I am just wondering how many of you keep a Plain Old Telephone Service phone handy? You know, one of those things with the funny cord?

I have one beside my bed, on which I take my middle-of-the-night calls to hit the road for work. No power, no calls, no work.

And don't ask why I don't keep my cell phone there, smarties! I'll tell you right now that with my ADD and being half asleep when I go out the door (oops! still wearing slippers...), it would never come with me. That's why it stays by the front door on a neck string.

Sue

I keep one around. It might provide service after an earthquake when the cell system will be highly disrupted.

thats all we really use..the $9.99 phones with the stubby antenna just go's out on dog walks or "call me when you get there" situations.the thrill of calling from the store about what sort of ice cream you want is gone.

I haven't had a POTS in over 10 years. If the basic service for POTS were comparable to what I get with Vonage or my cell phone, then I would reconsider it. POTS is just not worth the price. With Vonage, I get unlimited long distance and cheap international calling. POTS doesn't even come close for the same price.

Also, the reliability of my Vonage is comparable to a POTS. I have a backup power supply that provides uninterrupted power specifically for my Vonage system. The power backup has proven to be reliable during a few power outages over the years.

We actually have two POTS phone lines. One is strictly for the fax machine in the office, the other is the regular house phone line. The fax machine is connected to a battery backup, so I can call out from that as long as the line and the battery backup are working. Otherwise, we have two corded phones (kitchen and bed room) and four cordless phones. I also have an old rotary dial phone that I saved. Not sure why, but you never know.

I do! It allows me to work my fax most reliably!

We do because:

1) when everything else is out, POTS still seems to work (at our house anyway). For us, some way of getting a call out is critical given family medical problems. POTS is ultra reliable.

2) We also get our internet via DSL, which needs a POTS telephone line.

3) Local POTS provider has a low cost pay per call service, and our POTS bill averages 6-8 dollars a month.

We do. The old corded network seems to be much more reliable, especially in a larger-scale emergency. I gave up my cell phone at the beginning of the summer and haven't looked back. I like not being beholden to everyone all the time. I once had a secretary call my cell, page me, call my cell, page me, etc... for three minutes straight. She needed to confirm some non-emergency info for my boss. I didn't respond because I was going to the bathroom. I don't need that. My husband is the manager of a retail store and is basically on call on the time so he has a cell phone. I do carry one that's not activated, to reach 911 when we're travelling, but that's about it.

As I said in another post, I do want something for emergencies when we're not at home. We took our Scouts group camping this weekend and although all the other adults had cell phones, as the Senior leader, I did feel less responsible for not having one.

yeah... but it's cordless

I do have a corded phone in the garage, packed away, that i can pull out if needed. I use it for long distance, since I don't trust that cell phones don't cause brain cancer (yeah, studies say no, but where's the long term data?)

if you can find a self contained digital handset, there is an adapter with phone jack in and set of alligator clips out that would allow you to tap into any traditional service at the drop box leading into a dwelling(jump terminals till you get a dial tone)...six foot of cord with an adapter should be enough... most of the interface boxes have a regular phone line jack in them now but might need a nut wrench or screwdriver to open the cover... thought I might have to "borrow" service somewhere...there are a couple of articles on making a "lineman's handset" on the internet