To save money we got rid of our home phone about a year ago. Not having a land line has been nice because we only have one phone payment, the ring does not wake the kids up, and we always have our cell phones anyway so what was the point.
Well there is one flaw…teaching my daughter to call 911 in case of emergency. What if my cell phone is not charged? Biggest problem is that the newer the phones get the more complicated they are to dial on. Has anyone tried teaching a 4 year old how to dial on a touch screen phone? First you have to unlock the screen and then get to the keyboard and oops, you accidentally touched the wrong part of the screen and oops where did the keypad go? Even if you have one with a keyboard they are not always user friendly either.
So now I go through my tote of old phones and look for an old school cell phone (and hope that i havae the charger somewhere) that is easy to call 911 on or I break down and buy a land line again? Decisions decisions, what do you think?
I've been wanting to get rid of my land line but need to get a new internet service provider first. Very interesting info on the landline and 911. Thanks for sharing RipCurlMama!
Yup, a real 911 dispatcher :o) Sometimes it's boring at work (like currently), but it can always change at any time.
I don't know where you live, but what I would do is just plug a phone in and test it out. Make sure you stay on the line and just let the dispatcher know you were testing the phone to make sure your info still came up. They should be okay with it, I know I would be. It's more frustrating when someone hangs up on us, so as long as you stay on the line and say you're just testing, they should be okay with it. If not, my apologies. Let me know if it works!
RipCurlMama is so right about the land line being able to dial 911. I know from experience, that even a cell phone that is not linked to your cell phone plan will also dial 911. We have a phone that I used to let my son play with and after it was charged he accidentally pressed enough buttons to get it to dial emergency. It happened more than once so I know it's possible.
I still have a land line though only because during storms we lose cell phone service. And in an emergency to get a hold of family I need a phone. Not necessarily 911. Good luck teaching your little one the phone. 🙂
Also, thanks for following me, I'm following you back!
hey there, just stopping in to say hello back!!! this is a very good post…who would've thought we'd forget that our kids actually need to practice something so very important. I guess there are draw backs to technology…although I'm sure our kids could get our phones down better than we can, they get into everything, its amazing!!! great post and thoughts though =)
RipCurlMama:
Are you really a 911 dispatcher, that is cool, i bet your job is never slow and boring, but for unfortunate reasons.
So how do i test the phone and make sure it really can call 911? I have phones to plug in in a box somewhere.
Bit of information, even if you do not have a landline subscription, legally you still must be able to call 911 when a phone is plugged in. So, still leave a hardline (not cordless in case of power failure) plugged in somewhere and teach your kids to dial 911 on it. Legally it still has to work. we (911 dispatchers) won't be able to call you back if disconnected, but your address should pop up still. HTH
Hi Tawna-
Following you back. Thanks for following me:-)
http://gardenofgiveaways.blogspot.
com
All good advice. I may have found a phone that is easier to use that can still charge. I may leave it on the charger permanently just in case the battery is not as great anymore. I will also look into simplifying 911 on my phone for back up.
We don't plan on having a land line unless my husband deploys. We don't have touch screen phones anymore though, we found them really annoying for the reasons you listed lol I'm pretty good about always keeping my phone charged, even if my husband doesn't. I plan on teaching her if she can't call 911, to go to a neighbor and ask them to help and call for her.
No don't go back to a land line! Can you program your phone so your 4 year old can just touch maybe 2 places? I don't have a cool phone so I don't know!
We got rid of our land line a year ago too…
Yikes never thought of all that. We actually use Vonage, it's internet phone so we lose the phone if our internet goes out but it's only $10 a month and we can still use a real phone with it.