We Ditched Our Landline

A long time ago I had a land line telephone, a fax line, a modem, and dial-up internet. A lot has changed since then. I have had high-speed internet at the house since 2000. I switched to Lingo VOIP about 4 years ago. The primary reason was to keep our number and to retain fax capability. That ran about $25 per month with taxes and included free calls to Europe and cheap calls other overseas numbers, like China. We were never quite happy with voice quality of the Lingo service. The other end always complained of echoes and low volume, but we stuck with it because it was cheap. Recently I was looking at our usage and saw that our list of top ten numbers called only had 4 or 5 numbers in it, and two of them were our cell phones. My job offers a soft phone, so international calls for work are covered. And I have had a Google Voice number for about a year now, which I can make and receive calls from my Gmail inbox via a dedicated local number. Domestic calls are free and international calls are available for a fee, but I really don’t really need it. We never use the fax any more, and most people/businesses are able to received scanned emails. I also have a fax at work for any work related faxes, like my flexible spending account (archaic.) So, recently we dropped the Lingo phone (and our home number), and we now rely solely on our cell phones. I must admit that the phone jacks around the house look kind of lonely with nothing plugged into them. I did leave my Lingo phone box connected and a few (unpowered) phones and my Uniden 4-Phone Handset System plugged in to use as an intercom system. Because it is powered, you can pick up any phone and talk (to anyone else inside the house), without a dial tone. I have heard about whole-house Bluetooth adapters which allow you to use your house phones through your cell phone. One I have seen is the Cobra PhoneLynx. Even if I wanted to have another dedicated number for the house, the extra cellular line would only cost me $10 per month to add to my family plan.