Hardline long distance service - recommendations?

[Frederick Skelly]

For a variety of reasons, I HATE using my cell phone for long distance calls. I think I want to go back to a hardline phone for long distance service. I do a mix of intrastate and interstate calling.

Do any of you (still) have hardline long distance service? Who do you use? Would you recommend them?

I'm reluctant to call Ma Bell because I'd like to avoid going with UVERSE unless there is no other choice.

Thanks folks!
Fred

[Brian Henderson]

What difference does it make? A phone is a phone. Most cell phones have free long distance, just like most landlines. We got rid of our landline, best decision we ever made. The only reason we still have telephones plugged in is because they serve as an intra-house intercom system.

[Peter Kelly]

Skype Unlimited is only $2.54 / month if you pay the year in advance. Unlimited calls to any land line or mobile phone in the US or Canada.

https://secure.skype.com/en/calling-rates

[Jerome Stanek]

I have voip from time warner that works very well. I need a fax and my wife likes the idea of a land line as our cell phones are not dependable where we live not good reception in the house and that is with every carrier

[Brian Elfert]

My parents just use a prepaid calling card. Long distance companies started charging a monthly minimum so they dropped long distance. My father does most long distance on his cell phone now days.

If you use UVERSE you may not have a choice on long distance providers. There are cell phones now with better voice quality if that is an issue with long distance calling.

[Rich Enders]

I have a Cox hardline for my business fax, which is also used on occasion for voice calls. Cell service in our (rural) area is variable, and so I use the hardline for conference calls, and other important calls. So far the Cox hardline always works (for 13 years).

[Frederick Skelly]

Thanks guys! I'll go look at those options. I appreciate your advice!
Fred

[Jim Becker]

Unless you are calling outside of the country, most landline services are flat-rate these days anyway. You're already "paying" for the LD on your cell service in most cases. You could use an IP based service via your Internet access, such as Skype, Oooma, etc., but that's just adding cost to your life.

We do have land-line service in our home because 1) it's bundled with our TV and Internet service via Verizon FiOS and 2) we're in a cell dead-spot and E911 service is important to us due to an emotionally disabled adult child in the home. We're essentially paying "nothing" for the service. While we do make some LD calls with it (generally to the 'rents in central Florida while we're eating a meal at the kitchen table) most of our individual calling, local or LD is via our wireless phones. (We have a micro-cell in the house)

[Larry Browning]

What is that you hate so much about using your cell phone for long distance? If it has to do with using the device itself, they now make cordless phones that connect via bluetooth to your cell phone that allows you to use it just like a land line. My wife wears hearing aids and generally has trouble using her cell phone (she mostly uses it to text). So we have it connected to a wireless phone when she is home and she can hear much better on it. We receive and make calls just as you would using a landline. It has the ability to work with both our phone, even though I don't have mine connected.

[Mike Snead]

Provided you already have high-speed internet service http://www.ooma.com/ is highly regarded. Just buy the device and then the only monthly cost is pass-through junk fees.

[Brian Elfert]

Another option if it is just the device would be to get a bluetooth headset that works with the cell phone. Bluetooth is on pretty much every cell phone these days.

[Matt Meiser]

"Long Distance" is still a thing????

[roger wiegand]

Adding "land line" service with "free" long distance to our Verizon FIOS TV and internet was essentially free, but this is also VOIP or something very much like it, no longer a POTS (plain old telephone service) line. VOIP has gotten good enough that there is no real difference in quality any more. The only real difference is that POTS used to keep working when the power went out.

If your cell signal is the problem you can get a personal repeater that connects to the interweb and provides good cell coverage in a ~50-100 ft radius where it doesn't otherwise exist.

[Frederick Skelly]

Thanks again for all the ideas guys! I've got plenty to work with now.

Have a good evening!
Fred

[Curt Harms]

What is that you hate so much about using your cell phone for long distance? If it has to do with using the device itself, they now make cordless phones that connect via bluetooth to your cell phone that allows you to use it just like a land line. My wife wears hearing aids and generally has trouble using her cell phone (she mostly uses it to text). So we have it connected to a wireless phone when she is home and she can hear much better on it. We receive and make calls just as you would using a landline. It has the ability to work with both our phone, even though I don't have mine connected.

Larry, I have no experience with hearing aids & cell phones (though that may change) but I found this while surfing my cell phone provider's web site:

http://www.airvoicewirelessphones.com/HAC-Phones/

In part:

Compatible Phones and Devices
We work closely with handset vendors to improve the user experience of customers who have hearing aids. Pursuant to FCC guidelines, the handsets listed below have been tested and rated for Hearing Aid Compatibility (HAC). These HAC ratings, or "M-Ratings" and "T-Ratings," help hearing aid users find the best phone for their needs.

M-Ratings: Mobile phones rated M3 or M4 meet Federal Communications Commission (FCC) requirements and are likely to generate less interference to hearing devices that do not operate in telecoil mode. M4 is the better/higher of the two ratings.

T-Ratings: Mobile phones rated T3 or T4 meet FCC requirements and are likely to be more usable with a hearing device’s telecoil (“T Switch” or “Telephone Switch”). T4 is the better/higher of the two ratings. (Note that not all hearing devices have telecoils in them.)


This is the first I'd known about cell phones & hearing aids.

We have cordless phones with blue tooth in the base station. We already had several hand sets scattered around the house. They have a second 'answer' key and different ring tone for blue tooth connected phones. It saves having a cell phone in my pocket. The blue tooth connection seems very reliable. Like Jim B. we have Verizon Fios and last time I checked "double play" - TV and internet cost the same as "triple play" - TV, Internet & Phone. I do think the call quality on Verizon is better than call quality on cell phones, plus I have more confidence in 911 using a land line. Perhaps I'm wrong on that but for us there's no benefit to dropping the land line. If we had a different telecom provider the answer might be different.

[Larry Browning]

Curt,
We are well aware of the different M and T ratings on cell phones. In fact, that is the first feature we look at in a cell phone for her. I honestly can't remember what it is on the one she has now, but believe me it makes a difference when selecting a phone for her. I think we try to get one that has a T4 rating for her current HAs.
Trust me, when hearing aids enter your life, there is much to learn and consider when it comes to compatibility with other audio electronic devices. Like everything else electronic, the technology changes very fast and what is true today may not be in a month. There is also the added problem of hearing aids not being "mainstream" when it comes to the latest gadgets that the media covers so information about the latest hearing aid technology is sometimes hard to find.
For instance: We are currently planning an overseas trip and I am trying to find some headphones that she can wear. So far about all I have discovered is the the list of hearing aid compatible headphone is VERY limited. I am thinking that for her to use them she may have to remove her HAs. Also, even if they are advertised as hearing aid compatible, there is not guarantee they will work with hers.

[roger wiegand]

Fortunately I don't have to know about this yet, but I'm astonished that phones don't talk directly to hearing aids via bluetooth without going through a cycle of D-->A-->D-->A along the way. Perhaps there's a product that needs to be invented. Similarly for headphones-- it would seem pretty trivial to combine wireless headphone functionality into a hearing aid.

For whatever reason my dad could hear much better not he cell phone than he could on the regular phone, even though the latter was amplified.

[Larry Browning]

Fortunately I don't have to know about this yet, but I'm astonished that phones don't talk directly to hearing aids via bluetooth without going through a cycle of D-->A-->D-->A along the way. Perhaps there's a product that needs to be invented. Similarly for headphones-- it would seem pretty trivial to combine wireless headphone functionality into a hearing aid.

For whatever reason my dad could hear much better not he cell phone than he could on the regular phone, even though the latter was amplified.
I do not know for sure, but I think the problem is size. The electronics needed for bluetooth may just be to large to fit into the device. OTOH, it could be licensing or some such nonsense. My wife does have a device that will pickup a bluetooth signal and then transmit that to her hearing aids through some other technology. She uses it some with her cell phone, but it drains the hearing aid battery very fast.