While I don't wear a suit and tie every day, nor a men's hat, nor habitually carry a handkerchief with me, we do still possess one relic of a bygone era: we still have a landline telephone. We've had the same phone number for decades. My parents still call me on it, and it's listed as the primary number with all of our doctors and our children's schools. Presumably, our friends have it stored somewhere, too, but I can't think offhand of the last time a friend called me on my landline phone.
Of course, other callers call it, too: telemarketers. We've listed the number on the do not call registry for years. For a time, that seemed to work. But in recent years, the telemarketer calls have been increasing. I'd categorize them as follows:
- Local vendors who provide services to homeowners like new windows, air duct cleaning and home security systems. I believe the do-not-call-list rule is that those vendors may call if they've done business with me in the past. If that is the rule, I can tell you that it's being flouted more and more with the passage of time.
- Non-local telemarketers, selling things like insurance, who seem to be based offshore and therefore are better able to skirt the do-not-call-list rules (that's my guess, anyway).
- Not for profits looking for donations. Especially egregious is the local public television station. Whenever they are in pledge-drive mode, they call us. Makes us regret supporting them. My high school and colleges also call for donations.
- Scam artists who claim to be from the IRS or Microsoft or similar
- Pollsters - especially during election season
- Political campaigns during election season
As I've mentioned, I work from home. I spend much of my work day on conference calls. A few years ago I went to Office Depot and bought a telephone that would be suitable for a small business office, and have it sitting on my desk, plugged into my land line. It's got good speaker phone capability, a mute button, and other useful features for office work. If I canceled our landline service, I'd lose the capability of that phone - or maybe not: in theory, it works with cellular service, although I'd need to locate the manual to figure out how to make it work.
And not that there aren't other ways to talk to people for work. I have a cell phone, and there are at least two employer-approved ways that I can do conference calls through my notebook computer. So I'd still have options. And there is email, texting and the world wide web, which have superseded many of the reasons for which, as a young adult, I used a landline phone, like making restaurant reservations and finding out what time the pharmacy closes.
My wife also works from home sometimes, and also spends a lot of time in teleconferences. It's annoying when the landline phone rings while we're trying to get business done with people via other modes of communication, and doubly annoying when the interruption is a telemarketer, which it almost always is. So my wife has decreed that it's time for the landline to go.
Our landline voice service is provided via our local cable carrier: we subscribe to a package that includes cable TV, data and voice. I think I've mentioned before that my kids don't even own televisions. They subscribe to data-only plans, and if they're missing out on anything, they haven't said so.
So maybe our cable TV service will be next to go. But I'm a creature of habit, and lazy enough that I don't relish figuring out how to get our television sets hooked up to the data service and then figuring out how to make my shows and ball games appear. But for the landline phone, I think I've run out of excuses.
Jim, I still have a vonage land line now that my mother lives with me. Another purpose is to call my cell phone when I misplace it.
ReplyDeleteI'm not the one to give advice on this. We got our first cell phone at the start of this month because we realized we'd be in the Visitation Monastery's guest house, without a phone, trying to coordinate the arrivals at the Philadelphia airport of family members from four cities and to keep track of who has rental cars and where they are. Now that I have it, I am pretty sure I don't like it.
ReplyDeleteBut I can say this: We already get more sales pitches and scam calls on the cell than we get on the land line. The cell does, though, let us know when it thinks the call is a scam.
I still have a land line, and I tell people it is the best way to reach me. The answering service comes on after the 7th ring. I only answer the phone if I am near it and recognized the caller ID.
ReplyDeleteI always look for messages any time I come into the house from being outside. I could answer it by taking a remote outside but I don't. I don't return phone calls unless I recognized the caller or they leave a message.
I also have an iPhone which I use mainly as a handheld computer, camera etc rather than a phone. I don't give people that number, and I don't answer that phone (it is always on vibrate). Usually it is on a shelf in my bedroom except when I take it with me for some reason. I only use it as a phone for outgoing messages in case I need to reach somebody when I am traveling.
I don't use the TV anymore so it will likely be going soon. I just have to think it all through.
Jack - I'm constitutionally incapable of sitting passively while the landline phone rings for five or six times. Assuming it is a telemarketer, it makes me feel like they're controlling my life. So I always answer the phone, confirm it's a telemarketer, say "not interested" and hang up. When it's a robocall telemarketer (pretty common these days) there is occasionally an option to press 1 to talk to someone live or press 2 to be removed from the list; whenever that's offered, I press 2.
DeleteI carry my cellphone with me everywhere. I even have it up on the altar, mostly because I don't trust myself to leave it in the sacristy and then remember to grab it after mass is over. Too many people in my life use text messaging now in order for me to be without a cell phone. I don't give out my land line number to parishioners and others I work with in ministry for that reason. I only give them my cell phone number. Plus, with my smartphone I can check my Google Mail really easily.
For work, my cell phone number is listed in the company directory. I get calls once in a while, but people are more apt to text my cell phone or IM me on my work computer than they are to call me. The phone as a business tool is on the decline, istm.
Jim, I don't push 2 because the jerks may, in the event the Do Not Call List ever amounts to something, argue that I have a "relationship" with them because I pushed 2. Probably makes no difference.
DeleteWhen I get a (rare) live one or one of the automated ones that is supposed to be able to have a conversation, I go immediately to the problem of zombies in my neighborhood, and I ask for help dealing with them until the other side's computer surrenders.
One summer when my college roommate/best friend and I both needed jobs, we went to Time, Inc. in Chicago and got hired to peddle Time-Life books on the phone. So I've been on the other end of the telemarketing calls. Those shifts started at 8 am on a Saturday. When you call someone who is still in bed on a Saturday morning and ask them if they would like to purchase "Knights of the Air" from the WWI series, you got some choice replies. To make matters worse, the newbie territories were suburban Northeast. Those folks were the least receptive to telemarketers. The choice territories were in Appalachia - they'd buy anything you pitched. But those districts went to the proven veterans.
DeleteI lasted three weeks, then got a real job.
Jim, a couple of things. First, you should NOT ever press a number to get off their call list. The robocall computer software is just generating numbers, without necessarily knowing which are active. By pressing a response, that tags your home phone as a "real" number, and that information is passed on to other scammers. Most of these calls are scams and most originate overseas using spoofed numbers for the caller id. I used to check all unknown numbers by just typing the number into google. There is a website that often comes up called 800 numbers where people report scammers. After a while, it was too many, and I simply stopped answering calls from any number/name I don't recognize. It took me a while to break my husband of answering, but he eventually realized that 90% of our landline calls are not legit and that legit callers leave a message.
DeleteWith some scam calls, if you press "2", a computer will ask you a question - such as - do you wish to be removed from our call list - when you say 'Yes", the voice is recorded. You may then be billed for something outrageous, and if you complain, they will say they have a recording of you saying "Yes", even though the question had nothing to do with an order. The local contractors who may or may not be legit (the scammers now use local area codes and prefixes in order to try to get people to answer) should be told that you are on the "do not call list" and that if they call again, you will report them and they will incur a fine. I get calls every single day from "real" phone numbers in my community - that's another tactic - no longer just generating random area codes and prefixes, knowing that many won't answer a call from some place in the country they've never been to and where they know absolutely nobody. Now very often they are simply cloning real names/phone #s from the same area code and generating calls, hoping you will answer.
I have set our landline to answer after 3 rings. It's also set to call screen, so if it is not someone in our contacts, and the caller is a legit person leaving a message, we can pick up the phone. Otherwise we just let it go to voice mail. Most scammers do not leave voice mail, but some do - they are trying to get you to call them back.
I was self-employed from 1980 until about 3 years ago and worked mostly from home, except for meetings on client sites. In the early days, there were no options other than a landline. I was often working with pre-schoolers around - not very business like if children's voices are heard in the background! I learned to make business calls during naps, preschool, etc as much as I could swing it. I worked on a project basis, and, except for daytime phone calls, I often worked at night. I sometimes closed myself in a closet with a cordless handset and shut the door!
Later, when conducting business on the cell or computer, I turned the ringer off on the landline, so that it wouldn't disturb the call.
I had to retire a few years ago, because of my hearing loss. I have difficulty understanding on the phone, and conference calls became impossible for me. My work required a lot of phone calls. I was already older than 65, my husband is 7 years older than I am (he retired at 73), so I finally gave up working. My kids usually call on the cell, because if I put it on speaker, I can hear a bit better. Also, we use Facetime on the iphone/ipads so that we can talk with our grandchildren, who live across the country and overseas. WhatsApp also has a video calling option - one of our sons lives in Australia - and he will use Whatsapp to call and do video of our grandson there.
I have 2 landlines: one for DSL and one for connection to the burglar alarm company. Evidently both can't be on the same line. The second one costs about $5.00 per month as it can only be used for the alarm purposes. I use my cellphone constantly (I even have a Bluetooth connection for it linked to my hearing aids!!!) and still value the landline that I use regularly. Nuisance calls are a minor irritation.
ReplyDeleteFunny you should mention this dilemma, we were just weighing the pros and cons of losing the land line a few days ago. We came to the conclusion that keeping it was the better option.
ReplyDeleteWe also subscribe to a package deal with the cable carrier. The phone part of it is about $30 per month. It is unlimited calling. My cell phone is a "dumb" phone with a texting keyboard. It is a pre-paid Verizon plan; the minimum charge is $5 every 2 months. I mainly use it for texting, and calls when I am away from home. This isn't the phone on which I get into long conversations; since that would burn through the minutes pretty fast. I save those for the land line. My husband has a smart phone be bought from Amazon for about $50. He also has a Verizon pre-paid plan; his costs $30 per month. It is unlimited calling and texting, but is not a data plan. He can access data at home on it or on other devices since we have wifi. He could also access free data if he were in a hot spot away from home. Advantages of the land line are that all our friends and family have the number. They also have our cell phone numbers but they don't call me on that unless I'm not home because it uses up my minutes. But we text quite a bit. The land connection is more reliable. When talking to people with cell phones calls get dropped; maybe somewhat less than they used to. The voice mail/message function of the land line is more user friendly. Also our land line number is in the phone book. Sometimes people want to contact my husband about parish stuff, and not everyone has his cell number. If we went to cell phones only I would probably have to upgrade to a smart phone, and we would end up having to get on a regular plan, and we would be spending more. Things could change in the future, but for right now we are keeping our land phone.
I was thinking how much phones have changed in my lifetime. When I was growing up we had a rural party line that we shared with several neighbors. Everybody had a different ring, maybe "two longs and a short". We had to be careful about hogging the phone too long in case someone else needed to call. Long distance was expensive, and we tried to save those calls for times when the rates were lower. When I was in college there was a pay phone down the hall in the dorm. I would put a quarter in and call my parents collect on Sunday. Old habits die hard, I still call my dad and other family members on Sunday afternoon.
ReplyDeleteWe still have a landline. I don't know why except that it comes with the wireless package.
ReplyDeleteI do miss listening in on Gramma's neighbors in the party line and the satisfying feeling of slamming the phone down in the ear of a faithless boyfriend. Can't slam nothin' on a cell. Also remember when those big old Bakelite black phones could be used as a weapon on cop shows like Perry Mason. Beaning someone with a cell would be impossible. And I miss the sound of the rotary dial, and the "dongs" the sound your change would make on a pay phone.
My recollection of pay phones was that there were certain types of calls - I suppose it was long-distance calls - where you deposited a quarter to initiate the call, but then after you had used up your minutes, the operator (or it may have been a prerecorded voice) would break into the middle of your call and say, "Please deposit 15 cents for the next 5 minutes" or some such. (I think Dr. John may have written a song about that - Sylvia's Mother, anyone?). And then, when the call had ended, sometimes the pay phone would ring, because the phone company wanted still more money. It was a signal mark of honesty whenever someone would actually answer that call and deposit more money, rather than simply walking away.
DeleteDr. Hook. "And the operator said 40 cents more, for the next three minutes." Usually you got a time that told you that you had to put in another quarter or be cut off.
Deletetime s/b tone
DeleteI lived in urban, suburban and rural areas growing up in the '60's, but the only place I remember there still being party lines was in the Detroit suburbs - Royal Oak, which was sort of a dilapidating inner-ring suburb in those days; it's a lot tonier now. I remember my mother saying, "Get off the line!" to neighbors in the midst of her not-especially-consequential-or-interesting phone chats with her mom. But privacy is privacy, right?
ReplyDeleteAfter we left the 'burbs, we moved to a farm area. Those neighbors were excited because cable was going to be rolled out there in a couple of years, which offered the prospect of being able to watch more than five channels. I couldn't figure out how they had missed out on it, as everyone in the 'burbs had it already. In that house, we had an aerial antenna for television reception. It wasn't perched on the roof as was the case in the more densely populated areas; it was on its own standalone aluminum tower, which we kids could climb if we dared and our parents weren't looking.
Until we left our row house in Upper Darby, PA in 1966, we had real live, breathing female operators. Don't know how that business model worked given that rotary dial had been around for a half century. But it was nice. "Number please."
ReplyDeleteStanley - my aunt started her career at AT&T, or as we all called it, The Phone Company, in the 1950's as one of those operators. As technology advanced and the industry changed, so did her job. At some point AT&T broke up into the Baby Bells, and she ended up at Ameritech calling on businesses to sell phone service. I think she still draws a pension from those companies today. Good for her.
DeleteCharles Morris, in his book American Catholic, talked about how Catholics of that generation, formed in unswerving obedience and a rather militant and disciplined outlook, were considered to be excellent candidates for military and other public service careers; and he included the phone company on that list. My aunt and her family (including my dad) definitely fit the mold.
Yeah, Jim, read that book a while ago. Makes sense of that generation. Then came the hippy dippies.
DeleteI had one experience with a party line. In 1960, a Northwest Lockheed Electra with 63 passengers crashed near Tell City, Ind. The biggest part landed in the field of a nice farmer who made his phone available. Even the Civil Aeronautics Board had to take advantage of it, or drive about 10 miles to a pay phone. A lot of papers were there, including Louisville and Minneapolis and Indianapolis, and I was there from Evansville. So we would line up to phone our papers. There was no such thing as an exclusive under the circumstances. When your turn came, you had to wait for all the folks on the line to hang up. Then you could make your call. I picked up the phone once and had dead air, and then a voice said, "Who is this?" I replied, "The Evansville Press." "The Minneapolis Tribune is more interesting," said the voice, "When is he coming back?"
ReplyDeleteOne thing I find annoying is when people refer to phones like the one l have as a "burn phone". Yeah, I know how that name came about, but still. It makes it sound as if you have a disposable phone; if you didn't spend $800 on it it's worthless. Does what I want it to, and has outlasted many a higher dollar, higher tech model.
ReplyDeleteI had a Nokia burner that worked great for 12 years until TracFone said they would no longer support that model.
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