Keeping landline vs cell phone only

[Broheim]

in todays world of smart phones I can't quite understand how come nobody has come up with a standard protocol for sending preprogrammed information along with an emergency call, such as GPS position, common adresses (for cross reference with GPS), pertinent personal information, medical history (this would make more sense to host elsewhere and the phone simply linking to it), next of kin etc etc.
it's a relatively small amount of data that could be transmitted "analoguely" along with the call and be filtered out at the 911 dispatcher. the protocol should act more like TCP rather than UDP though, which does complicate matters a bit but I imagine something along the lines of the signal transmitted as packages and the reciever assessing package quality and signing for delivery of each package with a simple return signal that the smartphone can then filter out. this would make the system work as long as a call could go through, hell, the receiving system could probably piece the packages together in exceptionally poor signal conditions given enough datapoints to compare.

hmm I'm gonna give this some more thought.

 

[Uppsala9496]

Finally convinced the wife to drop the land line a few months ago.

 

[Thebobo]

what is a land line?

 

[KidNiki1]

no landline here for about 15 years running.

my daughter is getting old enough where she has friends calling her, but imo she isn't old enough to have her own phone yet, so i added a cheap basic cell to the plan and that's the 'home' phone.

 

[soulcougher73]

911 works without service, both cell and land line.

This. No need for actual service if 911 is all your worried about.

 

[clamum]

This. No need for actual service if 911 is all your worried about.

Really? I didn't know that. So I could go to Walmart and pick up a cheap phone, plug it in, and be able to call 911? Damn.

 

[ioni]

Not to mention, you slump over in the bathroom where's your precious cell phone?

Same place it always is while in the bathroom. My hand.

I've got hardwired phones in every room including the shitter.

Most people with land lines don't.

In the 8 years I've had a cell, I've never received a telemarketing (or similar, like a politician begging for a vote) call on it.

 

[spidey07]

Same place it always is while in the bathroom. My hand.



Most people with land lines don't.

In the 8 years I've had a cell, I've never received a telemarketing (or similar, like a politician begging for a vote) call on it.

Having a phone in the shitter was all the rage in the 90s.

You guys are still neglecting that in a power outage or emergency your cell phone will be worthless. I'd rather be prepared.

 

[mmntech]

I could use a VOIP service like Skype for everything. In Canada you can only use it for outgoing and Skype-Skype calls though. So I'd still need a cell or landline for incoming calls unless I get a pricey VOIP service through my cable provider. Sometimes I think the CRTC only exists as a lobby group for Ma Bell.

I still live at home so my parents have a landline. When I move out I'll most likely just have a cell for incoming ans local calls and use Skype for long distance.

 

[soulcougher73]

Really? I didn't know that. So I could go to Walmart and pick up a cheap phone, plug it in, and be able to call 911? Damn.

Looks like it depends if they cut the line totally off at your house or not. From a little bit of googling if you plug in a phone and have a tone then you can call 911. If its completely dead then its cut off at your house and wont work.

Worth a try with a used phone to test it out i suppose. Maybe borrow someones if you dont have one to test it.

http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20080819131218AAaWxtN

 

[BoomerD]

Really? I didn't know that. So I could go to Walmart and pick up a cheap phone, plug it in, and be able to call 911? Damn.

Yep. 9-1-1 always works for cell phones (if you have reception)...not usually land lines. and 6-1-1 usually does too.

Having a phone in the shitter was all the rage in the 90s.

You guys are still neglecting that in a power outage or emergency your cell phone will be worthless. I'd rather be prepared.

My landline phones are cordless...so in a power outage...they're worthless too...

 

[KidNiki1]

Having a phone in the shitter was all the rage in the 90s.

You guys are still neglecting that in a power outage or emergency your cell phone will be worthless. I'd rather be prepared.

unless my car is gone as well i can always charge it up in there if i absolutely had to have it charged/usable.


also, having a landline phone in the shitter has only ever been the rage for 'guys' who want to call their buddies about how big/smelly/awesome a shit they think they just took was.

 

[spidey07]

unless my car is gone as well i can always charge it up in there if i absolutely had to have it charged/usable.


also, having a landline phone in the shitter has only ever been the rage for 'guys' who want to call their buddies about how big/smelly/awesome a shit they think they just took was.

It's not the power that's the problem. The towers will be full. I went through it with a major power outage that lasted for a month. Cell service was useless and people couldn't get in touch with each other.

Me and my buddies were fine and used the our hard lines to locate more gas for our generators.

All it takes is the power to be out widespread more than a few hours for things to get really ugly.

 

[Blayze]

I work from home and still have a landline. Even if I decided to drop the landline I would only save around $10 a month on my bills (its bundled with internet service).

 

[kalrith]

You guys are still neglecting that in a power outage or emergency your cell phone will be worthless. I'd rather be prepared.

My internet and VOIP equipment is connected to a battery backup. Obviously it won't last forever, but if my power and cell phones went out at the same time, then I could still call the utility company or 911 for about 30 minutes.

 

[SunnyD]

Given I'm in the process of switching to VOIP...

i keep my landline for 2 reasons:
- 911

All US and Canadian VOIP providers legally require you to register an E911 location before you can make outgoing calls. This allows calls routed to your local PCAP to have your E911 information immediately and be routed accordingly.

- i dont want telemarketers/politians/charities to call me on my cell

Google Voice exists for a reason.

i give businesses my home # (ie: mortgage/credit card/doctors) instead of my cell.

Again, Google Voice.

so far in 10yrs i havent gotten a single telemarketer phone call on my cell and i've had the same cell #.

Same here.

to me that + 911 (just in case) is worth the $15/month for the landline.

Landlines go out too.

How about you?

As I said... I'm transitioning to VOIP. Why? Because I'm sick of paying ~$20+/month to AT&T for a service a barely use when I can do the same for $1.80/month.

 

[AnonymouseUser]

So I'd still need a cell or landline for incoming calls unless I get a pricey VOIP service through my cable provider.

You can get a pricey VOIP for ~$4/month plus ~$40 adapter from many other VOIP providers. I recommend Callcentric or voip.ms.

As I said... I'm transitioning to VOIP. Why? Because I'm sick of paying ~$20+/month to AT&T for a service a barely use when I can do the same for $1.80/month.

How are you only paying $1.80/month when e911 costs $1.50/month minimum?

 

[Dallascisco]

totally cell

 

[SunnyD]

How are you only paying $1.80/month when e911 costs $1.50/month minimum?

Anveo.com charges $0.80/month for e911.

And $1/month for the value rate plan. That's all I need.

I've been trying not to pimp their name because I don't want people to think I'm advertising them. I really just started using them a couple weeks ago to test them out. It's not like I'm handing out referral codes or anything (but if you want one, let me know ).

 

[AnonymouseUser]

Anveo.com charges $0.80/month for e911.

And $1/month for the value rate plan. That's all I need.

I've been trying not to pimp their name because I don't want people to think I'm advertising them. I really just started using them a couple weeks ago to test them out. It's not like I'm handing out referral codes or anything (but if you want one, let me know ).

That's actually really good pricing. I see that they are so new they don't even have a six-month rating on DSLReports yet. Let's just hope they can make a profit and stay around for a while. I recommend Callcentric and voip.ms because they are consistently ranked high in DSLReports' "The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly", including business VOIP accounts.

 

[SunnyD]

That's actually really good pricing. I see that they are so new they don't even have a six-month rating on DSLReports yet. Let's just hope they can make a profit and stay around for a while. I recommend Callcentric and voip.ms because they are consistently ranked high in DSLReports' "The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly", including business VOIP accounts.

Anveo, according to their website, has been in the VOIP business as long as voip.ms has (2006).

 

[AnonymouseUser]

Anveo, according to their website, has been in the VOIP business as long as voip.ms has (2006).

I wonder why they don't have many reviews then?

 

[SunnyD]

I wonder why they don't have many reviews then?

Could be that they only recently started a consumer facing offering? They may previously have only been volume/wholesale/business only.

 

[Sheep]

Having a phone in the shitter was all the rage in the 90s.

You guys are still neglecting that in a power outage or emergency your cell phone will be worthless. I'd rather be prepared.

In a major emergency, a landline isn't going to help you either if all police/fire/ambulance services are flooded with calls so you're still fucked.

 

[Stifko]

lol

Who has a land line besides old people?

I have a landline and use it often. sometimes when I get a call on my cell I call them back on my landline. The sound quality is much better. I also worry about the radiation from my cell phone. I have not gotten the hang of google voice yet either. I sound like an old person, eh?