Anyone still have a landline?

[Mouseless2Long]

I'm getting close to the end of my introductory package deal for cable and phone and looking to cut costs. I will undoubtedly cancel the movie package and was thinking that it might be cheaper to add another cell phone line to my wireless service and cancel my house landline phone.

I don't want to use my current cell phone number. Want to keep that just for personal calls.

Has anyone done this? If so, any regrets?

 

[Mrs. Bradbury]

I still have a land line for two reasons - I'm not ready for my 11 year old son to have a cell phone, and he needs to be able to contact me when he gets home from school and I'm at work; and secondly, I hesitate to lose reverse 9-1-1 capability in the event of a catastrophe. It's my understanding that cell phones can't do this.

All I have is local service on my land line, for ~$24/month.

 

[englishteacha]

We have a land line. My husband runs his business from our home and needs a reliable phone. We've lived here 7 years and it's only the past month when a cell phone would get a signal here, anyway.

 

[monsterkitty]

We still have a landline because of 911. While you obvously can call 911 from a cell phone, they cannot use their system to find your address quickly if you are not able to give that information. Also, your cell cannot receive the reverse 911 calls.

We would rather pay the extra $25/month knowing that a landline can help protect us.

 

[akcire]

Reasons for a landline: 911, DSL, security system, home phone is more comfortable to hold for long conversations than cell phone and I hate ear piece blue tooth things.

That said, we make no outbound phone calls unless they are to toll free numbers, we have done this for about 3 years. This works for us and costs us less than $200 a year.

 

[pixie921]

We have a land line for all the above reasons. In fact, regarding 911, I just read an article about a woman who died waiting for an ambulance because there was no land line in her home and her young son was unable to give their address.

Also, my brother and his wife have been cell-only for years and it drives the rest of us crazy. Half the time the calls don't go through, or they've stuck their phones somewhere charging, or they forget to take them when they go out, or we just end up calling at an awkward time (i.e., they're out to dinner or at a friend's house or something like that). If they had a land line, at least it would go through and we could leave a message in any of the above scenarios.

 

[slipheramickey]

But, it's only bc our home security company requires it. We went years w/o a landline, tho, and had no regrests. Easy way to save $30/mo.

 

[dizneechic]

We also have a land line, I am one who might use my cell 2x a month at best. We have the land line for the kids to chat with friends (my 8 y/o loves the phone) and so we have the ability to call 911 (and they see where the call was placed from).

A lot of people we know have gone the cell only route and only 1 changed back to having both. In our community you can register your cell phone to receive the reverse 911 calls so that's not a deterrent here.

Something else to consider if you want 2 different numbers but only wanted 1 cell phone is google voice. You register (free) and it basically acts as a voice mail or call forwarding service and you get your own number for it and can send that direct to VM or to any other phone you choose. It also translates messages left on VM to your email inbox. We use our GV number for things where they ask for a number and you don't want then to have your real number (ie when I run something for the school and it gets published everywhere, it's easier for me to call people back than deal with random calls when I am busy), it's been great so far and it's free.

 

[hpkalika]

I have always kept the land line. I guess I am atypical, because I rarely use the cell phone and do only keep it for emergencies. My husband and I share 550 minutes and never come close to using them. The land line doesn't cost me that much to keep.

 

[GoofyMomInOhio]

Yes for a few reasons. We have a package that costs about 50 a month that includes local, long distance, voice mail, call waiting, etc. Our families are all out of town and I call my Grandma almost everyday. I love that I can talk for hours to her (she is by herself) and not worry about minutes or a bill. We still have dial-up internet. DSL just became available about 2 weeks ago on our street and is about 2x what we are paying. We don't have cable and don't need or want it. I like knowing that I don't need to charge my phone or worry if there is an emergency. It works for us.

 

[NCRedding]

Due to the way our house is constructed, we only get decent reception in two rooms in the house. Until the service gets better, we're keeping the landline.

 

[floydfamily4]

We still have it for the alarm service and the cost. When I priced out keeping our cable internet (which I need for business and write off), our cable tv (the difference btw taking away what we need and what we want was minimal) we just didn't save enough to take away the convenience. My entire family is out of state so I like having unlimited local and long distance and can talk as long as I want. Good luck making a decision. I just spent last month going through every bill and saved quite a bit changing car and home insurance, and cell phone plan. This month its the utilities I'm working on to save some money. Wish me luck!

Dawn

 

[sk!mom]

I have always kept the land line. I guess I am atypical, because I rarely use the cell phone and do only keep it for emergencies. My husband and I share 550 minutes and never come close to using them. The land line doesn't cost me that much to keep.

DH and I are the same. A landline is much cheaper than a cell phone. Our landline only adds $25 per month to our cable/internet package and includes unlimited long distance. We both use Virgin Mobile for cell phones and rarely use them. Basically only so that we or DD can contact us when we're out. We have to add $20 every 3 months so our cells cost us a little less then $7 each per month.

 

[dakcp2001]

I have actually had to call 911 in the middle of the night before, and if I had to dig to find my cell phone I would have been in trouble.

I actually prefer the landline for talking too, good reception and more comfortable. I am one of those that uses my cell phone only when absolutely necessary. I hate the cell.

Something to consider, if you have small children and ever have babysitters over,a landline could be important in an emergency. Can you count on your babysitter to keep their phone charged & know where it is at all times? IN a panic situation will they remember your address?

If something happens to you, and your kids need to call 911, will they know where to find your cell phone? WIll they know how to use it?

 

[marshallandcartersmo]

what are reverse 911 calls?

 

[PigletsMommy]

We just got a landline. I have been without one for around 4 years. We had a baby this year & decided it would be best to have one if a babysitter ever needed to call 911. I used to work for a 911 call center and you wouldnt believe how many people never know where they are at, even if its their own home. It seems that when faced with an emergency, a lot of people's mind goes blank.

Other than that we had to switch to DSL, its the only internet offered in our new neighborhood, so we needed a landline for that.

 

[treboats]

Something to consider, if you have small children and ever have babysitters over,a landline could be important in an emergency. Can you count on your babysitter to keep their phone charged & know where it is at all times? IN a panic situation will they remember your address?

If something happens to you, and your kids need to call 911, will they know where to find your cell phone? WIll they know how to use it?

That's exactly why we have our landline our oldest has seizures and I would hate for the babysitter not to be able to get a hold of us or 911 if they needed to because they could not find a phone or it wasn't charged.

 

[dakcp2001]

what are reverse 911 calls?

Reverse 911 means that if you call 911 from the landline, they can trace the call back and see on their screen your address even if you are unable to speak. If you are too hurt to speak, do not know the address etc etc they can still see immediately where you are to send help. Cell phones can only be traced to the closest tower which gives them an area, not an address.

 

[sherry7]

Reverse 911 means that if you call 911 from the landline, they can trace the call back and see on their screen your address even if you are unable to speak. If you are too hurt to speak, do not know the address etc etc they can still see immediately where you are to send help. Cell phones can only be traced to the closest tower which gives them an area, not an address.

Just to clarify....911 service (in most areas) will automatically do the above when you are calling from a land line. So, if you call 911 and can't speak, panic and can't remember your address, a young child calls, etc, the 911 dispatcher will still know where to send an ambulance, police car, etc.

On the other hand, not all communities have Reverse 911 at this time. Here's the Wikipedia definition of Reverse 911: Reverse 911 is a communication system that allows emergency services to quickly contact members of a community or organization with information. It is so named, because 911 is the telephone number used for members of the community to communicate with emergency services (police, fire, EMS) in the USA. This system allows emergency services to do the "reverse", usually to inform the public of a known hazard. Reverse 911 is designed to provide map– or list-based communications with key audiences. Geographic calling zones are created based on immediate circumstances (e.g. Amber Alerts) or ahead of time based on anticipated needs (e.g. flood plains). Reverse 911 may also target specific lists of people (e.g., first responders, Neighborhood Watch, etc.) Reverse 911 is used in hundreds of communities, counties, commercial businesses, schools and non-profit organizations. The system has been used to solve and prevent crimes.[1]

Disclosure : I work for Verizon (Landline) in the department that does 911 addressing for my state. This info is used for both inter-company purposes, and we also contract out the info/work to most counties and cities. Everyday I see the amount of work that goes into providing this info to make sure you and your family receive accurate 911 addressing. In short...we save lives, because without our service the emergency vehicles have much less of a chance of making it to your home correctly. If you're using a cell phone to call 911, that protection disappears. Most cell phones do have GPS capability, but it's only accurate to a few hundred yards...which means the emergency vehicle will probably end up at the wrong house.

In the end, it's a personal decision...is insuring the safety of your family worth approximately $20 a month to you?

 

[dvcgirl]

We still have one as my DH works from home. He'll be on conference calls for hours with with West Coast office and so we need it. His company pays for our landline and our high speed internet. If he was in a different work situation we'd drop the land line immediately and keep the high speed internet.

As it is all of our family and friends call us on my cell phone number. So, that's essentially become the "house phone".