Should You Ditch that Landline?
The battle is on: Landline vs. Cellphone, which side are you on?
With the “Cord Cutting” movement becoming more powerful, more and more people are dropping their landlines and opting for a cellular device as their main communication device.
To date, about two out of five American households have disconnected their home phones and rely solely on cell service to stay in contact with the world.
In fact, a 2012 National Health Interview Survey found that 36 percent of American adults live in a home with wireless service, but no landlines.
There is an increase in popularity in both Smartphones and Voice over IP (VoIP), which allows users to communicate using a Wi-Fi connection instead of a wired phone line.
But should you consider keeping a landline?
While going wireless seems like a no-brainer, there are actually several good reasons to keep your landline. For starters, the landline isn’t as ancient a relic as you may think. A major advantage is many home-security systems actually require a landline. When your home security systems monitors your residence, there are special fire and burglary alarm sensors. If your home is without one, many companies will install a special device that communicates with their dispatch (via cellular connection), but you may incur an extra cost.
Also, cutting the traditional phone line means you may lose some extra security in case of emergency.
When you dial 911 from a cell phone, your phone uses a GPS method to report your location, in case you aren’t able to retrieve it yourself. Sounds awesome, right? But what if you’re in a building? Your cell phone does not have the precise ability to locate which floor you are on.
Although Cellphone GPS technology is getting better, emergency services still have to try and pinpoint your phone within ten to one hundred feet.
In all cases, your landline is connected to your address (including the apartment number) so the 911 operator will have your exact location in an emergency even if you can’t talk.
While Smartphone pack a number of great features that a landline lacks such as: surfing the Web, checking your email, and a built-in camera, your landline is still useable in a black out.
At Race, our fiber-based phone service is for the highest-quality for voice calls. Our basic plan is ideal for very low usage situations, while our full-featured unlimited plan is geared toward typical households. Since our phone service is a traditional landline and not VOIP, it is reliable even in a power outage.
If we haven’t convinced you yet that you need a home phone, give us a call today to speak with a member of our Sales team to help you figure out which home phone plan works for your household. Call us at 1-877-722-3833 or visit us at race.com