Our phones are not working

[golfgal]

Tried to make a call this morning to the school to let them know DS15 would be 15 minutes late because of an Ortho appointment and, nothing, no dial tone. I tried unplugging the phones to 'reset" them, didn't help. I went online to report the issue, they will have them fixed by 8:00 tonight. . Sure hope we don't need 911 today.

 

[MIGrandma]

I hate our house phone. If DH didn't need it for the fax machine for his job we wouldn't have it. Would be able to save about $100 month without it, darn it. And we have trouble with it so often. Just like you, no dial tone, or a very noisy line, full of static, snaps and pops. They "fix it", happens again, they "fix it", etc. DH got a little more stern with them last time and so far the "fix" has held better this time for some reason.

But they sure don't discount the bill when you're not able to use the phone, do they? Of course not. Did I mention, I hate our house phone?

So I understand your frustration.

 

[FireDancer]

I only have a home phone because bundling local with my DSL was cheaper then paying for a dry line DSL. I never use it. I have never given the number to anyone but it does dual ring along with my cell phone when my Google Voice number is called.

 

[golfgal]

I would love to get rid of the home phone too but we have DSL. Once DS17 goes off our cell phone plan we will probably us the extra cell line as our "home" phone if we can figure something out with the DSL. We have been here almost 5 years and this is the first time we have had problems.

 

[Oglet]

I would love to get rid of the home phone too but we have DSL. Once DS17 goes off our cell phone plan we will probably us the extra cell line as our "home" phone if we can figure something out with the DSL. We have been here almost 5 years and this is the first time we have had problems.

You can have DSL without a home phone, they just dont advertise it. You pay a bit more each month for the DSL service however its way less than the cost of having a home phone. (in most cases)

Also those of you who are only keeping your home phone for fax use might want to check out some voip services. You can now use fax machines with many of these services and can pickup service for as low as $10 a month.

 

[SOnotLayuh]

We have Vonage's 450 minutes for 17.99$ plan. We used to have their unlimited plan, which is $24.99, but we really don't need more than 450$ minutes. I would definitely recommend it - we've NEVER had an issue, it works with our security system, and the customer service is excellent. I also got my mother and father hooked (Dad uses it for his business and LOVES it)

I have some free 1 month trials available if anyone would be interested! Shoot me a PM

 

[bettymae1121]

I have to have a land line for faxing purposses...and the cheapes way for me to get it is to bundle it with my internet and cable tv. Fortunately I don't have the issues some of you have. Actually, I like it because the service I have (AT&T) I can block unwanted callers at no charge! I add telemarketers to the blocked list as the call (I can do it all online), and the difference is amazing! Since companies you have an account with are exempt from the Do Not Call list, I still got a lot of telemarketers calling asking if I wanted extra services. Not any more!

 

[safetymom]

I use www.myfax.com. No need to have a phone line for my fax. I like that it comes as an email so I can save them. No need for paper. It's very easy to send a fax from the computer also.

 

[disney1990]

Tried to make a call this morning to the school to let them know DS15 would be 15 minutes late because of an Ortho appointment and, nothing, no dial tone. I tried unplugging the phones to 'reset" them, didn't help. I went online to report the issue, they will have them fixed by 8:00 tonight. . Sure hope we don't need 911 today.

I assume by this posting that you don't have a cell phone? Did you try to plug your telephone directly into the box on the outside of your house? Sometimes that works.

 

[golfgal]

I assume by this posting that you don't have a cell phone? Did you try to plug your telephone directly into the box on the outside of your house? Sometimes that works.

No, we have cell phones. It is just easier to use the online help because I am hard of hearing and phones don't work so well for me.

Turns out that it was the phone line to our Digital Satellite Box was causing the problem.