Lingo is establishing itself as a VoIP service in the same space as its competitors AT&T, Verizone, and Vonage. Despite tough competition, Lingo has emerged as a real contender because of the dynamism of the features they offer and, equally important, at a price that is easy on the pocket. Lingo is the most competitively priced, and this is the deciding feature for many subscribers.

Lingo works on the same principles as any VoIP service. It comes with a software and hardware package that converts sound signals to data and transmits this data through shared lines, thus getting around the charges applicable to the regular telephone network. In simple terms, it enables you to receive or make calls through the Internet. The Lingo functionality sends your calls through the Internet to your modem, and then directs the call to a regular telephone through your Lingo phone adaptor. Your Internet connection remains uninterrupted, so Lingo works seamlessly with your regular Internet tasks such as email and data access.

Lingo is widely available, with unlimited calling plans for residents in Europe and Asia. It offers an unlimited monthly business plan at $49.95, in which you can call anyone in the U.S., Canada, and Western Europe, an unlimited international business plan at $99.95, an unlimited Asia plan at $34.95, and an unlimited international plan at $79.95. Lingo carries all the features that you normally associate with a traditional phone line, and has the following Lingo-specific benefits:

• An emergency call service

• Portability of your local phone number

• Flexibility of selecting phone numbers from across the US or the world

• Free Lingo-to-Lingo calls

• Online account management, and one convenient monthly bill

• A connection booster

• Money-back guarantee

The Lingo Website lists the countries for which telephone numbers are available. Unfortunately, this list is limited now, and one hopes that Lingo will build this further.

With its impressive list of features, Lingo sounds like a good option. However, if your need is to ensure consistent voice quality rather than save money, you need to look beyond Lingo because most often Lingo will give you only average sound quality. The Web interface is not particularly friendly, and the menu design leaves room for improvement.

These disconcerting factors notwithstanding, Lingo is still the lowest priced VoIP with its set of advanced features. If you are making a large volume of international calls, particularly to Europe and Asia, it is time to switch to Lingo because you will lower your telephone bill to a miniscule amount. For example, the call rate from the US to Mumbai (India) is $0.13 and to the UK (personal) $0.28.

To top it all, you have the flexibility of the Lingo money-back guarantee to fall back on. Moreover, like Vonage, there is an incentive for recommending friends and family to Lingo: you will both get a $25 credit to your account.

Hamesh Brown enjoys writing about VoIP. See http://www.voipreviewsonline.com/2005/10/lingo_review_1.html for another Lingo review.