Mobile and Wired Phones Can Work Togehter

Last week we discussed the option of giving up a hard wired telephone line for your home or small business and installing a system that uses a cellular network.  That system uses a special device that connects all your existing wired and cordless phones with the cellular network.  The big difference is that your connection to the outside world is through a wireless carrier rather than hard wired through Ma Bell.  You maintain a separate telephone number for your home.

There is another similar system that might be a good choice for some.  This system uses a special docking device that allows your existing mobile phone to serve as the outside connection for home phones.  It allows your mobile phone to be charged while at the same time providing an outside connection for all your existing phones located throughout the house.  So when you come home you just dock your mobile phone and any calls incoming or outgoing are handled by the traditional wired phones.  

The system described last week allowed you to keep both a mobile number and a “home” number.  This system uses only one number, your mobile number, no matter if you are at home or on the road.  The benefit of one number is reduced monthly cost.   One number is less expensive than two.

There are other advantages such as using the free long distance offered by most mobile carriers.  Also, if you are on a protracted call, the old style handset on a wired phone is more comfortable to hold to your ear than a cell phone.

Before you make the switch you need to know that there are some drawbacks to going with only a cellular service for your home or small business.  You can’t use a fax or credit card terminal with this service.  Some emergency notification services like those for the elderly or disabled are not supported.  Home security alarms also can’t be connected to the system. And, of course, you must get a good signal from the cellular carrier.

Perhaps one of the biggest disadvantages is that with only one telephone number you can’t, as many of us do, keep your mobile number somewhat protected.  For example I don’t freely give out my mobile number so I don’t get unwanted calls.  Even as careful as I am, I still get robocalls and solicitations for vacations on my mobile.  I don’t want more.

Since you are using an existing mobile account there is no incremental monthly cost unless you go over your allotted minutes.  There is a one-time purchase of the interface device.  These begin at about $30 and go up to about $150 depending on the features.  The more expensive models have battery back up, separate internal voice mail and caller ID displays.  You can find various models at local electronic stores and on line.

Again these options are not for everyone.  For those who have already jettisoned their land line, this option might be worth a second look.

New Home Phone Options

When we think of new phone technology, most of us think about the newest smart phone models and the circus-like press announcements from the likes of Apple or Samsung that entice us to upgrade. The lowly wired phones that are still found in most homes have for the most part not changed in decades.  We may have dumped that pink Princes phone for a cordless model with caller ID and a digital answering device but we still pay Ma Bell about 50 bucks a month for a wired line.

   

Over the years cable companies have offered digital services that use the Internet rather than the wired phone network to provide home or business phone service.  I have written in the past about magicJack, an Internet based phone system for the home.  There is now another option being marketed by Verizon, AT&T and some other cellular providers.  They all use the same technology.

The Verizon service is called Home Phone Connect and instead of using the wired telephone network, it uses the cellular network.  While the service is not for everyone, it can save substantial money over traditional land line service.

The system requires the purchase or the monthly rental of a small device that is easily connected to the existing phone wires in your house.  The phones can be regular hard wired extensions or cordless phones.  Any phone now working in your home can be used with the new system.  You can keep your current home telephone number.  When you cancel your existing service you have your number ported to the new Verizon wireless number.   

The cost for this service begins at about $20 per month so it is less expensive than most traditional land line home phone services.  Before you make the switch you need to know that there are some drawbacks to going with a cellular service for your home or small business.  You can’t use a fax or credit card terminal with this service.  Some emergency notification services like those for the elderly or disabled are not supported.  Home security alarms also can’t be connected to the system. And of course you must get a good signal from the Verizon cellular network. 

This is only one option you might consider.  Next week we will look at a device that connects your existing mobile phone to all your home wired phones.

Convenience Has a Price

There is no doubt that the proliferation of all things digital has provided once unbelievable conveniences in our daily lives.  Simple things like shopping or writing a letter are now made effortless with the help of computers, tablets, smart phones and other digital accoutrement.  We can ask our smart phone for directions to the closest ATM when we need cash.  Amazon not only fills our book order but makes suggestions for other reads that we might like.  Parents can keep an eye on their teenager’s comings and goings and your auto insurance company can even offer discounts if you let one of their digital recorders “ride along” with you.

I am not nor do I want others to be paranoid about big brother or big sister.  I do think that it is a good to be aware of how much information we provide to others often without a second thought.  Once digitized that information can live forever and be shared freely among thousands of users.

Many of us have mobile phones.  Even the simplest model allows our carriers to retain the contents of most every call we make or text message we send.  Smart phones with GPSpinpoint our exact location 24/7.  

We swipe our Kroger card freely to get discounts thus allowing our buying patterns to be tracked.  Once a birth certificate is registered for your new born don’t be surprised if you see more ads for Pampers on your Facebook pages.  Browse the web to look at the new Corvette our buy lots of expensive food items and you might see more offers for trips and expensive cars in your email.

 

Gathering, storing, sorting and analyzing all of this information is made possible by our digital networked society.  Everything is connected and once a scrap of information enters this electronic labyrinth it is essentially there forever.

For sure some companies and organizations maintain strict privacy policies but the volume of public information on line is amazing.  If you want to try an experiment search for information about yourself.  Start with Google and move on to the various White Pages directories.  Don’t forget HamiltonCountyAuditor.org and the Clerk of Courts website in your county.  You will be amazed by the profile you can develop.  Where you live and what your home is worth is but a click away.  Missed a tax payment?  That bit of information is there too.

In some ways the horse has left the barn.  For most of us the convenience of having this free flow of information is now so pervasive that even if we want to, we cannot go back. So the next time you are loading an App on your iPad or smart phone and it asks you to enable the GPSlocation feature remember that it does come with a price.