In a world of increasing technology and smart phones galore, you’d think having a landline at home is pointless. Here are some reasons you should consider keeping a landline, though everyone around you seems to be eschewing that relatively small monthly bill in favor of beefier mobile billing plans.
1. Pinpoint Location Inside a Building
During an emergency phone call, while you’re inside an apartment building, your cell phone can let the operator now what building you’re in but not which apartment in which the emergency is occurring. When you have a landline, the operator can see this information and inform the ambulance crew which apartment you are in before they arrive. Situation in which you’re unable to speak after dialing or your child has made the call and cannot remember what number apartment you live in are not uncommon. With this valuable information automatically given to the dispatcher, a landline could save your life.
2. Don’t Pay By the Minute
Having a landline means you aren’t paying for its use by the number of minutes you use, you’re charged one flat rate for all the local calls you can make. This may seem like a negative if you don’t use it often, but if you are at home and about to make a local phone call, pick up your landline instead of your cell phone and save money.
3. Doesn’t Lose Its Charge
Corded phones do not lose their charge, and are therefore always available to you. How many times have you forgotten to charge your cell phone at night and it loses charge in the middle of the day? While it’s charging, you still have a way of getting in touch with people: your landline.
4. Works Without Electricity
Landlines are not reliant on the use of electricity. During a lengthy power outage, if your phone loses its charge\you will still have a way to make sure everyone else is okay and keep in touch with the rest of the world.
5. Faster to Pick Up and Dial
For senior citizens, it’s often easier to pick up the landline and dial 911 than it is to go on a cell phone, find the dial pad and accurately type the number when there may not actually be buttons to aid in dialing. Smart phones are great for Internet access and playing games, but when it comes to dialing a number, the landline phones are by far a better design for emergency situations. If you can’t feel the buttons and cannot see the screen or dial pad, it’s almost impossible to dial 911.
6. Cheaper Service Than Cell Phones
Overall, landlines are a cheaper option than cell phones if you are looking at making a lot of local calls. When money is an issue and every penny counts, holding on to a few extra bucks each month by choosing your landline and a minimal cell package may make a real difference in your budget.
7. International Calls
International calls are cheaper with a landline if you have it set up the right way, as they can be astronomically expensive on a cell phone. There are digital landline services that make international calls affordable. If you only have a cell phone, don’t expect to make international calls without being charged an arm and a leg for it.
8. Towers Go Down
Cell phone towers aren’t the most reliable things in the world. Cell service is spotty in the countryside. With a landline, you’ll have reliable service if you live outside of the range of a cell phone tower or if one is compromised in your area.
9. Landlines Are Not So Easy to Lose
Cell phones are small, compact devices. That makes them easy to carry around in a pocket or purse, but also very easy to lose. A landline, especially a corded model, is impossible to lose because it’s attached to the wall or sitting on a dedicated table.
10. Stay In Touch Without Constant Attention
One glorious thing about landlines are the fact that the phone is not always with you. You’re able to keep in touch when you need to, but you are not constantly available. You can have an evening that’s uninterrupted by bells, whistles and text message alerts, if you’d like by turning the cell phones off and relying on the landline for emergency situations. If anyone desperately needs to get in touch with you, they can call the home phone.Landlines may seem like a thing of the past, but they aren’t completely useless. Keeping one on hand could make a very real difference in your life, ranging from the avoidance of a mild inconvenience to triumph in a life-or-death situation.
Source: WhiteFence Savings
Contact us today at (800) 787-4848 or jnolte@chesapeaketelephone.com.