We all have mobiles, so is there really a point in keeping a landline anymore? It feels old-fashioned, but on the other hand, there’s something reliable about having a reliable phone number at home. Plus, some folks (like my grandma!) still prefer calling landlines.
Here’s what I’m wondering:
Cost: Is a landline cheaper than using my mobile for calls, especially local ones? Maybe there are bundled packages with internet and cable that make sense?
Features: Do landlines still offer any cool features these days? Voicemail? Call forwarding? Maybe some fancy call display options?
Reliability: Is home phone service more reliable than a mobile connection during emergencies or outages?
I’m curious to hear what other people are doing. Has anyone ignored the landline completely?
Most “landlines”, or phones in your home, are Voice over Internet Protocol (VOIP) and not a hard wired line. I am not sure, but I think the availability of actual hard wired landlines is going away and may not even be available in certain areas.
We have a VOIP phone just because my wife wants it so she can locate her cell phone when I am not around! We don’t give out the number and it hardly ever rings. But yes, it does have voicemail and other features. It is called OOMA Home Phone Service Plans: Compare Features & Pricing | Ooma
You also have to purchase the phones that plug in like a regular old phone with a phone jack.
I use the Panasonic Link2Cell Bluetooth DECT 6.0 Expandable Cordless Phone System with Answering Machine and Call Blocking. This device links your mobile phone to a base station and the base station routes your phone calls to multiple handsets scattered around the house. When I am home, I set down my mobile phone and use the handsets to make and receive calls. It works great and I only need one phone number.
I like having a landline through my Xfinity bundle after all these years… The cost is not really much and is handy when I want to get some of my calls done that way…Advantage for me is I have 4 phones scattered around my house to answer or talk on…
I used to have to have it with my old home security but don’t anymore… So I could ditch it but force of habit…
One plus for a VOIP phone is you can generally use it most anywhere in the world and have (for example) a U.S. dial tone.
I have an app on my cellphone that allows me to access my VOIP telephone number. So lets say I visit London. I can use WIFI to make calls using my U.S. number. I don’t know what it would cost to get a SIM card to call UK numbers from London, but with my VOIP number it costs me 7/10’s of a cent per minute. That gives me many, many minutes for the same cost as the initial SIM card cost and who knows what the cost per call is. I also can get text messages so can do 2FA if needed.
My calls back to the states is about the same cost and I have no idea what a U.K. SIM cost would be to call the U.S… So it is JUST LIKE BEING HOME except they have fish and chips.
Yes there might be higher costs to call certain numbers where I might need to call over there, but do have phone booths I hear for local calls. If nothing else, being able to answer my home phone in London as though I was home is a plus.
OK, so here is another example. My neighbor lives in a gated community. To enter you either use a dongle or you call the house and they respond with a touchtone that opens the gate. She lost her dongle and the HOA wanted her to pay lots for a new one. I configured a VOIP number and used the CALLED ID (CNUM) to route the call to a recording that sent the open code. When she drove up to the gate, she pressed her house ID, the system dialed her VOIP number and the touchtone code was sent back and the gate opened. Rather than a costly dongle, this cost her 80 cents a month for the number and a couple pennies a month for calls. Yes, if anyone visited her they could enter her house number and the gate opened, but she said she was not worried about that. STill, a nover use for VOIP.
The same company also has a conference call bridge option. We have a number assigned to us and an Automated Attendant that says to press 1 to leave a voicemail, etc. The hidden option we don’t mention on the recording will send the caller into the conference bridge.
Compared to a cellphone, we have many many more options and things like free Caller ID, free voicemail boxes (a boat load - if voice mail boxes were delivered by boat), lots of call blocking for free, lots of slots for black list and white lists and even the ability to direct calls based upon who is calling. So after dinenr we can automatically have calls go to voicemail but allow family to ring the phone after hours. Try that with a cell phone.