I don’t know about you, but this conversation comes up at least once a week in our house.

Should we get rid of the land line and just use our cell phones? It almost seems to be a battle of the sexes.

From what I gather in my personal experience and those of my friends, it’s usually the husbands who want to cut the ties and get rid of the land line because it eliminates an extra monthly bill and there are less telemarketers to deal with. Fair enough.  

However, I’ve been really reluctant to give up our land line (as have many of my female friends). I shared a few of my reasons with the Binkies and Briefcases Facebook page, and you guys had so many more great reasons to add to my list!

I’ve put together a list of reasons why we ladies prefer to keep our land lines, thankyouverymuch.

Photo Credit: keeweeboy via Deposit Photo

Why We’re Keeping Our Land Lines

1. 911. This seemed to be by far the number one concern of mothers with small children, myself included. If there is an emergency where my 5 year old or my 7 year old needs to call 911, I can trust them to pick up the one corded phone in our office and just punch the numbers. Or they can pretty easily be taught to pick up a cordless phone and dial “911+send.”

It would be much more difficult for them to find my purse, dig out my phone, unlock it, enter a passcode, find the right icon, and then dial 911+send. I also heard a police officer speak to a mom’s group a few years ago and when one of the moms asked this exact question he said that it was much more difficult for emergency personelle to pinpoint exactly where calls are coming from when they are placed on cell phones, and sometimes the minutes it takes to figure out where a call originated are literally the difference between life and death. That officer actually preferred landlines because if a residence has a landline, it will be registered to the exact address where they need to go. If someone is calling on a cell phone, that cell phone might not be registered to that address, and they can only locate the phone within so many feet. If you are alone in an apartment complex and suffering from a heart attack or choking while people are trying to figure out which apartment you are calling from, that is a serious issue. (I do have to admit, though, it has been several years since I heard that officer speak, so technology could have improved quite a bit in the meantime.)

2. There are multiple phones around the house. What if there is a fire or someone breaks into the house and we are trapped on the other side of the house from where my cell phone is charging?

Note: One reader said that a corded phone plugged into a phone jack will still call 911, even if you do not have phone service. I have not tested this, but she said she confirmed through her local Sheriff’s department. Cell phones with a charged battery are supposed to do the same thing, regardless of whether or not you have service through a provider. 

3. Reception. Cell phone reception varies, whereas you can almost always rely on your land line to be available when you need it. Many rural areas do not have great cell phone reception.

4. Several Facebookers commented that their landlines were their only means of communication during power outages due to natural disasters, like tornadoes and hurricanes. We were in Baltimore, sandwiched geographically between New York and D.C., on September 11 and most cell phones were not working at all, but the landlines were. I heard similar stories about Hurricane Sandy here on the east coast. And after the harsh winter we just had here in Pennsylvania, power outages were a very serious concern. It’s nice to know that there are phone lines in the neighborhood you can count on.

5. Tradition. Everybody already has this number. Sometimes it has been in a family for generations. My friend Nicky’s family lives in the home that used to belong to her grandmother and still has the same phone number. She doesn’t want to give up the tradition and I don’t blame her. 

6. Privacy. It’s nice to have a separate number you can give out to people you don’t necessarily want to have your personal cell phone number, like bill collectors. 

7. It’s not that expensive. Our land line is bundled with the cable and internet. This is a little concerning to me because it is digital, so when we lose power we also lose our phone, but it is actually cheaper than buying separate internet and tv services. (At least compared to when we had satellite tv service.) Ooma is also a service that several of our friends use and recommend, which allows you to continue to have a landline, for a one time fee and then not have a monthly phone bill after that. Some of these “landline” options are offered via your cable or internet provider, though, so it is important to remember that they might not be available during storms or power outages either. 

8. Older kids who want to talk to their friends. It’s much cheaper for families who don’t want to add a separate phone line and cell phone for each child to just have a home phone that everyone shares.

9. We always have a phone. Have you known anyone who has ever broken their cell phone, dropped it in water, had a kid attack it, etc? Ever known anyone who couldn’t find their cell phone and needed to call it with a different phone to find it? What happens in those situations if your cell phone is the only phone in the house and there is an emergency? You’re screwed, that’s what.

10. I was surprised by how many people commented on my Facebook page that they had gotten rid of the land line, but then decided they wanted it back. Some said it was out of the safety concerns mentioned above, and one reader even commented that as her husband got up in age and was battling cancer the land line was just much more user-friendly as well as easier for him to hear and see, in addition to having similar 911 concerns.  

Some people also expressed concerns about cell phone radiation and how much we still don’t know about if prolonged use can affect our health.

So, there you have it.

Obviously, this is just a generalization. I have also spoken to a few women who were the ones who decided their families could do without a land line and were ultimately happy with their decision. Although, I was surprised to see that in my informal Facebook poll, they were by far in the minority and many families who originally decided to cut out their land line had decided to add it back again.

Personally, I think that if the only reason to do something (such as giving up our landline) is financial, as seems to be the case with families eliminating the land line, it’s definitely worth another look.

What about you? What do you think?

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