Why Did I Switch?
It’s something that I’ve wanted to do for the past 2-3 years. I grew up never having any decent smart phones; I had Tracphones, and cheap barely running $30 Android phones. About 5-6 years ago I got my first really solid smartphone and I became addicted since then. I would notice myself paying attention to the phone at the store, or anytime I felt slightly out of place. I had shoulder and neck pains from staring at it so much. I’m a tech junkie, however I know when enough is enough, recently I calculated how much money I’d be saving a year by switching to services like Google Voice and it’s astounding around $380 a year, and it would’ve been more had I not downgrading my current cell plan. I also hate being bothered while I’m busy. I decided I had spent most of my life barely using cell phones and after seeing some videos about Google Voice and different options for landline services I decided that I was going this route for good.
Why A Landline And Not A Dumb Phone?
To put it simply we live in a world of constant connectivity. Everyone wants your attention **RIGHT NOW** and if they don’t get it they get angry. I actually know a few people who get very angry when I, or others don’t answer the phone for them **EVERYTIME**. I’ve also had people call me on the phone when they’re in a bad mood just to complain to me about it. I don’t play these games, if people give me a good reason to make a big change I’m jumping in. If all of my calls are going to a landline that means 100% of the calls I answer are happening when I’m not busy.
But What If There’s An Emergency! WHAT IF SOMEONE DIES!!!!!
I’ve had a relative get furiously angry with me and ACTUALLY say this to me whenever I turned their phone off after they woke me up with 4-5 Facebook Marketplace notifications at 3AM.
- – Your family knows where you live. If they don’t know where you live then tell them.
- – If there’s an emergency you should be calling 9-11 NOT me.
- – Most of the people that I’ve seen freak out like that are older people who literally have lived into being middle-aged without ever touching a cell phone or the internet. You seem to have lived just fine back then.
- You can still have a cell phone just to call 9-11 laying around if you need it to travel with. I’m merely saying I don’t feel like answering angry phone calls about how I upset some random relative with a joke 3 days ago. (and yes I’m purposely speaking from experience I know not everyone’s family is like that)
MODERN Ways To Hook Up A Landline
Buying an Obi Hai VOIP Phone – This is what I chose to do. This phone connects through your router and can connect to many different services like Google Voice, Anveo, and One Suite. These phones are mainly sold through Amazon.
Cell2Jack and/or XLink adapters – These nifty little devices connect to your cell phone via bluetooth and just ring through to your landline phones. The XLink branded ones seem to be really good, but the Cell2Jack seem like a more budget friendly option from my research. Maybe someday I’ll link one of these up to my cell phone using my local network and Google Voice and put it in another room of the house. My Obi Hai will continue to be my main phone, however these are definitely a good option for situations like what I’ve just described. If I ever live somewhere where I have dedicated office I’ll certainly have one phone in the office and one in the bedroom at least.