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| Pros & Cons of Dumping Your Landline: |
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Pro's:
- Cost:
Most wireline phone companies
charge more
than what you'd pay for most
alternatives,
and some are taxed more as
well. There are
some locations where getting
new wired phone
service is prohibitively expensive
or even
impossible. Long Distance and
extra features
like Call Waiting are normally
included with
alternative phones.
- More Features:
Cellular and broadband phones
normally include
Long Distance, Voice Mail,
Caller ID, Call
Forwarding and more, usually
at no additional
charge. They also have Text
Messaging and
various forms of data service
which are unavailable
with a landline.
- Portability:
If you move your home more
than average (or
if it's on wheels), your phone
and your number
can stay with you. There are
no "installation"
charges.
- Temporary Usage:
You can have phone service for the season
in a vacation home or cabin, or on an extended
stay at a hotel or home of a friend or relative
without installing a separate line.
- Unlimited Plans:
Most alternatives offer a plan that includes
Unlimited talk minutes and Long Distance, including
cellular.
- Anonymity:
You can easily set up an account
(especially
prepaid cellular) with either
no name or
an alternative identity.
- Fewer Telemarketers:
Nuisance calls are reduced because telemarketers
want to target customers in certain geographic
areas. They won't know where you are. Most
telcos provide your landline number to telemarketers.
With cellular it's illegal...for now. With
broadband, it depends on the carrier who
sets up your number.
- Internet Access:
Your wireless phone can also be your connection
to the internet, either with an internal
browser or tethered to your computer, and
available wherever there is cellular coverage.
A broadband alternative phone requires a
connection to the internet, but it doesn't
necessarily need to be wired.
- It's Green:
Replace your fax with an Internet-based fax
service like eFax or MyFax.com and stop wasting paper and ink. (Give you
old phones and fax to charity)
- Attitude:
Some wired phone companies
just treat their
customers badly. Sometimes
it feels better
to leave...at any price.
Con's:
- Safety:
If you need to call 911, they
won't automatically
know where you are, you'll
have to tell them.
Calls with alternative phones
will not necessarily
be routed to the closest public
safety agency.
Also, you won't receive "Reverse
911"
calls alerting you to a public
emergency
in your neighborhood unless
your local emergency
center allows you to sign up
your number
and associate it with a local
address.
- Security:
Some businesses will not allow
you to use
their services without a traceable
land line.
This includes credit card companies,
pizza
shops and a few others, although
this rule
is slowly being relaxed. Satellite
TV services
want a landline-like plug for
their equipment
to call them each night. It
does work with
some broadband phone systems.
Your satellite
service can still work without
it, but you
will most likely pay an extra
charge.
- Reliability:
Wired telephone services have
come as close
to 100% reliable as is practical.
Their network
has substantial power backup,
redundant circuits
and years to get it right.
Alternatives are
improving but their networks
can vary significantly. Cell sites and other communications nodes
have a limited amount of backup power. In
an extended power outage, such as after a
hurricane or snowstorm, the service may not
work, leaving you with no service. Corded
phones work in power failures. Cable phones
also have a lower level of reliability.
- Sound Quality:
Some alternative phones don't
sound the same
as a landline (some may be
better). While
your alternative phone may
sound fine to
you, it may be difficult for
others. Also,
some broadband services just
dump their audio
into the internet resulting
in widely varying
data travel times giving you
significant
sound delays.
- Lack of Service:
You may be in a location where
there are
no broadband alternatives or
may have poor
cellular coverage. This might
be rectified
by adding a 'cell site' to your home.
- Malfunctions:
Cell sites can stop working
for various reasons.
Repairs often need to be made
on site and
may take time. Broadband services
require
one or more pieces of equipment
at your house
which you will need to fix if it fails. Wireline equipment can normally be repaired
at the central office. Murphy's Law says breakdowns will happen
at the worst possible time.
- You Have No Backup:
Unless you have an extra cellular
phone,
if something happens to your
main phone or
its associated equipment, or
your account,
you can't just plug another
phone into the
wall.
- Inconvenience:
Some alternative services only
offer a single
jack for one phone. If you
want service throughout
the house you either must go
wi-fi or cellular.
Otherwise, plan on using the
phone near your
computer or router. With a
cell phone you
need to keep it close to you
if your home
is large or on multiple floors.
- You Can't Get a Job:
Some employers require a "Local"
number to consider you for
a position. While
you can change your out-of-town
portable
number to something local,
there goes your
"Number For Life."
- Surprise Costs.
Since you normally pay for
cellular by the
minute, you just might talk
a lot more than
you think. Savings may be less
than you think
when calculated long term.
Broadband carriers
are not regulated like wireline
services
and could make changes that
you didn't expect.
- You Won't Be Listed in the Phone Book.
Some directories will allow
you to pay for
a personal listing, but others
use that as
a way to keep you as a landline
customer.
- Alarm systems.
Most existing dial-up alarm
systems don't
work with broadband phone connections.
There
are other alarm alternatives,
including wireless.
- You May Not Be Able to Send or Receive Faxes.
In some cases, faxing is not an issue. In
others, you can't just plug in your fax machine.
A better choice is to to use a paperless,
web-based service like eFax or
MyFax.com.
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