Shopping at my local Meijer store, I had the exciting idea to compare water prices. Meijer-brand water, 69 cents per gallon. Ice Mountain bottled water, about $2.66 per gallon. Checking ingredients, I saw yes, both products contained massive amounts of water. So depending on brand, getting the same thing can be fairly cheap or oddly expensive.

This brings us to VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol), yet another annoying techie acronym. It’s also a great way to save major money on phone costs, though there are quirks. With phone service and bottled water, you get very similar products for very different prices.

VoIP suffers from no one agreeing on how to pronounce it. Some say “V-O-I-P”. Some sound it out, like “VOY-p”, or say "voice over IP". This is good: If the only bug in our pants is pronunciation, the service itself must work well.

VoIP is broadband Internet phone service. The behind-the-scenes tech is complex, but the end results are cheap phone calls with many free features.

VoIP requires a broadband Internet connection (verify your connection is fast enough). The VoIP provider gives you equipment, like an ATA (Analog Telephone Adaptors allow your “old” phones to work with VoIP) or an IP phone (specifically designed for VoIP).

VoIP advantages

Cost savings compared to landline: With one rate, VoIP sees no difference between local and long-distance calling for most of North America. Out-of-country calls are extremely competitive.

Free features: Landline providers charge for voice mail, caller ID, conference calling, call forwarding, call waiting, and *69 (to redial the last person who called you). VoIP gives them to you free.

You don’t have to be at home to answer the phone: When traveling to places with broadband Internet, plug in your VoIP phone. It’ll ring when someone dials your "home" phone number. Perfect for frequent travelers, those with multiple workplaces or homes, or those working out of Internet cafés all day.

VoIP disadvantages

If your Internet connection is down, there’s no phone service. You can partially fix this by getting a cheap UPS (battery backup) for your VoIP equipment. It will give you service for a few hours during power outages, but not during longer outages.

Cable and DSL are not as stable as traditional phone lines. Outages are rare, but may happen.

Many DSL subscribers have their DSL service tied to their phone line. Dropping their phone provider for VoIP may increase Internet costs.

Local 911 services aren’t perfect. When calling 911, some VoIP users have to give operators address and location. Some are detected automatically. Check with your provider for availability.

More information

http://vonage.com – The most popular residential VoIP provider.

http://voip-info.org – Everything about VoIP.

To some, technology is confusing. But compared to the moist and ambiguous world of water pricing, VoIP is easy: You know exactly what you're getting, along with its advantages and disadvantages. This is one example why people shouldn't worry about technology. The rest of the world is far more confusing.