Now that cell phones are affordable and nearly ubiquitous, paying for a landline in your apartment can seem like an unnecessary expense. Cell phones are fantastic, but they aren’t perfect, and traditional phone service still retains a few reliable benefits.
Consider these situations before you decide to lose your landline.
Judge your own cell phone behavior
A very important consideration is the quality of phone service inside your apartment. Clearly, to rely only on your cell, you require cell service that is highly reliable, giving you a strong signal in every room of your apartment. If your phone or service provider are not up to the task, you might want to think twice before getting rid of your landline phone.
Also think about your personal cell phone habits. Do you keep your phone adequately charged and available to take calls most of the time? Do you ever misplace your phone, at home or elsewhere? If you decide to go “cell phone only,” you will want to ensure that you prioritize your cell phone as the primary communication device for your home.
Emergency issues
A charged cell phone will be required to make an emergency 911 call, of course. But another potential sticking point about switching from a landline to a cell-phone-only household is ensuring you have reliable 911 access for your safety. Currently, many emergency services systems automatically read the street address of the landline or VoIP line you are calling from. This is especially helpful if you are distressed and can’t give them coherent information, or if you are injured and cannot speak. When you call 911 on a cell phone, however, emergency services may not be able to pinpoint your home location without the wired connection for reference.
Power problems
One benefit to a landline is that, generally, you can still contact emergency services, family and friends when your power goes out. (A cell phone will work just fine in a power outage, of course, until its charge runs out!) You may also have apartment services that require a landline, such as a monitored alarm system. Keeping your hard-wired phone in these cases may be a necessity — or just a reasonable idea.
Telemarketing troubles
While you can, of course, place your phone number on the National Do Not Call List, you may find that losing the landline connection entirely is a truly effective way to avoid annoying, unwanted calls from zealous marketers or politicians. (Just be careful who you share your cell phone number with!)
Deciding to switch your apartment phone service to “cell phone only” can be a really smart move and a huge cost-savings measure. Before you do it, though, consider the ways you currently utilize your landline. If you feel comfortable with the decision, go ahead and cut the cord!
