DoppeltGemoppelt Posted May 11, 2013 Share Posted May 11, 2013 We want to cancel our cable and landline, since my family only uses the internet. Is there any way to be able to still make emergency calls, without paying a monthly fee? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Parrothead Posted May 11, 2013 Share Posted May 11, 2013 It is going to depend on the company. Some will allow only 911 calls. Some will charge for it. Personally I've not found giving the dispatcher my address to be a problem so I just dial 911 on my cell if needed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dandelion Posted May 11, 2013 Share Posted May 11, 2013 Do you have a cell phone? If not, you could use a VoIP service, but there are some issues with calling emergency numbers using VoIP. This FCC article discusses those. If you're outside the U.S., Skype allows users to make emergency calls in some countries. For whatever reason, they don't allow U.S. users to make 911 calls using their service. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DoppeltGemoppelt Posted May 12, 2013 Author Share Posted May 12, 2013 My husband and I have a cell phone, but our teenage son is sometimes alone at home, and he would have to use internet/iPod. I'd rather he have something more reliable. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dandelion Posted May 12, 2013 Share Posted May 12, 2013 You could get one of those prepaid cell phones that only have a certain number of minutes on them (no monthly plan required), and just keep that for emergencies. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nd293 Posted May 12, 2013 Share Posted May 12, 2013 We keep a spare pay-as-you-go cell phone that is only switched on when the kids are alone at home. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
datgh Posted May 12, 2013 Share Posted May 12, 2013 Someone correct me if I am wrong, but don't you still need to give your location if you are calling for an emergency on a cell phone so the responders know where to find you. I have seen kids and even my Mom in a panic situation not be able to remember their own address. This is the reason we still keep a land line plus the fact I can never remember where I last put my cell phone. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
QueenCat Posted May 12, 2013 Share Posted May 12, 2013 We've kept our landline. The cost of our landline is about the same as the additional minutes we would need to add to our cell plan if we had no land line. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dahliarw Posted May 12, 2013 Share Posted May 12, 2013 Someone correct me if I am wrong, but don't you still need to give your location if you are calling for an emergency on a cell phone so the responders know where to find you. I have seen kids and even my Mom in a panic situation not be able to remember their own address. This is the reason we still keep a land line plus the fact I can never remember where I last put my cell phone. If you have smart911 in your area and register for it you don't. I love it because you also can enter medical information, information on who lives in your house, etc that the emergency personell (and only them) can pull up if they are called to your house in an emergency. It's more information then they'd have with a call from a landline! https://www.smart911.com/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DoppeltGemoppelt Posted May 12, 2013 Author Share Posted May 12, 2013 If you have smart911 in your area and register for it you don't. I love it because you also can enter medical information, information on who lives in your house, etc that the emergency personell (and only them) can pull up if they are called to your house in an emergency. It's more information then they'd have with a call from a landline! https://www.smart911.com/ I just checked and it's not available :-( Sounds like a perfect solution though, I can't wait for them to provide it here! I do not want to keep adding more minutes to yet another cellphone. My son lost his and the minutes ran out by the time he found it again. Okay, so I guess I'll have to look for the cheapest landline provider :-( Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Angie in VA Posted May 12, 2013 Share Posted May 12, 2013 We have a cell phone account for our home. We have a little antenna on a base and can use all of the phones in the house. I don't like it, but it does save some money each month. One negative is that we can't send or receive faxes. We don't have a home business, so it is not that big of an issue, but it was nice to be able to get and send faxes. I miss that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LaxMom Posted May 12, 2013 Share Posted May 12, 2013 We kept our landline for that reason. It's dial-tone only (we would be charged 10 cents per local call, no long distance), and we pay about $11 with taxes, etc per month. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quiver0f10 Posted May 12, 2013 Share Posted May 12, 2013 We just bought Straight Talk for the home. The base cost $99, but after that it's just $15 a month. It uses your regular house phone. So far we haven't had any issues. http://www.straighttalkhomephone.com/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kfeusse Posted May 12, 2013 Share Posted May 12, 2013 this looks interesting. You said you like it? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ravin Posted May 12, 2013 Share Posted May 12, 2013 When we dropped our landline we added DD to our cell plan with her own phone (it cost about $9 more a month than the landline did). So everyone in the house except the 2 yo. has a cell phone. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quiver0f10 Posted May 12, 2013 Share Posted May 12, 2013 this looks interesting. You said you like it? If you mean me and straight talk, yes we are very happy with it so far. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
melmichigan Posted May 12, 2013 Share Posted May 12, 2013 We keep a landline just for 911. We have no long distance. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DoppeltGemoppelt Posted May 12, 2013 Author Share Posted May 12, 2013 We kept our landline for that reason. It's dial-tone only (we would be charged 10 cents per local call, no long distance), and we pay about $11 with taxes, etc per month. Okay, I would definitely go for that! What provider are you using? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DoppeltGemoppelt Posted May 13, 2013 Author Share Posted May 13, 2013 Found it! AT&T offers the landline for around $8/month plus tax. Soooo happy!!! If it wasn't for all of you on the forum here I wouldn't have kept looking! Thank you! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shellers Posted May 13, 2013 Share Posted May 13, 2013 We just bought Straight Talk for the home. The base cost $99, but after that it's just $15 a month. It uses your regular house phone. So far we haven't had any issues. http://www.straighttalkhomephone.com/ I did the same thing. My home number was ported over to Straight Talk. Straight Talk works on the Verizon network. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
*Michelle* Posted May 13, 2013 Share Posted May 13, 2013 Depending on your state and carrier, you may be able to dial 911 from a landline without service. Many states require carriers to keep a soft dial tone for that purpose. As for cell phones, you can always dial 911 whether or not you have service activated. You can even dial 911 from a cell phone without a SIM card. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
emzhengjiu Posted May 13, 2013 Share Posted May 13, 2013 We've decided to keep our analog land line because it will work during power outages with corded phones. Since we lose power fairly often, I am uncomfortable with only cell phones or with digital phone service. Happened just last week, We lost power because a car accident took out the nearby transformer. We were without power for much of the day. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bettyandbob Posted May 13, 2013 Share Posted May 13, 2013 it is my understanding that with 911 service your location can easily be pinpointed with a landline and this is not the case with a cell. We also keep one corded phone in a jack so we have a phone in a power outage. I have a child with a disability, I know I will always need the security of a landline for 911 service. Besides dealing with persons with disabilities, there may be other instances when you want a landline. Even if you and other family members can speak just fine, will they be able t, po speak just fine under pressure, particularly a younger person. If someone has broken into your home, you may want to call 911, but not speak (I realize that situation is rare, but aren't all uses of 911 ideally rare). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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