Yep, @ClaremontMom , it rings once or twice. I have the ringtone set to play classical music, though, so the sound is much less annoying than a ring.
I’m so happy with nomorobo, though. Every time I hear the classical music cut off after a second or two I’m like, take that!!!
@BunsenBurner , Nomorobo works with cellphones, too, but it’s not free. I think it’s around 5 bucks a month. Maybe it would be worth it for the few months between now and election day, at least.
Why won’t AT&T allow nomorobo??? Grrrrr!!!
I have AT&T (U-verse VOIP) with Nomorobo. What kind of phone line do you have? It won’t work with a traditional POTS line.
Correct. It wont.
We have grandfathered TMobile at Home as our “land line.” $10 per month for unlimited calling in the continental US. I plan to keep it because our cell reception at home is iffy.
Another reason to have a land line: if you have someone you want to be able talk to in prison, the service you have to use requires one.
I agree with this, especially if you live in a remote area like I do. Landline calls also have much higher voice quality than cell. I use it for most of my calls when at home.
I also don’t like how everything is being consolidated onto a smartphone these days. People are using them for everything: camera, video, maps, internet, phone calls, entertainment… If that phone breaks, you are going to be SOL.
Not if you keep everything in the cloud.
I agree with both of you…I would definitely feel the sting of not having a phone handy, but none of my data would be lost since it is always backed up. So once the phone is fixed or replaced, I’d be right back where I was.
(And I love how everything is on my smartphone…one small device and so many capabilities! Sure beats having multiple devices)
We just had an instance of home invasion type break-in fairly nearby. Woman answered the door and was shoved to floor and held at gunpoint while they took jewelry, etc including cell phone. Thankfully she still had land line to call 911 after they left.
Not something we ever hope happens but…
We still have land line. Just don’t think the sound quality is as good on cell phone and I prefer not to get calls from non-family members or close friends on cell.
i haven’t read this whole thing, so maybe this has been said, but i use ooma for a landline. it’s voip and there’s an upfront cost (maybe 100?) but after that the monthly fee is free plus taxes (about 3 dollars). I got it to use when working from home, but haven’t used it recently due to receiving a work phone which i can use at home now. But for 3 bucks I figure i might as well keep it. You basically get a box about the size of a modem and hook your phone up to it.
^ I use Ooma too. I just use it to record calls.
I got rid of my landline just this month as I switched internet providers to save $. It was hard letting go of the small town exchange I’ve had for 20+ years (people STILL say “my number is” and list 4 digits!) but like many, it mostly got telemarketing calls. I did use it to call out, for sound quality.
I am intrigued by @InigoMontoya 's netTalk option. It is $40/year with $15/20 purchase of hardware (actually 25% off that plus 3 months free for joining the newsletter mailing list) . I’m not sure what the difference is between the wifi and not-wifi - the latter just has to be plugged into the router, I guess?
Does it support nomorobo? I see it has a blacklist I can use manually but it only blocks one number in that price,I’d have to pay for more? Meh.
I like the e-911 service.
Can anyone comment on the call quality?
I might use it as a combo business phone/landline (my biz calls go via Google Voice to my cell right now).
Bumping this thread to see if peple are happy with their VOIP, and if so, which do you like> Can ooma handle 2 lines (if we decide to ditch only one of the 2 we have)?
I am happy with Ooma so far. I don’t use much though.
I think there are 2 connectors from your phone box to the street if you have 2 lines. If you ditch a line for Ooma then you need to disconnect the connector for that line from the box so that the signal from the street line will not interfere with Ooma signal (and might cause fire if the street line is still active). The other will still work as usual.
I think we have 2 phone numbers but only one “line”. Is that possible?
I think you may one combined lined to the street and the line is split into 2 connecters at the box. It’s hard to tell when I don’t see the box. You may want to ask some local people.
You can have 2 numbers with Ooma too.
Nettalk has worked fine for me now for a couple years - can’t answer the question about two lines though since I’ve never had a need.
What is this “land line” you speak of? I literally don’t know a soul that still has one!