ANCHOR INTRO:
SOURCE: In-Stat, a market research firm, predicts 3.2 million US VoIP subscribers by the end of 2005.
NOTE TO CLIENTS: AT&T's website states that broadband phone users save about $250/year over traditional phone service.
MILLIONS OF AMERICANS ARE MAKING THE CALL TO SWITCH OVER TO INTERNET PHONE SERVICE...WHERE CALLS GO OVER A BROADBAND CONNECTION INSTEAD OF A TRADITIONAL PHONE LINE. THE MAIN BENEFIT: IT'S OFTEN LESS EXPENSIVE....POTENTIALLY SAVING HOMEOWNERS HUNDREDS OF DOLLARS EACH YEAR. BUT IT MAY COME WITH A COST YOU MIGHT NOT EXPECT. HERE'S_________WITH A HEADS UP! ON A HANG-UP THAT MAY ALARM YOU.

TRACK ONE Length: 11
IRWIN LAZAR KNOWS THE BENEFITS OF INTERNET PHONE SERVICE....OFFICIALLY KNOWN AS VOICE OVER INTERNET PROTOCOL...OR VOIP (voyp). HIS OFFICE USES A VOIP SERVICE FOR ALL ITS LOCAL AND LONG DISTANCE CALLS.

SOT
Length: 01
"It saves us money."

TRACK TWO Length: 05
BUT WHEN IT COMES TO HIS HOME PHONE...IRWIN IS STICKING WITH A TRADITIONAL LINE. HIS REASON IS ALARMING.

SOT
KEY @: 20 Irwin Lazar, Sticking with traditional phone
"A lot of the home alarm systems have the ability to take over the phone line if the alarm sounds and dial directly over the monitoring center. The Voice over IP services that you can get for the home don't support that."

TRACK THREE Length: 06
BECAUSE CALLS ARE TRIGGERED BY A SENSOR BETWEEN THE ALARM AND THE PHONE LINE, BUT INTERNET PHONES RUN OVER BROADBAND CABLES.

SOT
KEY @: 41 Dennis O'Reilly, PC World
"Because VOIP does an end around from the phone company's lines, there's no connection, there's no sensor there for the home security system to use to send an alert."

TRACK FOUR Length: 03
SOME ALARM COMPANIES ARE COMING UP WITH WAYS AROUND THE PROBLEM...

SOT
KEY @: 56 Dennis O'Reilly, PC World
"Home security services such as ADT have services that use the cellular phone network to send these alerts if there's a problem at your house."

TRACK FIVE Length: 04
BUT IT TAKES SPECIAL EQUIPMENT AND WILL COST YOU AN ADDITIONAL 5-20 DOLLARS A MONTH.

NAT SOT
Length: 01
(phone ringing)

TRACK SIX Length: 05
IF YOU MAKE A LOT OF LONG DISTANCE CALLS, THERE IS ANOTHER OPTION THAT MIGHT MAKE SENSE.

SOT
KEY @: 1:13 Dennis O'Reilly, PC World
"Keep the phone company's line and just use that for local phone calls and save your money by using voip for your long distance and international calls."

TRACK SEVEN Length: 10
LAZAR THINKS THAT'LL CUT INTO THE SAVINGS HE'D GET WITH VOIP...SO HE'LL HOLD OFF FOR NOW. BESIDES, HE SAYS...WHEN IT COMES TO HIS ALARM, IT'S NOT ABOUT SAVINGS, BUT SOMETHING ELSE:

SOT
Length: 01 (Irwin Lazar, Sticking with traditional phone)
"Peace of mind."

ANCHOR TAG:
EXPERTS SAY INTERNET PHONE SERVICE IS EXPECTED TO CONTINUE TO EXPLODE IN POPULARITY, NOT ONLY BECAUSE OF THE COST SAVINGS BUT BECAUSE OF THE HIGH-TECH FEATURES IT PROMISES. EXPERTS SAY LEADING INTERNET PHONE PROVIDERS ARE WORKING WITH ALARM COMPANIES TO DEAL WITH THE COMPATIBILITY ISSUES.

SOURCE LIST

Dennis O'Reilly
PC World Magazine
501 Second Street
San Francisco, CA 94107
Contact: Heidi Tanaka
(415) 978-3168
(415) 297-9249 (cell)

O'Reilly is a Senior Associate Editor with PC World and edits the popular "Here's How" column in each issue. He is a veteran of technology publishing and is an expert in WiFi, mapping technology, and personal finance software.

ADT
Diane Silverman
561 981 4283