teshapalmer

One-Third of U.S. Families Live Without Landline Phones, Report Says (Switched)

Oct 7th 2010 10:40AM @Uneed2kno Wireless carriers must allow 911 access even to cell phones that are not currently active. That's why donated phones are used by women's shelters ~ so they can call a 911 operator in an emergency. If I'm not mistaken, it's VOIP services like Vonage that aren't required to provide this service. My 9 year old carries my last cell phone so he can use it in an emergency. He has no other abilities on the phone except to call 911 since the phone isn't subscribed to a wireless carrier. I know it works because I've called it from that phone a few times to be certain he could access them. I've found that the operators are very happy to confirm the call is connected as long as you tell them up front it's a non-emergency.

Also, if the power is off and you use a cordless phone on your landline, your telephone cannot be used. If your phone lines are down, your landline cannot be used. In the 19 years I've been using a cell phone, I can only count a handful of times it couldn't be used because of a service related issue.

I look at my cell phone as being my primary phone line because I can not only use it on the road in an emergency, I can also call the telephone company to let them know my landline is down or my electric company to tell them my power is out.

As for the paperwork issue, I list my cell phone as the primary number to call and my home number as the secondary and I haven't had an issue yet.