Within minutes, he heard a dial tone—not the expensive, old-fashioned kind, but the sound of modern . He made his first call to his sister across the country; the audio was so sharp it felt like she was in the room. By the time the storm cleared, Leo had ported his old number over and officially "cut the cord" on his traditional phone provider.

He powered it up and waited for the status lights to turn solid.

He wandered into the networking aisle, where he found the . It was small, sleek, and promised to turn his high-speed internet connection into a crystal-clear phone line for a fraction of the cost. A blue-shirted employee confirmed it was a "plug-and-play" solution, so Leo grabbed the last one on the shelf. Back home, the setup was a breeze: He connected the Vonage Box to his internet router . He plugged his existing cordless phone into the adapter.

The rain lashed against the windows of Leo’s home office, but the storm inside was worse: his landline bill had just spiked again. Fed up, he drove to , the bright blue-and-yellow sign acting as a beacon of hope for his budget.