Do you like not having a landline?

[robinb]

This event happened 2 years ago. Not all phones have GPS on them. I over see 100 cell phones for my office and they do not have GPS on them. We had a social worker take a group of kids on a camping trip and they got lost. They called 911 here in Cleveland and they were no able to locate them via GPS because as it turns out our phones don't have GPS

Well, then maybe one shouldn't go to cell phones only without a phone with GPS . And no, GPS isn't perfect but it's pretty darn good at locating your phone (and therefor you).

 

[iheartmickey1111]

maybe so, but that is VERY expensive insurance..... think about it, I have to pay 40+ a month for a landline that gives me NOTHING (no LD,nothing) for the off chance that 911 might need that address..... that's over 500.00 per year. I see what you're saying but the rest of are saying we were tired of being ripped off. sorry,I'm going OT....

Wow, you don't think your LIFE or a family members life is worth that? I am speechless....

 

[hsmamato2]

Wow, you don't think your LIFE or a family members life is worth that? I am speechless....

ummmmm..... I didn't say that- having 'insurance' isn't going to guarantee my family's safety or health...it is just a buffer sometimes when you need it,IF you need it. I value my family at way more than any monetary value, but I'll take the odds with my GPS enabled phones,is all I'm saying. And no,I don't think having a landline is much buffer against harm. I can say this assuredly after losing power for 10 days, and having to rely on other ways to 'stay safe' and connected. The landlines failed,TWICE in a row. that's enough to tell me they are no longer that 'lifeline' we used to think of.... let's be serious here...

 

[momof3ds]

I'm happy with a security system and no landline.

And, apparently, if you have a phone over a VOIP line, you can still have issues calling 911.

 

[robinb]

Wow, you don't think your LIFE or a family members life is worth that? I am speechless....

Holy hyperbole Batman!

 

[iheartmickey1111]

Seriously people, calm down! LOL! All I'm saying is most people don't stop and think about emergency preparedness when evaluating ways to save money so I was simply giving you food for thought. By all means, you need to do what you need to do, but don't get all cranky-pants on someone for trying to give you a different perspective. Relax!

 

[OklahomaTourist]

I'm getting ready to put together precisely this setup.

I've ordered an OBI100 VOIP-Telephony interface box and plan to port my landline number (eventually) to Google Voice, and then set up a subscription to one of the services that provide e911 service for somewhere around $0.80-$2.00/month. If all goes well, this will enable me to save over $500 per year in phone expense and allow me to keep my "traditional" phone number while using all my regular POTS handsets in my house.

We'll see how it all goes.

 

[jodifla]

It's kind of dangerous NOT to have a landline and as an ex cop and ex 911 dispatcher, let me tell you why:
In the event there was some kind of emergency that you could not speak or speak well enough to tell the 911 dispatcher where you lived (choking, intruder, altercation,etc.) you would pretty much be screwed. On a landline, your address pops up on their computers automatically, so even before you can confirm your address, that dispatcher will have someone already on the way to your house. However, with a cell phone, you need to be able to tell them where you are because no address will automatically pop up. In the event that emergency services needs to use the GPS feature in your phone to find you, it's a time consuming process. So especially for examples like the ones above, it's actually pretty dangerous not to have a landline. With a landline though, even if you dial 911 and hangup, when they call you back if you don't answer, again, they WILL send someone out to check on you. When this happens with a cell phone, they try to call back and if you don't answer, they just assume it was a mis-dial. A lot of people probably don't think of things like that when considering whether or not to keep their landline, but hopefully you all will now!

Yes this is why we've kept our landline. Another reason is, the sound quality is much better on the landline for doing interviews. Cell phones also lose service, unlike landlines.

During storms, cellphone towers are often not operational. We still have and old-fashioned landline phone that works when the power's out.

 

[hsmamato2]

Cell phones also lose service, unlike landlines.

During storms, cellphone towers are often not operational. We still have and old-fashioned landline phone that works when the power's out.

seriously...snopes needs to do a story on this,it's not true in places like my town anymore. Anywhere they now use those giant all in one service boxes attached to poles, they run on batteries. when the batteries die after prolonged outage,those boxes die. within 1-2 days.The landlines no longer go through. This used to work,and I'm telling you in all seriousness, right up until our 2 major outages that were both over a week,I ditched the landline. For this reason. I still have my cute little corded phone that we foolishly had on hand for this reason. doesn't work.
*** I can charge my cell in the car,and use it in an outage easily. *** the cell towers backup lasted well over a week before we started having call issues.

 

[ExPirateShopGirl]

I switched from a traditional land line to Vonage a couple of years ago. I really wanted to give it up but still had a kid at home and so many people had that number; doctors, dentist, orthodontist, repair persons, schools, etc.

Vonage is so cheap and so handy that, even without kids at home, I'm keeping it. I love the fact that voicemails are automatically transcribed and sent to my email that I retrieve on my iphone. When I need the crystal clear connection it's there. The phone number is registered with the e911 and lists our address so responders know where to go if we ever need to call 911.

 

[gina2000]

I'm heavily in the minority. I love my landline. I reach for it first unless I'm not in the house. I love the sound clarity. And I love 911 and reverse 911. It makes me feel safer.

My husband thinks I'm insane. But he goes along with it despite the cost.

We lost power for 11 days with Sandy. I carried my landline around and plugged it in whatever room I wandered into. I didn't have to worry about charging it. It just worked....and I didn't have to worry about it running out of power or losing signal while I yelled at the electric company.

 

[OklahomaTourist]

I'm in the final stages of ditching the phone line. I wired up an OBI100 ATA device to my home network, and configured it with an existing Google Voice number in about 10 minutes. Call quality is awesome. Disconnected my landline provider at the outside jack, plugged in the OBI to a wall port, and I had ALL my regular analog phones with dialtone working perfectly.

All that's left is to get my home number ported to my cell provider, and then from my cell provider to Google Voice, and the fund my 911 service provider account for a year's coverage ($1.25/mo) once the number is ported. My net savings should be $42.75/month, or $513 a year. Good grief.

After testing three-way calling, call waiting, call forwarding, and voicemail through my existing Google Voice number, I felt foolish for having spent $44/mo for as long as I have knowing its been around for a while. And even if Google goes the pay route near, there are plenty of VOIP providers out there to choose from, so I think its a win-win for us.

 

[mnasf]

Our community emergency response team (CERT) taught us that we need a landline in case of emergency. If we were to have a bad earthquake, cell towers wouldn't work. They said in fact the first calls allowed out would have to go to another state so we are supposed to have an out of state emergency contact. That's how family could find out if we are okay. But you have to have a corded phone for that purpose because chances are there'd be no electricity. We've also had some circumstances in our area where a cell call to 911 sent the wrong area ambulance. I know that these are extreme chances.

I imagine lots of people have given up their landline and just use their cellphones.

I don't think we can because we have a package with the Cable company and the landline is included. But I need to check into that.

 

[teCh0010]

I ported my number to Ooma. $4.58 a month, we have been super happy with it. The cost is the 911 fees and taxes so it will be different in each area.

 

[jwfla422]

Very interesting thread. I've been thinking of dumping my landline for some time now because AT&T constantly screws up our bill and I'm so tired of spending countless hours on the phone in their horrible phone system several times a month. No one can seem to get it straight which has been going on for 6 mths now!!

MY concerns though, first and most importantly is internet service...they all require landlines except for the hotspot type which are more expensive and are tiered priced depending on the plan (like a cell phone)...second we have an alarm system as well but they have a cell option which of course requires the purchase of the cell system and increases the monthly bill. But, our internet lately goes down a lot and its so frustrating!! The main competitor (Comcast/Infinity) is not a whole lot better.

So what do you do?? As far as a landline NOT going out after a storm, etc, ...it sure does...landlines will die after a certain amount of time because when the system is out it is also backed up by a battery, when that dies its gone. We know this after power outages from hurricanes. Also the best way during that time was to text even if you couldn't get phone service with your cell however I haven't tried this with the 3G/4G networks so it may have changed.

The biggest factor for us is internet, what to do??

 

[Luvchefmic]

When we hit bad financial times in 2008 like so many others we had to eliminate many things slowly we had to eliminate more finally in 2010 I gave up the landline (which also gave me the internet) I live in a very rural area. Cellphone service iffy at best Thank God we are slowly recovering financially and this past Jan I got the phone & the internet back I will NEVER give them up again, you will have to pull the "real phone" (ok I am a child of the ,60s ) out of my cold dead hand

My 82 year old aunt can now hear me again crystal clear which is an added bonus

 

[CarolineB]

I have a landline because I have a child in the house -- I don't give out the phone number or accept incoming calls on it but it's there for emergencies for DS9.

 

[Gina-Gina-Bo-Bina]

We got rid of our landline more than 5 years ago. Don't miss it at all- no more telemarketer calls or monthly bill for a phone we never used. All 3 of us have our own cellphones.

This . We have been landline-free for a year and a half. Wish we had made the change sooner.

So nice that people can contact us directly now. If MIL wants to talk to DH ('cause why would she ever want to talk to ME? ) she can call DH directly. No more lost messages, no one forgetting to convey information to someone else. Our cells are a much better value for our money, so much more useful!

 

[manning]

I have heard 911 cannot always find you with a cell ..is that true?? What If you have a power failure and a dead phone ??

True here. 911 is set up to route to county sheriff dispatch with cell. You have to tell them which dept you want. they then reroute the call. We have three different fire districts for our city. Land line routes to a different center that can target your location. I have heard the situation is being worked out. Won't drop the land line until they do.

Once I forgot about it and called 911 on my cell. I told them immediately I wanted our XYZ police. They wouldn't transfer until I described the situation. When they rerouted I had to again describe the situation. What a waste of time.