My Telephone Land Line

should I keep it?

[lawman]

I'm trying to figure out why I still have a land line. 99% of the calls (or more) are robo telemarketers who all seem to know when I'm about to doze off or in the middle of a nap. Does anyone have a killer reason why I should keep it?

[creeking]

not sure, but can't you turn off the ringer and use callerID to see who called?

I think netzero still offers free dialup. :)

[incrediBILL]

We keep ours mainly for making emergency calls because 911 doesn't always work properly with all other services. Also, during major power outages the landline phones keep working because the phone company provides their own electricity.

If you live in a tornado or hurricane prone area it's easy to lose a cell tower and POOF! no phone service.

Plus, when the next big solar flare hits your cell phone coverage won't be worth a damn.

BTW, did you put your number on the national DO NOT CALL list? That keeps most of the crap off the phone. If it's a telemarketer the things I say will make their ears bleed, they never call back.

[lucy24]

use callerID to see who called

In my area, caller ID is another $7.95/month on top of the regular phone bill. Hardly seems worth it if you only receive three human calls a month.

If you have a physical answering machine attached to a physical telephone, you can see it blinking from across the room.

If the power is out, would you even be able to use dialup? My desktop computer requires house current; the iPad of course doesn't-- but it does require access to the wireless router, which likewise uses house current.

[engine]

Surely, you can use a call barring device. These simple plug-in units have two databases built in. If the caller doesn't match the number in the database, it rejects it, without your phone even ringing. It does work best with caller ID.

[creeking]

If the power is out, would you even be able to use dialup? My desktop computer requires house current

laptop with an internal or external modem should work - with phone line still working of course.

[lawman]

>>BTW, did you put your number on the national DO NOT CALL list?

Yep but Rachel with Card Member Services and a whole bunch of others who call either from spoofed numbers or from unknown numbers call anyway.

>>If it's a telemarketer the things I say will make their ears bleed, they never call back.

You must have some very timid telemarketers in your neck of the woods.

>>Surely, you can use a call barring device

So you create your own database (relatives, son's school, etc.)?

[engine]

>So you create your own database (relatives, son's school, etc.)?

Yes, and it rings your phone if any number in your friends list calls. Some of these plug-in devices come pre-installed with hundreds of the most common telemarketrs numbers. You can also block any number that is obfuscated. For example, telemarketers tend to obscure their number, so it's easy to block those.

[incrediBILL]

So you create your own database (relatives, son's school, etc.)?

It's basically bot blocking for phones the way I block bots. You whitelist your contacts and everything else rolls straight to voice mail. The only way to use a phone, email or website in this modern society under constant bot attack.

Back in the 90s at the peak of telemarketing hell we used an auto-attendant answering machine and screening service provided by PacBell for an extra $20/mo and it was worth it at the time as the calls were relentless.

Real people could get right through, the automated machines got bounced as they couldn't push a button to get past the auto-attendant.

There are machines you can buy for $100 or less that do the same thing that replace your answering machine.

If the power is out, would you even be able to use dialup?

Yes, until your laptop runs out of batteries or in some cases the phone line battery dies. Depending on where you live (rural areas, trailer parks, etc.) you may actually have a battery outside your house provided by the phone company which can only sustain a connection for a limited number of hours before needing to be recharged. I knew a guy that ran a BBS back in the 80s and it would just mysteriously go offline after being up about 10 hours solid and it turned out the battery for his phone line was running down LOL.

Just remember when the original phone network was installed some people actually got phone service before they had municipal power, another clue that phones supply their own power. The only time phone lines have a decent amount of power is in the winter when they crank up the juice to warm the lines enough that the ice melts off so they don't break.

FWIW, I'm not sure if a cable modem would work during a power outage as I have a UPS for my computer and could power it, but I'd need to power the router too, so instead I go wireless broadband (requires less power for 3G) in power outages and never tried the cable but I don't think it would work as I don't think they supply their own power like the phone company does. Another reason NOT to use a Cable company phone. Another reason is when the cable goes down, you can't call the cable company LOL. During a natural disaster situation everyone using cable phones are going to be screwed unless both the power and cable network are online.

Always consider your 911 options when buying a phone, it could be the most important decision you'll ever make for you and your family. For that reason I always have a landline, even if it's just a no frills emergency line, for the simple fact that it has the best chance of actually working in more instances than any other phone service.

TIP: Something most people don't consider during a power outage is the car is a rolling charging station with your power adapters for the phone, laptop, etc. just waiting to plug in! So if the batteries are getting low and you really need to get online after an extended power outage, head to the car!

P.S. I used to work in telephony for Rolm/Siemens and a couple of companies that provided services to the telecom market for about 8 years so I know just a little bit about how these things work. :)

[ken_b]

during a power outage is the car is a rolling charging station

And some newer cars have a built in 110 outlet.

[lucy24]

Always consider your 911 options when buying a phone

A 911 call on a land line goes to the local 911 entity (police or call center, depending on size of town) with automatic caller ID and hence exact location. In my part of the country, 911 calls from mobile phones go to {statewide law-enforcement agency widely considered to be the lowest of the low} and they then have to figure out where you are.

Do modern laptops still come with plugin modems? I was thinking everything's going wireless, so you've got better connectivity options with an older computer.

[incrediBILL]

Do modern laptops still come with plugin modems?

If it doesn't you can get a USB modem dongle for under $20.

[piatkow]

I have to keep my landline as the mobile signal isn't reliable enough and we don't have cable to our small village.

Emergency services work the same on this side of the Atlantic too. Even if they identify the mast that my mobile is connecting from I know from the phone's mapping app that its one about two miles away as the crow flies across the valley. My landline of course identifies the house, an important thing to keep in mind when you have had one heart attack already.

[blend27]

We cut the cord in 2002, I think...

[iamlost]

I suffered phone burnout two decades ago; it was years before a phone ringing didn't cause raging urge to throw the blasted thing at a wall.

As mobile coverage became reasonable I got one for car glove compartment emergency use and switched house phone to 'one ping only' (rather than 'off' :) and checked call display/answer device when felt necessary). Later added a call barring device, which worked great. Finally the phone and I were again on speaking terms. Absolutely recommend the system.

However, just moved to new more rural premises...and not a phone jack to be found. So had to invest in new mobile. And learn to cope with reception that varies by where in house or property one happens to be...

Yes, I would like a landline. But not enough to pay to have the line run in from the road and jack(s) installed.

[tangor]

I keep it simple. Landline is cheaper. So, I keep it.

(signed) Scrooge McDuck

That said, I might be one of the oddities:

I have no cell. I have no iAnything, so that might explain the above. It also means I'm "off the grid" so to speak.

[thecoalman]

I'm with you tangor, even when I was on the road all day I didn't have a cell phone. I knew where every phone booth was for a 100 mile diameter though.

As far as the robo calls I'm on the do not call list and combined with blocking blocked calls it's very rare I get any.

[piatkow]

As far as the robo calls I'm on the do not call list and combined with blocking blocked calls it's very rare I get any.

I am getting more and more of these (UK) despite TPS registration. I filter calls through the answerphone unless I feel like winding them up in which case I answer with my business name and ask then which department they want. I love they way they just can't cope with anything not on their script.

[lucy24]

I love they way they just can't cope with anything not on their script.

Caller: Can I speak to {my real first name}?
Me: Who's calling, please?
Caller, hastening to get foot in door: Oh, I can talk to you instead.

I did not ask who they imagined "you" was.

[tangor]

I have a funny with the robo calls (those that I check to see who they are before I block them):

Caller: May I speak to Elizabeth? (or other name)
Me: Which one?
Silence... then: The older one?
Me: They are both pretty old, one is 57, the other is 64. Which one?
If they get this far: The owner of the house.
Me: Neither owns it. Which one do you want?
Caller: Who pays the bills?
Me: That's Elizabeth.
Caller: May I speak to her?
Me: Which one?

This might go on a bit longer, frstration growing on their side, but I keep them on the phone as long as I can... If they are talking to me they are not bothering someone else, and their call quota, and consequentally their salary, gets munched.

After that I block the number.

[lucy24]

! ! ! I would never have thought of "which one" -- even though, as an undergraduate, I once lived in a house containing four Susans and four Lisas. (Also three Nancys, three Carols, and a few doublets that I've now forgotten.)

But if they get paid by the call, it's to everyone's advantage to hang up on them as quickly as possible. That way the owner makes less money, the employee makes more, and everyone's happy.

[tangor]

But if they get paid by the call, it's to everyone's advantage to hang up on them as quickly as possible. That way the owner makes less money, the employee makes more, and everyone's happy.

I don't know... most of these are sweat shops where it is "piece work) (successful calls) per hour... Might be different in other parts of the world, though robo callers never get tired...

[LifeinAsia]

But if they get paid by the call, it's to everyone's advantage to hang up on them as quickly as possible.

Disagree. If it was to their (company's) advantage to not waste time with people who aren't interested, they would adbide by the Do Not Call List.

I always assumed that the worker drones are being paid on closed deals. So they don't want to waste time on calls that won't close a deal. Rather than allow them to go on to the next mark, er potential customer, I try to keep them on the line as long as possible (if I have the time to mess with them).

Most of the time I'm too busy to mess with them, so when they ask to speak to whoever, I say "just a minute and let me get him," then just put the phone down while I go about my business. If they're still there after a minute, I'll say he's coming and please wait just a little longer.

[lucy24]

If it was to their (company's) advantage

I don't care about the company's advantage. I'm talking about the individual unskilled minimally educated human who's making the call. When's the last time you heard a child say "I want to be a telemarketer when I grow up"?

[LifeinAsia]

the employee makes more

I'm talking about the individual unskilled minimally educated human who's making the call

Why would you want to allow the unskilled laborer to make more money? That would encourage more unskilled people to become telemarketers, resulting in yet more calls.

[creeking]

Why would you want to allow the unskilled laborer to make more money?

maybe he's concerned about the telemarketer's self esteem and job satisfaction. :)