Solar Heating

Here are some images of our solar heat collection system. More information here, if you are interested. Graphs, too (if you use Firefox, Safari, Konqueror, Mozilla, Opera, or any other standards-compliant web browser. If you use Internet Explorer, don't bother.)  The graphs are now generated using a Google App Engine version of my SVG graph generator, at http://svggraph.appspot.com!

VoIP: Voice over Internet Protocol

In the 20th century, circuit-based communications systems ruled the day. Since the complexity and scale of these communications systems grew linearly with the number of endpoints, the concept of a monthly charge per handset was acceptable. The PSTN (Public Switched Telephone Network) was designed to be reliable, and became a valuable part of our daily lives.

Unfortunately (or fortunately, with emphasis on the "fortune" part, if you were a Telco), once people are used to the concept of a monthly fee, they will continue to pay it. With the invention of Ethernet networks and IP protocol inter-network routing, the Internet was born. Now, the complexity of the network became independent of the number of endpoints. Since any device could communicate directly with any other device without consuming a "circuit", telephony providers could charge a monthly fee per endpoint (handset), but keep their infrastructure costs basically flat!

Fortunately for you, setting up a VoIP installation is becoming more accessible by the day. Instead of a $20-$60+/month fee per "line", you pay $2-$4/month per "DID" -- Direct Indialled Number, plus about $0.01/minute for however many minutes of VoIP <-> PSTN time you use. VoIP <-> VoIP calling (between branch offices, for example) is free.

Of course, you need a reasonably fast Internet connection, which most people are already paying for, anyway.

The bulk of the complexity in these VoIP systems is in installing and configuring the VoIP interface equipment and handsets in your home or business, and in configuring them to work the way you want (forwarding, voice-mail, etc.) This is what we specialize in.

Once installed, you may opt to retain our monitoring and maintenance services for a small monthly fee (roughly the cost of a single old "line", no matter how many handsets you now have!). Or, you can opt to take care of the system yourself, or pay for service as you require it.

Regardless, you are now basically "free" of the large monthly cost for your telephone system: you pay only for new handsets, as you need them.

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