In the early days of computers everything that could go wrong did. The same with the internet. Now you can log online and surf for hours as fast as you can click your mouse. The same is true with voice over ip technology. For every positive there is a negative when it comes to VoIP.

Here are 7 good reasons not to switch in spite of the savings you may realize.

1. Many people around the world now have cable internet. If you have a cable internet connection you may hear the other person clear as a bell and they may not hear you at all. This will lead to them hanging up on you because they do not know you're there.

2.. When you are not talking, and neither is the person you are talking to, there is some dead air time that may make you think you have lost the call just like a cell phone. Unfortunately "can you hear me now" or "are you still there" gets old.

3. Because voice over ip technology relies on the local cable company or phone company many factors can influence how your call is received or made. DSL is dependent on how close you live to the local phone company. High speed cable internet is dependent on how many people are using up the bandwidth at the same time. These will have a factor in how well VoIP is working and that can change from call to call.

4. If you are put on hold for a long period of time your VoIP service may disconnect the call thinking your phone is off the hook and not being used.

5. Occasionally, for no reason your VoIP will just stop working. To fix it you usually have a lot of unplugging and re-plugging of the VoIP modem, router, cable or DSL connection, in a specific sequence provided by the VoIP company. Do this several times and see if you are ready to go back to your old local phone company.

6. If your up-line signal is not strong enough, your call won't go through, leading to  "Your call cannot be completed at this time" recording.

7. If your Internet connection goes down for any reason you will have no phone service. For this reason you are going to want a cell phone and to forward all calls to go to it if you do not answer your VoIP line.

Are these good reasons for not switching to voice over ip technology yet. That will depend on how important each one is to you.