Last Monday, we finally did away with our land line. Not a big deal...you say. Have you done it yet? There are so many things we had to consider before making this decision. How will old friends find me? (You've been listed in the phonebook for YEARS!) How will I fax out and receive faxes (This is the easy one) How will I dial and get 911? And oh my.....we've had the same phone number since 1990. In an instant....it's GONE!
Why is getting rid of a phone land line a big deal - and why is it taking me so long to do it? I think there's some sort of nostalgia associated with a telephone. I hate to date myself, but back in the early 1950's, we had phones, but we had "party lines". Yes.....you younger than 50 year olds...."party" is a good thing...but not when associated with telephone lines. To use a party line (aka - one line shared with one or more other households) , we had a whole set of courtesy rules. You had to quietly pick up the phone, listen for the dial tone. If you didn't hear it, and heard people speaking, you had to quickly and quietly hang up the phone....AND WAIT. In our house, we were told we had to wait several minutes before picking up the phone again. This could go on for a very long time, depending on how courteous the "other party" was. When you were talking on the phone, you could hear someone picking up. Therefore, you knew that someone wanted to use the phone. If you were a courteous party liner, you'd try to finish up quickly to allow the other "party" to use the line.
I remember when our phone company announced that we would have our very own line. No more sharing. I think that might have been in the late 1950's. The private line meant I could talk to my friends whenever I wanted and for however long I wanted. (Well....now my parents were now the watchdogs....and there were limits) But....here's the thing. Growing up during that period when the phone was the only connection to the outside world - made the telephone just as important to us - as computers and cell phones are to us today. Saying goodbye to the land line - well......it a part of those of us from that era. It's an adjustment.
Ok....now that you're dealing with all those doubts, let's get real. How often do you pick up your land line phone to make a call? Once a week....? Two or three times a week? If that's your answer - you're bound to be considering cutting ties with ATT! If you rely almost 100% on your cell phone - you give out your cell phone vs your home phone number - it's time to consider dumping the land line. How many solicitation phone calls do you receive on your land line each day? Three or more? The decision to get rid of the land line gets easier every time you pick up your phone....hear that slight delay....then an excited salesperson wanting you to hear the latest in security systems (you already pay hundreds of dollars every month to your condo association for security....don't think more is needed). Or....have you heard that you can outsmart Florida Power and Light somehow? (I've never stayed on the line long enough to hear how to do that!). You get what I'm saying.
Almost everyone has a cell phone. If you do, and if you use it exclusively, it's time to drop the land line. What are you paying? You're at least paying $25.00 for basic service - and almost everyone has the souped up version with caller id, forwarding, etc. That's at least $50+ every month. If you're not using it.....what a great way to save money.
I had thought of almost everything when deciding to cut the ATT cord. Consider this: You're on your cell phone (now it's all you have) and have to call a non-cell number (ie- Comcast, ATT, repair services or whomever). You get the annoying automated system and are on hold for 10-20 minutes before talking to a real person. And even if you talk to a real person - they may put you on hold "for just a moment" to check your account which lasts another 10 minutes or more. You're not pleased with the results of this call so you ask to speak to a supervisor.....and.... you wait another 10 minutes. Here's the rub. On the same day I canceled my ATT land line, I had to call Comcast and LG Appliance repair. I won't go into the details - but I racked up almost 120 minutes between the two companies within a 24 hour period. Now I had visions of needing to increase my Verizon Share plan minutes and increase my already high cell phone bill by at least $50 (the $ I was saving on the land line!!!!!! ) This was not good - and I had to find a solution.
Solution: Now and then I have to make a call to a non--Verizon company.....one that will rack up minutes....even when calling the company 800#. To avoid using my cell minutes for such calls, I purchased a Magic Jack for $19.95/year. I plug it into my computer and a land line type phone, and Voila! I have phone service, can call anywhere in the US - and talk FOREVER at no additonal cost. Simple solution. Others I have talked to use Skype, Vonage and other VOIP alternatives. So for those who love the feel of their land line - and want to save cell minutes - this is the answer. Down side: For Magic Jack to work, you must have the Magic Jack plugged into your computer - which must be on and with internet connection. Obviously, with Skype you have an internet connected computer as well. Vonage, however, works when plugged into your router - and your computers do not have to be on. (Sorry I'm boring those who know all about this!)
I had already found the solution for the fax issue. That was pretty easy. There are dozens of fax to email systems out there to choose from. To solve the 911 issue, I have my speed dial for Emergencies set to my current local police number. They're often faster than 911 anyway.
I'm beginning to adjust to the loss of the land line, but there is one thing that continues to be a little disturbing. Even though I received mostly calls from solicitors on my landline, I still got a buzz from seeing the red blinking light on my answering machine. I'll miss that for a while.