If you have crossed one of the massive mobile network failures, you saw how it left you blocked without one of your most critical access lines in the world for hours. If your smartphone cannot call, what is it for an emergency?
An AT&T breakdown last year, for example, has removed services for more than 12 hours in many most populous cities in the United States, and in September, a Verizon breakdown has stuck certain phones in SOS mode for a largely part of the day. These breakdowns have recalled the dangers to rely only on mobile phones.
Perhaps this has made you rethink the place of a domestic apparatus which was once a standard problem but which is now almost obsolete: the fixed phone. Here is what to consider to decide to keep (or get) a fixed line.
Do you remember the fixed line?
These fixed old -fashioned lines can still have a place, but only 28% of American households have one.
The fixed lines are phones that connect to the wiring specialized in our homes. The emblematic image is that of a rotary phone – generally rented to the telephone company – which was hung on the wall or sit on a counter or a table, although the push button and the reliable wireless lines have wireless Replaced many of these old people in the 1980. Sheet telephones connect to each other thanks to a global communication network that has been built over more than a century. But as mobile phones have become widely available and affordable, many people have chosen to drop their fixed lines.
A survey in 2022 by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention revealed that only about 29% of American adults lived in a house with a fixed phone, down more than 90% In 2004. Crossing occurred around 2015, which was also when smartphones sales entered a boom period that reshaped the technological industry and helped transform the iPhone Apple manufacturer into one of the most popular societies in the world.
Ann Williams is one of the people who have not yet abandoned their fixed lines. When asked why she maintains hers, she describes the move to Huntsville, in Alabama, after a Tornado epidemic On April 27, 2011, when dozens of twisters killed at least 250 people and eliminated power for days. Although she moved there after the tornadoes, hearing about the event brought her the importance of always having a connection by phone.
“Time here is so unpredictable,” she told me in an interview. But the fixed lines have a dedicated power and often operate even in a breakdown. “We remember a day when it was absolutely necessary to have (the fixed line),” said Williams.
Which makes proud phones more reliable
Fixed phones operate on a separate infrastructure, built from copper telephone lines which are inexpensive to build and rather reliable. They also do not have the drawbacks of cellular networks, such as abandoned calls, poor and distorted quality or low reception.
One of the main reasons why people keep the fixed lines is that they tend to work even during power outages, which is a big advantage for people whose work involves emergency services, business or health care.
Analog faxes are also built around fixed telephone systems, which means that most hospitals and doctor’s offices, as well as policy and legal firms, must maintain a fixed connection.
The disadvantages of fixed lines
Do you remember wireless phones and telephone directories?
The Federal Commission for American Communications is Elimination of requirements So that telephone companies provide fixed services (called Old Telephone Service) across the country. Consequently, more houses and corporate offices are under construction with Ethernet Jacks rather than phone sockets.
The connections by fixed phone are not cheap either. CUSIN DNE CNET ALLCONNECT note that The traditional AT&T telephone plan starts at $ 48 per month, and you must also use the company for the Internet. CenturyLink is cheaper, from $ 30 per month, and Spectrum will charge as little as $ 20 per month.
And all fixed lines do not use copper telephone lines. Increasingly, companies are postponing their telephone systems on their Internet connections, a service called Voice Over Internet Protocol or Voip. AllConnect currently only follows three service providers offering the old -fashioned fixed lines: CenturyLink, Comcast XFINITY and COX.
How to get a new fixed service
If you are ready to set up with a fixed line, call the local phone company and ask for phone services. If you live in an apartment building, it is important for you to know where the phone junction box is. As a rule, the owner must know and if not, the local telephone company should be able to find it.
Here are some follow -up questions you want to ask and what to look for in the answers:
- Are there the fixed lines or are they pots? Ideally, if you are looking for safety and reliability, the pots are what you want. VoIP can work, but understand that it is probably based on your Internet modem and your work connection.
- If VoIP, does the company have backup power systems to ensure that the voice line works in a power failure? Most companies sell rescue batteries that you can buy directly from them. You can use an uninterrupted diet, maybe from CyberPower or APC. Note that these are different from portable power supplies. Portable power supplies allow you to stay with electronic supply on the move, but these are not intended to continuously monitor the power outages, then to start if necessary.
- As a rule, local calls are free, but the costs of your regional code. What is the rate structure? Companies like AT&T have various additional costs that they charge for calls at the national level, as well as for a long international distance. Long distance calls in particular are generally billed per minute, and companies do not always publish this information on their website. Make sure to know what it will cost, and if it is too much, consider using a cat application as a signal, WhatsApp, Google Meet or Apple Facetime for your long distance calls.
What should you do with a landline?
If you have a fixed line but let it languish, suck money on your bank account every month, you are not alone. But there are ways to make it more useful.
Google Voice is a popular option, giving you a new phone number that acts as a kind of center. Whenever people call, Google Voice then calls each phone to which you connected it, whether it is a fixed line, a mobile phone, a work phone or something else.
There are also other services, including Zoom and Ringcentral, if you don’t like working with Google.
A landline phone can also connect with home safety systems and medical alert sensors to make sure that if you are in the event of an emergency, the aid will be there as soon as possible.
What if you can’t get a connected fixed line
If you are not eligible for a fixed line or if you do not like the service offered, you have more options of satellite suppliers. Companies such as Hughesnet and SpaceX can support VoIP on their Internet connections.
Telephone manufacturers like Apple also slowly build satellite messaging in their devices. The iPhone 14, which made its debut in 2022, has a functionality called Emergency SOS, which can connect with a satellite to send location data to your friends or an emergency text to the authorities.
