No. Sorta? Define "landline". I have an asterisk based PBX and VOIP from an ala carte VOIP provider. We have an auto attendant that answers the phone. It foils 99% of all telemarketers and robocallers.
@Headly@lumpthar Yes, it is. A land line via VOIP. It would be like if I said "Ha! Cell phone!?! I have a Republic Wireless tablet (my MOTOX) that makes VOIP calls, cell phones are so 2013.
@sykl0ps I built my PBX on Asterisk. Right now I use ClearOS which is a router/server that sits on top of CentoOS. I use a package called iPlex that is an asterisk plugin for ClearOS. I am moving to use PFSense for my firewall and a package called Kerio operator for my PBX.
@Headly Thanks for the info, I want to look into that. I've wanted a "This call may be recorded" type of message with them having to dial-thur as an acceptance.
I use an OBi with Google Voice via VOIP (free) in home and office and that is as close as I come to a "traditional" line (well, it uses "traditional" handsets). No traditional POTS line (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plain_old_telephone_service) going on eight years now. I don't miss it.
No "I use handsets, but only via VOIP because I'm cheap like that" option? Multi-handset phones are the way to go if you use an Ooma or something similar at home.
Exactly. I have no landline, but I have a local # on voip 100% free (I have to tell you that...) so I do still use this type of phone. But I'm not buying this one.
I have a land line. Sounds so much more clear than cell phones. Also never drops a call or breaks up. I also have two with regular handsets that I really like. Talked to someone for 5 1/2 hours recently without getting tired of holding it.
@pooflady I agree and still have a landline. Plus when power goes out you still have a working phone if it is not a battery phone (I have squirreled away an old bell desk top phone that severed me well in an 8 day power outage and I had cell phone users coming to use my phone as the tower was out)
@Kidsandliz "I have squirreled away an old bell desk top phone that severed me well in an 8 day power outage" I'm sorry to hear about your injuries...I think that most people would have sued the manufacturer rather than squirrel-away the defective device that caused your most severe severing...though maybe it's serving a theraputic purpose?
@TerriblyHuang I have an older version of the phone for sale and it does not work when the power is out. That is why I have an old bell desk top I swiped from my mother when she downsized and had extras.
Just switched to VOIP via the Ooma I bought here a while ago. I figure I'm saving $500 a year. I also have a panasonic phone system similar to the one on sale tonight - now its hooked up to the Ooma instead of the land line and works just fine (we have the base system and two extra phones).
I have Net Talk for $20/yr and 4 wireless handsets around the house so I can have an android cellphone that is only $100/year. Everybody else I know pays $40-$80/month for cell service.
I'm going to have to look into this Ooma thing (and the others). I live in a 1956 house where I can't find any phone jacks even though there's a box outside. Also, my husband (whose phone service only works in the house when boosted) is totally against having a landline. I hate not having one. My phone is our best bet in an emergency and it's a piece of crap.
@primrosewater The Ooma is pretty nice. If you're already paying for decent internet service, you'll only pay like $4 per month (federal/local fees) for unlimited calling through the Ooma. If, however, you live out in the boonies and have no fast Internet service, you might be hosed.
I have a no-cost Obihai/Google Voice setup that I've been using for years with my GE DECT6.0 phones (similar to today's deal). It's my only line...I "cut the cord" on my cell phone about five years ago. I don't miss it. Perhaps it's because my job required me to have a cell on my person 24/7 since the early 90's (and that may be the case again soon). For the time being, I am enjoying the break.
@ChunkyBitz I have a similar set up in a 3 story row home. Having a phone on every floor is somewhat of a necessity... So cool that the technology is virtually free, except for the price of the DECT phones. Land line -- without the land...
@bettynugs I got a DECT set in a woot bag of crap once and sold it on ebay for like $50. I thought that was an awesome deal at the time because it seemed like a glorified bluetooth handset or something.
We do, partially as work thing, though they recently changed their call system to accept my cell phone. Prolly end up keeping it anyway, though. It's bundled with the internet (yay mediocre dsl) and the cost difference if we switched to strictly an internet plan is negligible, plus cell reception is kinda spotty where I live.
@mehjohnson Yes, in that the provider could say that their customers had no concerns about privacy. My grandmother was on a party line from the start of creation until well into the 70's (or maybe even the 80's). As I recall, there were three or four houses on the party line. The lady one house away listened to all of the calls, then reported the content of the distant neighbor's calls to Grandma.
@ChunkyBitz Yep, my grandparents had same. I remember being bashful about picking up the phone to see if so-and-so down the road was done with their call yet. I imagine that as a litttle kid, I was useful in helping to 'nudge' the neighbors call along.
My aunt was a teenage girl in the early 70's sharing a party line there, I'll have to ask her about it. I don't imagine she has much sympathy for teens-these-days when they have their phones taken away as punishment.
My internet required a landline in order to get the highest speed, which I need to work at home. It has mostly been used to call my misplaced cell phone, and to have fun with telemarketers.
@simplersimon The people I now live with have not caught on to using another phone to call their cell phone to find it LOL. Like you I use my landline to call my cell phone when I can't find it (and hopefully it isn't dead) since it is only on me if I go out.
I don't even really use my cell for phone calls anymore -- everyone just texts or emails. Even if I had a landline to use that wall phone with no one would ever call except telemarketers.
@tallrob In the industry I work you need a phone - first they prescreen who they are going to interview usually with a phone call (sometimes Skype) and then I am required to have a phone if I get hired.
@tallrob this is becoming more and more an issue. When talking about matters that matter it is VERY hard to understand tone and underlying meaning through the written word. (at least for me, i prefer face to face meetings most of all)
@cleverogre That's a good point. I guess for me that's offset by the ability to think about what you want to say a bit more, if one cares to do so. With stuff that matters I like to write an email and send it a day later if it's really important (read: not urgent).
Hell yes I have land line. If I am going to give my phone number to someone I do not trust, it is going to be my home phone. My home phone provider is Ooma and has great community black list blocking and caller ID unknown goes right to voice mail. F U spammers if you think you can call and hang up on my cell phone, and call me in the middle of a work day to ask if I need siding on my house. We use the phone to phone pager system more often instead of yelling MOOOOMMMMMMMM!!! you hear beep beep beep. (mostly when text go unanswered)
My mother needs an ambulance often enough that she needs a POTS landline at her house. I'm not convinced that 911 on VoIP or cell phones are reliable or accurate enough for that.
I have a landline because talking on a cell phone sucks, and I don't want to jump through hoops to have a phone number for the house. And also because my mother visits often enough... but mine is Verizon FiOS / VoIP line, and not some fly-by-night widget company or some Rube-Goldberg talking machine that I need to maintain.
I have a checkbook because it's the only practical way to pay for some things.
I've got cable TV because I'm married and she watches Food Network.
When I go to a meeting, I bring a pen and paper.
When you step on my lawn, I will demand that you get off it.
We have one landline (which I can't see ever not having) and three magic jacks (two which are wired into the house system so they work on regular phones - I did that!). For the magic jack lines, we have a couple of wireless phones, since there's no wired phone service back in hub's shop.
Love my landline. I provide services to academics and students throughout my area code, and don't have to watch my minutes as hubby does (pacing and cursing his poor call quality in the garage as he tries to deal with his customers). Besides, I have sentimental attachments to the original phone company systems. They supported my family's business (and us 9 kids) for many years, and my job during high school and college involved dropping off errant packages to installations along the microwave tower system once I'd located them where they'd been misdirected.
I live in a really small town (~750 people). The only way to get Internet is to also get a landline. So yes. ...and my father-in-law still calls it several times per day just because he's bored, so the advertised phone's caller-ID announcing is perfect.
I mean, if you're a pedantic asshole like me, you spend hours thinking about how even cell phones are tied into copper-wire POTS between the two cell towers, but restraining yourself from posting about it because who the fuck cares, until Friday afternoon gets boring and your boss and coworker are loudly comparing their friends' recent "easy birth experiences."
No. Sorta? Define "landline". I have an asterisk based PBX and VOIP from an ala carte VOIP provider. We have an auto attendant that answers the phone. It foils 99% of all telemarketers and robocallers.
Is that a landline?
@Headly I'll bite. I say no.
@Headly @lumpthar Yes, it is. A land line via VOIP. It would be like if I said "Ha! Cell phone!?! I have a Republic Wireless tablet (my MOTOX) that makes VOIP calls, cell phones are so 2013.
@caffeine_dude I've always considered landline is exclusive to POTS.
@Headly what do you use for the auto attendant?
@sykl0ps I built my PBX on Asterisk. Right now I use ClearOS which is a router/server that sits on top of CentoOS. I use a package called iPlex that is an asterisk plugin for ClearOS. I am moving to use PFSense for my firewall and a package called Kerio operator for my PBX.
@Headly Thanks for the info, I want to look into that. I've wanted a "This call may be recorded" type of message with them having to dial-thur as an acceptance.
I use an OBi with Google Voice via VOIP (free) in home and office and that is as close as I come to a "traditional" line (well, it uses "traditional" handsets). No traditional POTS line (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plain_old_telephone_service) going on eight years now. I don't miss it.
No "I use handsets, but only via VOIP because I'm cheap like that" option? Multi-handset phones are the way to go if you use an Ooma or something similar at home.
@earmstrong Yeppers! I have a 3 handset plus base Panasonic telephone over Ooma. Ooma lets you use any landline phone.
I have a party line. Great for finding out what those nosey neighbors are up to.
Exactly. I have no landline, but I have a local # on voip 100% free (I have to tell you that...) so I do still use this type of phone. But I'm not buying this one.
I have a land line. Sounds so much more clear than cell phones. Also never drops a call or breaks up. I also have two with regular handsets that I really like. Talked to someone for 5 1/2 hours recently without getting tired of holding it.
@pooflady I agree and still have a landline. Plus when power goes out you still have a working phone if it is not a battery phone (I have squirreled away an old bell desk top phone that severed me well in an 8 day power outage and I had cell phone users coming to use my phone as the tower was out)
@Kidsandliz "I have squirreled away an old bell desk top phone that severed me well in an 8 day power outage" I'm sorry to hear about your injuries...I think that most people would have sued the manufacturer rather than squirrel-away the defective device that caused your most severe severing...though maybe it's serving a theraputic purpose?
@Kidsandliz It looks like this won't work if the power is out, if that makes a difference to anybody.
@TerriblyHuang I have an older version of the phone for sale and it does not work when the power is out. That is why I have an old bell desk top I swiped from my mother when she downsized and had extras.
@Kidsandliz That's great for you. It doesn't do much for people buying today's deal for their landline if the power goes out, but great for you.
Just switched to VOIP via the Ooma I bought here a while ago. I figure I'm saving $500 a year. I also have a panasonic phone system similar to the one on sale tonight - now its hooked up to the Ooma instead of the land line and works just fine (we have the base system and two extra phones).
I have an Ooma so no dropped or fuzzy calls at home via cell. Great for on resumes too.
I have Net Talk for $20/yr and 4 wireless handsets around the house so I can have an android cellphone that is only $100/year. Everybody else I know pays $40-$80/month for cell service.
I'm going to have to look into this Ooma thing (and the others). I live in a 1956 house where I can't find any phone jacks even though there's a box outside. Also, my husband (whose phone service only works in the house when boosted) is totally against having a landline. I hate not having one. My phone is our best bet in an emergency and it's a piece of crap.
@primrosewater The Ooma is pretty nice. If you're already paying for decent internet service, you'll only pay like $4 per month (federal/local fees) for unlimited calling through the Ooma. If, however, you live out in the boonies and have no fast Internet service, you might be hosed.
Is this where I talk about being a cord cutter?
@Thumperchick what cords do you cut? Tendon cords? Turkey string cords? Vocal cords of screamers? Power cords? Exotic dancer G string cords?
@Thumperchick @Kidsandliz Maybe she is a midwife?
@WTFhqwhgads Nah, I'm a fullwife.
@WTFhqwhgads LOL didn't think of that or I would have included it : )
I have a no-cost Obihai/Google Voice setup that I've been using for years with my GE DECT6.0 phones (similar to today's deal). It's my only line...I "cut the cord" on my cell phone about five years ago. I don't miss it. Perhaps it's because my job required me to have a cell on my person 24/7 since the early 90's (and that may be the case again soon). For the time being, I am enjoying the break.
@ChunkyBitz I have a similar set up in a 3 story row home. Having a phone on every floor is somewhat of a necessity... So cool that the technology is virtually free, except for the price of the DECT phones. Land line -- without the land...
@bettynugs I got a DECT set in a woot bag of crap once and sold it on ebay for like $50. I thought that was an awesome deal at the time because it seemed like a glorified bluetooth handset or something.
We do, partially as work thing, though they recently changed their call system to accept my cell phone. Prolly end up keeping it anyway, though. It's bundled with the internet (yay mediocre dsl) and the cost difference if we switched to strictly an internet plan is negligible, plus cell reception is kinda spotty where I live.
I have cans and strings connected directly to the Progresso kitchen. Does that count?
@eyewerks Only if the connection also goes to the treehouse.
Yes...I need a land line for my blazing fast DSL internet...
@TheDagda You usually aren't required to have landline phone service, though.
Only because it is required for my alarm system, I don't actually answer it when it rings.
Were party lines early social media?
@mehjohnson Yes, in that the provider could say that their customers had no concerns about privacy. My grandmother was on a party line from the start of creation until well into the 70's (or maybe even the 80's). As I recall, there were three or four houses on the party line. The lady one house away listened to all of the calls, then reported the content of the distant neighbor's calls to Grandma.
@ChunkyBitz Yep, my grandparents had same. I remember being bashful about picking up the phone to see if so-and-so down the road was done with their call yet. I imagine that as a litttle kid, I was useful in helping to 'nudge' the neighbors call along.
My aunt was a teenage girl in the early 70's sharing a party line there, I'll have to ask her about it. I don't imagine she has much sympathy for teens-these-days when they have their phones taken away as punishment.
No, haven't got any.
My internet required a landline in order to get the highest speed, which I need to work at home. It has mostly been used to call my misplaced cell phone, and to have fun with telemarketers.
@simplersimon The people I now live with have not caught on to using another phone to call their cell phone to find it LOL. Like you I use my landline to call my cell phone when I can't find it (and hopefully it isn't dead) since it is only on me if I go out.
Yes. Only because I have a very weak or no cell phone signal..
Some other ridiculous answer you'll describe in the forums.
I don't even really use my cell for phone calls anymore -- everyone just texts or emails. Even if I had a landline to use that wall phone with no one would ever call except telemarketers.
I don't really see the need for telephones anymore, period. Email me.
@tallrob In the industry I work you need a phone - first they prescreen who they are going to interview usually with a phone call (sometimes Skype) and then I am required to have a phone if I get hired.
@tallrob this is becoming more and more an issue. When talking about matters that matter it is VERY hard to understand tone and underlying meaning through the written word. (at least for me, i prefer face to face meetings most of all)
@cleverogre That's a good point. I guess for me that's offset by the ability to think about what you want to say a bit more, if one cares to do so. With stuff that matters I like to write an email and send it a day later if it's really important (read: not urgent).
@Kidsandliz I'm glad I don't work in that industry.
Hell yes I have land line. If I am going to give my phone number to someone I do not trust, it is going to be my home phone. My home phone provider is Ooma and has great community black list blocking and caller ID unknown goes right to voice mail. F U spammers if you think you can call and hang up on my cell phone, and call me in the middle of a work day to ask if I need siding on my house.
We use the phone to phone pager system more often instead of yelling MOOOOMMMMMMMM!!! you hear beep beep beep. (mostly when text go unanswered)
My mother needs an ambulance often enough that she needs a POTS landline at her house. I'm not convinced that 911 on VoIP or cell phones are reliable or accurate enough for that.
I have a landline because talking on a cell phone sucks, and I don't want to jump through hoops to have a phone number for the house. And also because my mother visits often enough... but mine is Verizon FiOS / VoIP line, and not some fly-by-night widget company or some Rube-Goldberg talking machine that I need to maintain.
I have a checkbook because it's the only practical way to pay for some things.
I've got cable TV because I'm married and she watches Food Network.
When I go to a meeting, I bring a pen and paper.
When you step on my lawn, I will demand that you get off it.
We have one landline (which I can't see ever not having) and three magic jacks (two which are wired into the house system so they work on regular phones - I did that!). For the magic jack lines, we have a couple of wireless phones, since there's no wired phone service back in hub's shop.
Love my landline. I provide services to academics and students throughout my area code, and don't have to watch my minutes as hubby does (pacing and cursing his poor call quality in the garage as he tries to deal with his customers). Besides, I have sentimental attachments to the original phone company systems. They supported my family's business (and us 9 kids) for many years, and my job during high school and college involved dropping off errant packages to installations along the microwave tower system once I'd located them where they'd been misdirected.
I live in a really small town (~750 people). The only way to get Internet is to also get a landline. So yes.
...and my father-in-law still calls it several times per day just because he's bored, so the advertised phone's caller-ID announcing is perfect.
I have ooma. That's kind of like a land line.
I mean, if you're a pedantic asshole like me, you spend hours thinking about how even cell phones are tied into copper-wire POTS between the two cell towers, but restraining yourself from posting about it because who the fuck cares, until Friday afternoon gets boring and your boss and coworker are loudly comparing their friends' recent "easy birth experiences."
@editorkid you poor bastard.
@editorkid "easy birth experiences"…
@Thumperchick Thanks. In fairness, it sounds like one of them pretty much did the ping-pong ball trick and called it a day.
Been a Ooma customer going on 6 or 7 years now. Had a Vonage before that and hated it. So yeah.. kinda a "land line"
If voip counts as a landline then maybe I should buy a freedompop phone from woot. ¯_(ツ)_/¯