Landline???

[Bosoxfan]

Hi all.I was in a discussion recently with some new residents about the need for a landline. Just wondering what you all think. Do you feel the need to have a landline? If so why? My wife and I haven't had a landline since we moved here 7 years ago and haven't missed it.We do however have a dedicated fiber optic line for our internet.

[village dreamer]

why have a hard line , cell phone does it all .

[Opmoochler]

Hi all.I was in a discussion recently with some new residents about the need for a landline. Just wondering what you all think. Do you feel the need to have a landline? If so why? My wife and I haven't had a landline since we moved here 7 years ago and haven't missed it.We do however have a dedicated fiber optic line for our internet.

We have only been here since Sept. but gave up the landline when we moved. We haven't missed it.

[Ecuadog]

Hurricane Sandy was probably, and hopefully, a once in a lifetime occurrence. In its aftermath, the only means of communication that we had with the outside world was our copper-wire landline. Nothing else worked. Nothing.

[N44125]

Cell phones only...no need for a land line.

[Madelaine Amee]

I guess we are very different from the rest of the world, we hate the cell phone world we have become. We have both, but only very few people have our cell; the majority of calls go to the landline and we get them if and when we want to.

[aninjamom]

I find it ironic that I was so upset about the cost of a landline (half the charge was taxes), and I pay 3 times that amount for a cell phone!
It is true: when a hurricane hits and everything else is knocked out - the land line still works. If you have a medical condition that might require emergency assistance during a storm, you might want to keep the land line.

[Cedwards38]

I don't see the need for the additional expense. We gave up the landline years ago, up north, before we retired, and I don't even think about one now.

[Fraugoofy]

What's a landline? Lol...

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[texasfal]

I will always keep my landline. I once worked as a telephone operator. A woman called one time while she was having a stroke. She could not talk could only make guttural noises. I was able to get ambulance to her because I had her address. If you have such a problem and cannot tell the 911 dispatcher your address, you're in trouble. Authorities can not pin point your address, only the cell tower you are closest to.

[jebartle]

Additional expenses for land line $20 a year (magic jack). Cell phone use is for emergency use or long trips only.

[photo1902]

I will always keep my landline. I once worked as a telephone operator. A woman called one time while she was having a stroke. She could not talk could only make guttural noises. I was able to get ambulance to her because I had her address. If you have such a problem and cannot tell the 911 dispatcher your address, you're in trouble. Authorities can not pin point your address, only the cell tower you are closest to.

Absolutely. The peace of mind of being able to dial 911 in an emergency, even if I can't speak (and can't provide my location), is worth the nominal fee to me. Cell phones take way too long to determine a caller's exact location, in the event you are not able to tell the call taker where you are.

[MrGolf]

Have two Magic Jack lines, one for business and one for home. Have had this for two years replacing our Verizon landlines. Initial cost was $39.00 each and annual renewal I believe is $20.00. Also have cell but prefer MJ when we are home.

[Dr Winston O Boogie jr]

We have two cell phone and no landline. We also have a Magic Jack that we only use so that my wife can call her family overseas. But with the advent of Skype and Facebook Video Chat we haven't used the Magic Jack in a couple of years.

[RickeyD]

I will always keep my landline. I once worked as a telephone operator. A woman called one time while she was having a stroke. She could not talk could only make guttural noises. I was able to get ambulance to her because I had her address. If you have such a problem and cannot tell the 911 dispatcher your address, you're in trouble. Authorities can not pin point your address, only the cell tower you are closest to.



A point many on here either ignore or fail to see. [emoji6]

[kstew43]

Get a Magic Jack.......connects to your internet.....free calls to anywhere in the USA.

Cost $50 a year and you can buy the device at walmart....and use your cordless and handheld phones.....911 service cost an additional $3.50 a year.

we also don't use cells, we have the old school flips. only for out of the house emergencies.

We discovered this 2 years ago......works great....

[2BNTV]

Call me old fashioned but having a landline feels good in my hand, just like a book. Vonage costs me $18 per month, with taxes.

I agree that if an emergency requires it, a landline is a good thing to have.

I hope no one finds this out, the hard way.

[784caroline]

Two issues with not having a landline and only a cell phone.

1) we live in Florida and do get hurricanes and tornados which can knock out towers for days. We lived in the Washington DC area when 9-11 happened...cell phones were useless..simply overloaded by users

2) For emergencies using a cell phone is fine as long as you know the address where you are located. Dont laugh for if you reside in the villages especially near a border between Sumter/Lake/or Marion Counties, you cell call can be redirected and precious time wasted. Then when it is connected, if you dont know your address they have to try and triangulate your call to come up with an address. EXAMPLE: WE were recently at Coconut Cove Rec center...someone fell and broke and ankle outside the rec center and 5 callers were made to 911. The Calls were directed to Lake County but then had to be redirected to Sumter county. What is your address please...no one knew except to say Coconut Cove Rec Center. Real Story...it took 20 minutes for an ambulance. Police and Fire truck to arrive for they had to triangulate the call (no address given) and went to Canal Street Rec center. They finally showed up 20 minutes after the initial call with no emergency lights. This could have been resolved if the Rec center person made the call from her land line. Our group had a meeting with the Fire Chief and he looked into the problem and acknowledged this can happen especially if you live near county borders or donot know the address you are calling from. You dont think about this situation until you live it.....trying to save a penny here is not worth the risk!!!!

[784caroline]

Two issues with not having a landline and only a cell phone.

1) we live in Florida and do get hurricanes and tornados which can knock out towers for days. We lived in the Washington DC area when 9-11 happened...cell phones were useless..simply overloaded by users

2) For emergencies using a cell phone is fine as long as you know the address where you are located. Dont laugh for if you reside in the villages especially near a border between Sumter/Lake/or Marion Counties, you cell call can be redirected and precious time wasted. Then when it is connected, if you dont know your address they have to try and triangulate your call to come up with an address. EXAMPLE: WE were recently at Coconut Cove Rec center...someone fell and broke and ankle outside the rec center and 5 callers were made to 911. The Calls were directed to Lake County but then had to be redirected to Sumter county. What is your address please...no one knew except to say Coconut Cove Rec Center. Real Story...it took 20 minutes for an ambulance. Police and Fire truck to arrive for they had to triangulate the call (no address given) and went to Canal Street Rec center. They finally showed up 20 minutes after the initial call with no emergency lights. This could have been resolved if the Rec center person made the call from her land line. Our group had a meeting with the Fire Chief and he looked into the problem and acknowledged this can happen especially if you live near county borders or donot know the address you are calling from. You dont think about this situation until you live it.....trying to save a penny here is not worth the risk!!!!

[quirky3]

Hi all.I was in a discussion recently with some new residents about the need for a landline. Just wondering what you all think. Do you feel the need to have a landline? If so why? My wife and I haven't had a landline since we moved here 7 years ago and haven't missed it.We do however have a dedicated fiber optic line for our internet.

I have an OOMA phone number as backup. The internet based service is free and I only pay $4. a month in mandatory government taxes and surcharges. It is not a land line but it is an additional way for me to call or be called if my cell phone is not working

[Ken24]

I hate having a landline and paying for it, we let everything go straight to the answering machines. That being said would not go without it. Wife is 911 dispatcher the time saved could be life or death they know your address right away. If you get cut off during call and they cannot reconnect an officer is going out to your residence. In a panic I want the police or medical personnel to know right were I'm at.

[villages07]

We have and will always have a landline, albeit VOIP from Comcast. You just can't beat the sound quality. I can always tell when someone is calling us on a cell phone from the crackling sound. We also have a medical device that requires a landline.


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[JoMar]

All the posts reflect the benefits of having choices. The decision points vary from safety to costs, we all have different priorities. Ya gotta love the free market. :)

[Fraugoofy]

A point many on here either ignore or fail to see. [emoji6]
Good point for sure. Keep in mind most up-to-date cell phones have tracking devices built right in and even your cell company or your insurance company can install an "extra" tracking device so you can be found in a medical emergency. Of course those of you who keep landlines make a valid point that in natural disasters, cell phones are as good as a rock in your hand. Love TOTV discussions...

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[obxgal]

Having lived on the Outer banks (hurricanes territory), our landline was the only means of communication at times.
Four days with out electricity, but at least we had a phone. Neighbors that had evacuated were able to keep in
touch so we could let them know what was happening and when they could return. We we're able to talk with
worried family members.
If we depended on the phones that hook up to our computer we would have been out of luck. No electricity/no
computer (batteries only last so long.)
Hubby can hear conversations better on the landline and like 911 being able to locate our address in case of emergency.

[buzzy]

Pretty simple. It's an ounce of prevention.
1) 911 identification (hopefully won't need)
2) service during storm with electrical outage (even if seldom)
2) backup when internet (ooma, magic jack, etc) is down

However: endless robo calls

[Carla B]

When the internet goes out, as did Comcast a few weeks ago, so do OOMA, Comcast phone, Magic Jack, Vonage, etc. A Century Link land line probably would not fail but the cost is high. I do think that Ooma, which we have, would direct 911 to the address listed on our account, at least I hope so!

[Shimpy]

For some reason I can hear better over landline then cell with my hearing aids. When home I use landline.

[ajbrown]

When we lived in Massachusetts I got tired of sending Verizon a check and Verizon Wireless a check so we disconnected from land line. We have been happy with that decision for many years (I forget how many)

Now, where I live in Mallory the signal is very good, but I understand people's opinions on cell phone clarity versus land line.

The biggest issue for me is that cell phones are half duplex, so we tend to both start to talk at the same time, back off for a random time and try again... like ethernet :)

[JerryLBell]

We own a house in the south end of TV that we are renting out until we can retire. The renters have complained about cell phone coverage with AT&T (which we currently happen to also have) so we're trying to figure out what service to go to when we make the move. Our current house in North Carolina has poor cell reception from every provider because it's in a bit of a valley (not an issue in The Villages!), so we're currently kind of forced to keep the land line.

Between the possibility of poor coverage and the idea that 911 dispatchers can't pinpoint your home's location from a cellphone, we are tempted to keep a landline. However, these days most landlines are really voice over IP (VOIP) through internet providers. If your internet provider goes down, you're without your "landline" phone.

[asianthree]

We travel with our landlines. Att we have big storms up north and wind shear. Cell don't work. We have gone 10 days with no cell service. Not good with ailing health

[biker1]

Call 911 with your Ooma service and tell them you are calling to verify what address they see. I have been down this road - you want to do this.

When the internet goes out, as did Comcast a few weeks ago, so do OOMA, Comcast phone, Magic Jack, Vonage, etc. A Century Link land line probably would not fail but the cost is high. I do think that Ooma, which we have, would direct 911 to the address listed on our account, at least I hope so!

[Ecuadog]

Just remember that if you do decide to have a CenturyLink copper-wire landline, for whatever reasons, have at least one corded phone in the house. The cordless phones will not work during a power failure.

[MinnieM]

The only phone that will work in a major storm is a landline phone. Also when you call 911 and you cannot tell the operator where you are it takes longer for them to locate you. It can only locate the nearest cell tower.

[buzzy]

Just remember that if you do decide to have a CenturyLink copper-wire landline, for whatever reasons, have at least one corded phone in the house. The cordless phones will not work during a power failure.

Yikes. Thanks for that reminder. Had one down south, must have lost it in the last move.

[dminotti]

It is a good idea to keep a landline. I'm sorry I gave up mine. If you lose electricity, you eventually drown out all the battery operated cell phones. With the old fashioned landline, your battery never dies and you never lose contact with anyone because it is hard-wired.