The view from our patio in Crown Court 44A, our rental villa

When we looked into an island getaway earlier this year, we wanted to work part of the time and vacation part of the time. To do that, we had to have a high speed Internet connection and a reliable phone line.

We set our sights on Bonaire, a small Dutch island in the southern Caribbean known for its relaxed ambiance and fabulous diving. It was difficult to plan our trip with certainty. Finding out what speed and type of Internet access was available at our hotel proved so challenging we gave up. A waterfront rental villa with high speed Internet access became available at the last minute and we decided to take our chances.

In the end, it all worked out. To our surprise and relief the cable modem Internet connection at the Crown Court 44A villa was great. It was fast enough for a VoIP, allowing us to use our Vonage phone line for U.S. and international phone calls.

After a week working at the villa, we moved to the Harbour Village Beach Club, a favorite spot, for our vacation. Although we were officially on holiday, we still had to connect to the Internet multiple times a day and check voicemail messages daily. The WiFi connection in our suite was weak. Phone calls with the VoIp were unreliable. After several attempts, we gave up and used our cell phones. Although the Internet connectio cut out intermittently during the day, we were able to connect well enough for essentials.

Overall, working remotely from Bonaire was a success made possible thanks to the excellent quality Internet connection at the rental villa. Staying in touch while at Harbour Village was a welcome bonus. Although next time we’d rather spend the entire time relaxing, it’s good to know we can work remotely again if we have to.

Click on the image to read about Paris

As access to high speed connectivity improves working remotely from Paris, France becomes easier and less expensive. Earlier this year we spent 19 days in a Paris rental apartment working remotely. With the good quality high speed access in the apartment we were able to remain connected 24/7.

We rented an apartment because it offered much more space than the typical hotel room, allowed us to prepare meals and experience Paris more like a local than a tourist. What the apartment lacked in facilities and services it made up for amply in location, comfort and convenience as well as connectivity and privacy.

This arrangement allowed us to enjoy the pleasures of Paris during our time off while working remotely. Email and Internet access in general were excellent. We made phone calls using our cell phone and U.S. VoIP service. An added bonus was that our service included free phone calls to certain countries in Europe, including France.

With the high speed connection and our Vonage VoIP account we were able to make extended phone calls to the U.S., including conference calls, and reach 800 numbers easily. Although at times the Internet connection was so poor we had to hang up, on many occasions we were able to check messages, have hour long conversations and work a full day with minimum inconveniences.

Many popular services, like Vonage, Skype, and a host of smaller companies offer “voice over IP” of VoIP in lieu of regular phone service. The principle benefit to the consumer or business is cost savings over conventional telephone service.

Our experience with this technology is very mixed. We have a Vonage router configured at one location running over high speed ADSL service. This service is prone to network congestion and even something as simple as sending a large email attachment can bring VoIP communication to a grinding halt. Suddenly, you can hear the person at the other end of the call, but they cannot hear you. The problem is that ADSL typically has a lower capacity for outgoing traffic than it does for incoming, which is fine for most web browsing and downloading, but VoIP requires capacity in both directions.

Others use cable broadband modems with somewhat better results, although delays do occur and once again traffic from email and file uploads can consume all the capacity leaving the phone useless.

Businesses are faring better because they can configure quality of service for VoIP communications and allow that traffic to have priority in their network. But a business VoIP phone system can be expensive to implement and is generally reserved for those who have multiple locations and an internal dedicated network.

With enough data speed on the links, we have seen both Vonage and Skype perform well enough to be indistiguishable from conventional telephone service. In an earlier article, we reviewed an excellent headset that makes Skype perform very well, assuming a fast enough Internet connection.

The traveling telecommuter is watching this space very closely, because we rely on the portability of the VoIP network to allow us to work from anyplace there is an Internet connection, but results have been frequently disappointing, especially from Europe, where connection speeds tend to be lower. But one of our friends travels to China frequently and uses his Vonage phone with great results, so we are optimistic. As they say, “your mileage may vary.”

When Skype first came out, I tried to use it with my acoustic headset and was disappointed. Even as they have improved their technology, when I call my clients they would immediately ask if I was on some kind of Internet phone because it sounded funny.

Then I got a call from a friend using a logitech USB headset on Skype and did not even realize he was on VoIP until he told me! These new headsets with noise cancelling technology and direct digital input to the application really make Skype usable as a phone replacement for the telecommuter.

At costs of only about one cent per minute for calls to U.S. numbers, and new features like conferencing, digital recording and voice mail, Skype has really developed into a full service telephone provider. With a headset like the one shown below, it will give the other VoIP solutions a real run for their money:

 Logitech 980356-0403 Stereo USB Headset 250

While traveling in Europe recently, we discovered a VoIP (Voice-over-Internet Protocol) call forwarding service that allows travelers to forward their calls from a home or business line to a fixed or cell phone. This can facilitate travelers ability to receive important calls while they are on the road or away from their home country. RoamAbout is an alternative international roaming service designed to function like regular roaming with affordable fees for roaming calls.  It allows travelers to keep their mobile number everywhere they travel and to make calls from a remote destination for lower fees that the regular mobile phone companies charge.   

 Instead of carrying multiple phones or having to dial a long phone card number or call back number we had the option of using RoamAbout. Bonus features include free voice mail, conference calling, easy to use SMS (Short Message Service) and the option to purchase a SIM card (Subscriber Identification Module) or phone before the trip. The SIM is the mobile number and account information for the phone we use while traveling.

To use the RoamAbout Mobile web site it is necessary to register for the services. Although registration is free, there is a one time activation fee of $10, which can be charged to a credit card. Once an account is established users can access it from any computer to make changes or from the local Automated Attendant IVR system in any origination country, which RoamAbout lists under the Help Tab. 

Services, SIM cards and/or phone choices can be selected menu fashion from the Products & Services Tab with a RoamAbout Shopping Cart. Upon forwarding a phone users receive a free voice mailbox and SMS capability via the RoamAbout web portal. It is possible to forward home and office numbers. It is possible to make outbound international calls from RoamAbout origination countries to any destination in the world.

RoamAbout also offers a Scheduled Conference Bridge with service for up to 100 connections. Instructions on how to schedule a teleconference appear under Conference Bridging . Users can purchase a pre-paid SIM and/or a GSM phone on their own or from RoamAbout.

In essence what RoamAbout does is allow users to forward their mobile phone calls to RoamAbout and RoamAbout forwards all the calls from the user’s “regular” mobile number to another mobile number anywhere in the world (usually to a low cost, local pre-paid SIM the user has, acquires or purchases)

RoamAbout plans to expand to 100 countries. A free soft phone product can be used with a laptop, PC or PDA to call from any Internet connection to anywhere. The target audience for RoamAbout are international business travelers who have to stay in contact with their vendors and clients and often encounter the highest roaming charges. People who live in one country and work in another called Cross-Border Workers are good candidates for this service. According to RoamAbout, there are more than 12 million of these workers in the European Union alone and this group makes the next largest user group of RoamAbout services. Often, these users have had to carry two mobile phones, one for work and another for home (three of us had six cell phones between us).

RoamAbout suggests travelers consider their services if they have international roaming bills of $65 or more on a regular basis and want to save on the roaming charges. Because of the arrangments we had made prior to our departure we didn’t use the RoamAbout services this time. We will keep them in mind for a future trip and have recommended them to several friends and acquaintances who travel internationally often.More information is available at RoamAbout.