Do you still have a land-line telephone? Do you pay additional for caller ID?

Question

We do have land-line service and we also have two cordless phones, but we don't have cell phones. In fact, up until 15 years ago, we still had rotary service and we still have one rotary phone.

We don't have caller ID service. Instead, we keep an intercom beside the downstairs telephone set on transmit with its receiver upstairs so we can hear who calls when we're in bed. (We never answer until we know who it is.)

The land line is the only service we can get when we have a power failure. The cordless phones won't work without power.

Answer 1

I used to think I was one of the most behind-the-times people I know, but not anymore. Of course I REMEMBER rotary phones--I'm 42--but I haven't heard of one still actually in use until now.

I don't have a land-line phone at home. I haven't had one for maybe 10 years (at work, I have both land-lines and cellular).

Although I agree with the Power Failure scenario, as it applies to cordless phones, my cell phone/s will continue to work just fine when the lights go out (for several hours, anyway). We're not in an area where the electricity is likely to be unavailable for days on end. If that did happen, we'd probably be evacuating town anyway.

Answer 2

I have both a land-line phone and a cell phone. With DSL you need a land-line phone I think although someone told me you could now get high speed Internet via satellite dish so don't know how that works.

I don't use either phone much although I use the DSL part a lot. I mainly keep the cell phone because I got it as a contract deal with a group where my daughter works and it costs me only a couple of buck a month unless I use it then it's about $0.30 per minute. I like it for emergencies when I'm out and about or at the cemetery where I visit often. There's some real weird people that pass through there especially kids dressed all in black. Give me the creeps.

Answer 3

Felines...the cordless phones are still part of the land line. But they require extra power to work, therefore when the power goes out, so do they. The older model, plug-in phones, do not require any extra power to work than the power that already comes through the phone line itself. Therefore they still work when your power goes out.

A cellular phone does not require any land line service to work. They carry their power with them, in the form of long-life battery packs, and they are fed their signals from microwave towers. I imagine that if one tower were to be blacked out because of a power outage, other nearby towers would take up the slack of transmitting the phone conversations going on on the cell phones at the time.

I too do not use a cell phone, although I am the only adult in my home who does not. I have my land line which, because of my computer, was switched to a tone from the old pulse technology just 10 years ago.

I do not have call display, although I do have an answering machine on the phone in the kitchen. But this is used only when I am not home to pick up the phone. I don't use it as a screening device, although I could very well do this.

I have no problem answering my phone to anyone who calls. Even those wrong numbers from drunken individuals in the middle of the night get answered courteously, as long as they do not call back again.

I have no wish to get myself a cellular phone. I think that if a person wants to get in touch with me, they can always leave a message on my answering machine. Anyone who won't doesn't really need to get in touch with me that badly anyway, right?

Answer 4

I have a land line, caller ID is about $7.95 extra per month.
I have a prepaid cell phone that I only use for emergencies or when I am assigned to a disaster site. Even though I have cordless phones in the house, I have a regular phone that I can use in case of power outages.

Answer 5

I do have a land line phone, but I keep the answering call on,
and do not pick it up unless I know who it is. I also have a cell
phone that I rarely use, it is basically for if I get in trouble on the road when driving. I do not have caller ID.
After working and answering 100's of calls every day literally,
I do not like to talk on the phone, and very rarely use it.

Answer 6

You will have to pay additional for caller ID. Unless it is including with your plan and if you just have basic service it's usually never included, they will try to get you buy some kind of package that includes long distance service, anything to get more of your money! Caller ID will not always tell you who is calling, a lot of people block or have a private number so that when they call you it just shows up on your caller ID as PRIVATE or RESTRICTED # You can pay a additional fee to have a message that comes on for these types of calls that says "This number does not accept calls from Private or Restricted numbers, please hang up and dial *82 then redial the number" If the person calls back and dials *82 and then your number it will unblock it and will show you who is calling.

Answer 7

We have two cell phones and internet phone service. When the internet is down, the calls transfer to the cell phone. We pay $25 month to call anywhere in the US, Canada, Mexico and Western Europe, and have voice mail, caller ID, etc. included. Vonage rules!

Answer 8

We both have cell phones, but also got a package for the phone/internet/cable TV. There is no additional cost for Caller ID. We realize if the power goes out or the cable goes down we're stuck, but we can use the cells for phone calls.

Answer 9

I will not give up my land line...those who have ended up regretting it. I get poor cell phone reception at my house, so the land line is necessary...(strange, great reception everywhere here, EXCEPT a block radius that includes my house...go figure). No, I do not have caller ID. It is very easy to just hang up. If the call is/was important, they would leave a message. Most calls are NOT important. I no longer run to the phone everytime it rings...I see no reason to be at other's beck and 'call.'

Answer 10

have both, land line plus cell, don't think I'd ever give up my land line one and yes pay extra for caller I.D., but what you said about cordless is true, so still have a old rotary dial in use