we bought this to try and see if we could give up our home phone. this unit is similar to a magic jack. you connect it to your high speed internet and voila, you have a phone line that works nearly as well as a standard line, but is sooooo much cheaper!! $39.95/year with unlimited north american long distance and all the features you get from your phone company!! we've been using it for about a month and we're thinking about getting them for family members as well!