The move was yesterday, and it went pretty well. OK, maybe not a total breeze but it went as well as could be expected. The movers came and loaded my stuff into the truck and sped off into the distance, leaving the skyscrapers of Manhattan behind for the bucolic tree-lined streets of Brooklyn and the grand old Victorian where I now maintain my virtual office.
The landlord maintains a strong DSL connection that goes completely unused during the day, and he has graciously allowed me to use this bandwidth at no charge. That saves me money on Internet access, and also on a phone line.
So how do I make and received calls? Skype, of course. I’m using the Belkin Wi-Fi Phone for Skype, which allows me to do all things telephonic without the need for a computer. I decided on the standalone wi-fi phone because I’ve often experienced problems with Skype when running too many applications on my computer; this nifty little handset won’t have those problems because there’s nothing else to use up the on-board memory.
The phone also lets me use Skype whenever I’m in range of a wi-fi signal. That means I can take the Skype phone home, to the “office”, or to any number of other places. If I’m out of range I forward Skype to my cell phone, but I’m not enamored of using a cell phone as a business line because one never knows when a signal will unexpectedly cut out.
The only problematic aspect of the phone thing is the fact that I still have my old office line to contend with. If I have Verizon forward the line permanently they will charge something like $50 a month, which is just about what I’m paying for the line now. So ultimately what I’ll do is move that number to Vonage or another VOIP provider, then forward the line to the new Skype number. I wish Skype would transfer the number for me, but I guess nothing’s perfect.
Today’s goal is to buy an air conditioner for the “office” and confirm the desk delivery for tomorrow. Then I’ve got to continue unpacking and figure out what the heck’s in all those boxes!
