Maybe It's Time to Lose the Landline?

The answering machine screens all calls and has for years (along w/caller ID - but numbers can be spoofed - like the time I was calling myself)...

As long as there is a child in this house, we will have a land line due to the safety net that is there the moment 911 connects - sometimes they know their address and can tell someone, but in case a child got flustered, they have that net there.

All the reasons you state for keeping the landline are exactly why I won't get rid of mine. I feel like it's easier/nicer for actually talking on than a cell phone is. The phone is just more comfortable for a long conversation.

I also think it's good to have a landline home for the kids in case of an emergency. What if they were home with a sitter and something happened to the sitter...they might not be able to unlock her phone to make an emergency call. Likewise, when you are out, you cannot easily contact them if needed.

I understand how annoying the telemarketers are, but I wouldn't get rid of my landline because of them.

I don't have a landline. Haven't had one in about 10 years. Everything was fine until last January when I had to call 9-1-1 on my cell and I got disconnected. And when I tried to call back, I couldn't get through. Luckily, I live five minutes from the nearest emergency room so I just drove there.

Just something to think about.

We have a landline (our security system uses it). But since we all have our own phones, nobody important calls on the landline. Thus we know that whoever DOES call our landline is most likely a telemarketer. We turn the ringer off and screen all calls. If someone leaves a message (hardly ever), Verizon sends us an email and we can listen to the message on our computer or cell phone. Never, not once, has there been such an urgent call that answering the landline would have been necessary. So, step 1) turn off your ringer, step 2)screen the calls if necessary.

I suppose at some point we'll get rid of the landline, but not yet...

Um, don't unplug the phone, just turn the ringer off and check for messages when you feel like it.
That's what I did in pre cell phone/pre do-not-call-list days when I was home all the time with little ones.

When my husband and I got married we both had cell phones and were moving to a new city, so we've never had a landline.

Our oldest is 9, and we are starting to consider how and when we will get him a phone. We currently have no need, I just know that the day will come, and I do better when I plan rather than react.

Honestly, because you are divorced and because you want the kids to be able to take a phone with them or stay home with a phone, I really would drop the landline and add a line to your cell plan. You can call it the "home phone" or the "kids' cell," but, as a mom, I would be absolutley ok letting my kids know that this cell is for certain situations and not their personal phone.

The upside of that is that you could allow the kids to give that number to their friends and not have it tie up your phone. You could keep it in the kitchen (or another location) at all times unless in use or unless you've given it to them while they walk somewhere. You get to set the boundaries.

Adding a line to your cell service is definitely something to consider.

ETA - I forgot you said you don't like holding a cell phone to your head. Lots of people agree. I use earbuds a lot. I also have a handsfree device. I have to use one of those in Illinois when I'm driving - it's the law. I actually love using them now and can't imagine trying to hold hte phone all the time. I also love listening to books on cd (ok, mp3) and will put the phone in my pocket and listen to them while I'm doing housework.

Get a hands free device or earbuds. You have to get the earbuds that have a built in mic, but they really work!

Does your phone announce the caller? Ours does. It's a computer so it doesn't always get it just right but then we don't have to get up to check the incoming number which makes it much less annoying. Maybe you could see if that service is available. I'd hate to not have a land line. I think the connection is just clearer. But you could use an ear piece instead of holding the cell to your head. I agree too much of that might not be good for us. An ear piece would at least solve that problem. We also have an old fashioned answering machine that lets you hear a message being left. We just bought it so they still make them. That's another way you don't have to leap up to check who is calling. If they start to leave a message and you want to talk to them, then you hop up and grab it. And turn down the ringer volume a lot. That should help too.

We took the plunge about 18 months ago, after having the same landline for over 25 years. I had pretty much switched everything to my cell phone, and my husband has a business landline in the house anyway although now he has started using his cell more and more. The functionality of a cell just can't be beat - once you wean yourself off the landline and the calendar on the fridge and a rolodex!

If you don't want a cell phone close to you head, then you use the speaker function and/or get a headset or set of ear buds with a microphone attached. I think some longer phone calls are not the problem - it's sleeping with the cell phone next to your head all the time, which some people do when they listen to music or use the cell phone as an alarm. But you can do that with it a few feet away from you with the phone on the night stand. I started keeping the cell phone next to my bed a few years ago when my elderly mother fell during a big northeast storm that caused the phone lines and power to go out for 5 days - her assisted living center called to leave a message, but our phones were out and I didn't hear a ring, obviously, or even get the message for a few days. Grrr….After that, I kept the cell phone with me all the time.

You get a few - very few - telemarketing calls on the cell, but I've been without a land line for all this time and have had maybe 20 of those calls. So it's definitely worth it.

As for the kids and their dad, you could consider a landline for just them (that you and Dad use) and which is severely restricted (like no long distance calls). To avoid the installation expense, talk to the phone company about giving you a new number on the existing wiring, and tell them it's for the kids and what kinds of limits can you put on that number not going out to telemarketers. Unlisted numbers are nothing new but you want to look at the costs involved.

Or you could get an extremely limited cell phone package that lets them call about 4 numbers (you, Dad, Grandma, the neighbor) plus always 911. No internet, no texting, no games that use up the data package, no nothing. They would have to keep it charged and keep it in a certain location of course - and if they don't, that's your perfect reason for showing them they aren't ready for their own cell phones anytime soon. If they ARE incredibly responsible with it, then you are training them for a few years down the road when it starts to look like a good idea/convenience to get them their own phones.

As for making appointments from the landline and filling out forms, why can't you do that from your cell phone? If you put it on speaker, it's not next to your head anyway - it's in front of your face a few feet away.

With the money you save by cutting off the landline, you could increase your minutes on your cell pretty easily. And you'd be rid of this big headache of unplugging, jumping up to see who's calling (and that's a habit that just has to be broken with the kids and their phone), etc. Reduce the number of rings too, so that things go to voice mail much sooner. A cell phone is so much easier to turn off and on than a landline. Just close it up or lay it face down so you don't see it light up every time someone calls or an alert comes in. And if you forget to plug your landline in for days at a time, then you are not really using it that much anyway. You're just attached to the security of it.

I think you'll find you can use the features of a cell phone much more efficiently if you work a little to learn what's there. And if you're watching a movie but waiting for a phone call, put the phone on vibrate and ONLY stop the movie to answer the call from that one person. Everyone else can learn to leave a message and wait for you to get back to them. 99% of those calls aren't urgent. You'll feel better if you prioritize better.

For charging in the event of a power failure, be sure you have a charger for the car - most cars have more than one plug-in for that - I have one in the console and an extra one under the glove compartment. With all the people who are plugging in GPS units and their IPhones for music, there are several ways to keep everything plugged in!

I also keep a charging cord in my laptop case. If I'm using my laptop at a library, coffee shop or any place where I have a business meeting, I just plug my phone into it, and it charges off the laptop battery or off the laptop charging cord (so I'm only using one electrical outlet).

Figure out a good way to keep your cell phone near you - special pocket in your purse, a belt clip, a wristlet style wallet that just holds phone/credit cards/license/paper money.

I think you'll enjoy the quiet!

I do not miss my land line at all. Once the kids had cell phones it just made sense to get rid of the land line. It had gotten to point where most of the calls we got were tellamarketers or debtors looking for my brother in law. We got rid of it 3 years ago and haven't thought about it since.

I have friends with only cell but their kids do have phones themselves. Of course, when they have the phone on vibrate and forget to change that setting and then don't have their phone right there to answer, missed call. I have a landline for your same reasons. I also have a phone that announces the caller. It is actually funny sometimes the way it pronounces things. If I miss a call, oh well, I can check it later. If somehting is important and someone cannot get me on the landline, they knpow to call my cell. My phone also has a block phone number directory. I have ATT Uverse that allows me to block calls from hidden number. I don't get "unknown" calls anymore. The caller gets a message that I do not accept unknown caller calls. Occassionally something gets through but it has really decreased.

For the DNC list, it is a joke.

We got rid of the landline a long time ago. Telemarketers were driving us nuts. I don't miss it a bit.

We still have a landline that comes in the bundle for our internet and cable.

I rarely use it.. only to sometimes send/receive faxes since I work from home and still, our main fax line is via EFax on the internet.

I have the ringer and answering machine turned off so I never hear it when it rings. That might not work in your case, tho.

Good luck!

I still have a landline, but I'm not barraged by calls on it the way you are. I get maybe an average of one a day. I'm still not ready to dump it, for various reasons. If I got a lot of calls I would just lower the ringer and let the answering machine or voicemail pick it up, which is usually what happens anyway.

My cell phone gets hot when I talk too long, the battery also dies.

Can you just turn the ringer off ow down?

My cell phone stays on vibrate all the time and while I am at work I turn the vibrate noise off too. At that point, it just lights up or I see the message that someone call when I look at it.

Have you considered going with VoIP tech for at home? It's what we finally did about a year ago. We actually use a service called Ooma, but there are multiple ones you can choose from. Ooma was recommended by that Clark Howard guy, and some other people I know also had it and said it was great. So we did it.

You initially pay like $150 for the equipment (a box, sort of like a base/modem) and if you want to keep your same home phone # there is a fee (I think it was like $50) with the phone company to port it over. You just have to have internet service at home (we have ours through DSL with AT&T, and I can't stand AT&T... but we don't have choices here, really, we're rural).

After the initial 30 days of getting things switched over (it takes a few weeks to get the number ported, etc) then you are done. Disconnect from the landline. The only downside is that if you lose internet (or it cycles on/off) you can drop calls. But that's happened to me like once, in a year's time. And 911 doesn't work quite the same way. And you must have power at home to have phone service (sort of like if all your home phones are cordless you must have power...but with a regular wired phone plugged directly into a phone jack you don't need power... with this, you lose service if there is no power).

But it only costs about $4 a month. Yes. FOUR dollars. And you can go online (from anywhere) to see what calls you've missed, to see a log of who called in or out, for how long, and all sorts of other features (forwarding to your cell phone for instance). You can also TAKE IT WITH YOU when you go on vacation. (we haven't done that, b/c we just use our cell phones). But you could if you wanted.

We found it was a nice compromise between cutting the home phone completely and keeping a landline. There is a home line (so guests don't have to borrow somebody's cell phone if they want to make a call), but it doesn't cost $60/m to maintain. AND, they filter out a ton of the solicitors. The known ones. Then, you can block numbers just like you can on your cell phone. No middleman or extra charge to do so. Just pull up your account online, look at the call (marketing, Obamacarehotline, whatever) and click "block" and it's blacklisted for you). As many numbers as you want. :)

Couldn't be happier.
We did finally provide all family members with cell phones, but not specifically b/c we cut the "landline"... more b/c of extra--curricular activities outside the home.

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By the way, the Ooma system allows us to continue using our exact same phones from before. The Ooma just plugs into the system in the circuit in between the modem (internet) and the phone. So I still have (and use) my previous base set answering machine, and all the plug in hand sets all over the house. I can program different ring tones for different people (much like cell phones) but it uses the same hand set as before. If you have a really old landline that may not be the case for you, but I'm going with the odds and saying you have a base unit and wall plug in handsets like most people and it would work just fine.
And the phone sound quality is practically the same as a landline. I can't tell any difference. Either using it at home, or talking to my husband on it when HE is the one at home.
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http://www.ooma.com/

We just bought new landline phones. We make a lot of international calls, and with vonage, it's free. It was so great to tell my visiting niece she could call her mom and talk for as long as she wanted. You can't do that with a cell phone unless you use an app, and it just isn't the same to me. I cannot cradle my cell and do house work.

I don't understand why you get so many calls. My phone rarely rings. I'd do the do not call list again. I'd just silence it when you want privacy.

I keep my land line because I need a way to call 9-1-1 when I don't have cell service or when I just don't want to talk to people on my cell for extended times.

I think having a land line isn't too bad.

I suggest you put in ear plugs or wear some ear buds when you don't want to hear the phone ring, or turn the volume on the ringer down. Forgetting to turn it back on isn't working evidently.

By putting ear buds in you can listen to white noise or soft music or something else. Of shut the door to your studio and turn on the radio. If constant noise bothers you turn the volume on the land line phone nearest you down and leave the other ones turned to a moderate tone.

I think this might be a sensory issue too. I'd keep the phone and adjust how I interact with it.

We dropped the landline several years ago and don't miss it.... at that point, we were just having it forwarded to one of our cell phones.

BTW.... hubby is 63 and I am 58.... we don't miss having a landline at all!! We each have our own cell phone.

my kids are too young to be walking to the library alone. so thats does not factor in for me. but we gave up our landline and don't miss it. all the calls were going to my cell before we dropped the landline so not having 800# calling its quiet.
if you are worried about having a cell to your head for lond periods then invest in a headset or put it on speaker. and you don't have to have the phone on your head. i am usually doing things when someone calls and i politely tell them that they are on speaker and may hear other noises.

We keep the landline for some of the same reasons you do - we use it on all those forms that ask you for your phone number (grocery store cards, online purchase forms, etc). The pizza delivery guy uses it because it's linked to our address. Our security alarm uses it. The kids or a babysitter could use it to call us in an emergency. And, with our TV/internet bundle, it costs the same to keep it as it would to get rid of it.

Plus, I figure if I start writing my cell number on forms, that number will get on a list that will get sold to someone for something, and then all those robocalls would start coming to my cell phone. I would really hate that.

So, I keep it but just turn the ringer off.

My son has a friend who does not have a land line. It is really difficult for him to call his friend to chat or make plans. He has to try moms cell and dads cell and sometimes the babysitters cell. The result is my son prefers to call his other friends first and this boy often misses out on the fun. I have a friend who doesn't have a landline and I just avoid talking to her on the phone at all. I can't stand talking to people on cell phones. When someone calls me on a cell I ask them to call me back when they get to a proper phone.

We use no mo robo (https://www.nomorobo.com/) Which I mentioned before. If the phone rings twice, it's someone identifiable. If not, we've learned to ignore it. You could also turn the ringer off during the day and let everything go to voice mail til you are ready to answer calls. We keep our landline because we have a young child and have lost cell service in emergencies (like during an extended power outage). We feel safer with it, even if it's no longer our primary number. We also tell companies and charities to take us off their list - we are not interested. My DH has gone so far as to tell charities that he did contribute in the past, but now they are harassing him and if they call him more than twice a year, he'll never contribute again. Or if it's a paid charity call (you can usually tell by the phone bank noises), he just asks to be taken off the list.

You mention liking to call the kids if you are out, so it sounds like you need to figure out how to silence the phone when you need the quiet. Give the schools your cell phone as a primary number and turn the ringer off during the day, IMO.

Why does it freak you out to use a cell phone for long periods of time? That alone would be a reason not to get rid of a landline, if that bothers you.

All that said, a lot of your questions seem to be about controlling things in your environment, or the inability to control them, and various anxieties. Have you considered seeking help to process things like interruptions to your day or life, especially those you cannot predict or control? The symptom may be irritation at the phone, but the cause may be deeper. Cell phones ring, too.

We got rid of our landline years ago - I can't even remember how long, maybe 6 years? A long time. Our oldest has a phone, but we are so often all together that it isn't needed for anything else. Our kids have iPads, so they can facetime or iMessage us, it works perfectly. Maybe you could get a family iPad and they could use that? Or you could have that if they are out? I vote for no landline.

If it is free keep it, but do not give the number ou and silence the ringer.. If it costs money, but you all have cell phones drop it.

We dropped our land line years ago because we all had cell phones. But we moved a few months ago and our new cable company gave us a free land line. My husband was at a garage sale and in the "free pile" was a really nice cordless phone, so he brought it home and hooked it up..

I have no idea what the number is. Every once in a while it rings, but I never answer it. Looks like solicitors. Each time I have watched my husband answer it, it is a wrong number..

I've been cell only since 2005. Got the kid her own phone when we went cell only - she was 15. Put strict limits in her use of it.
If you don't want to add lines for kids, consider cheap pay as you go phones for them.

i'd love to, but our cell service is just too sketchy out here.
khairete
S.

We have a landline. I like having it. I use that number to give out to companies. I NEVER answer it. I probably have 20 messages on there. All BS calls. I listen to the messages every few days or once a week.

I just like knowing I have it. When Hurricane Ike hit, our cellphone towers were down. I had the landline so people could reach us and I could get in touch with our daughter who was away at college. To me, its security.

We have Vonage as most of our family lives abroad. We pay approx $30 a month and all calls to UK And Canada are free. They are other countries. Ooma seems similar but I have not checked into that.