Vonage cuts the cords

Vonage is cutting the cords from its voice over IP (VoIP) telephone service.

The company has announced a partnership with Uniden America Corporation, a consumer electronics manufacturer, to create a cordless phone that will work with Vonage's service.

The two companies will adapt the Uniden UIP1869V, which has a corded base and up to 10 cordless handsets, so it can plug directly into a broadband connection or router.

This will eschew the need for a separate adapter normally required for Vonage's service, which sits between a standard telephone and the broadband connection.

Jeff Kagan, independent telecom industry analyst, said: "To get a phone that plugs into broadband and works is useful. It helps to make VoIP more mainstream."

He added: "This is the kind of device that helps make VoIP useable for the average consumer."

Vonage officially launched in the UK last month with a flat-rate phone service - costing between £9.99 and £18.99 per month - for unlimited local and national calls, low international rates and features such as caller ID and voicemail.

VoIP companies are racing to make their services convenient and easy to use for customers. Skype, which offers VoIP phone service via a 'softphone' installed on a computer, has been working with third-party developers to give customers ways to make calls without being tethered to a PC. Siemens' Gigaset M34 USB adaptor, for instance, allows Skype users to place calls from a cordless phone.