can just plug the Vonage adapter into any free port. "It's straightforward to change the settings. Then I've got a dial tone and my full Vonage service. I can stay in touch with colleagues without it seeming that I've even left Cambridge."

When he's at the work, Justin always knows if someone is trying to get hold of him on his Vonage line at home. "I pick up my voicemail messages on my email at the lab. I don't have to wait until I get home to find my answering machine flashing with urgent messages," he says.

Justin highlights another unexpected benefit of Vonage. "Because it's free, I'm more likely to just pick up the phone," he says. "Instead of using email, I now speak to people. And that's great."