Landline telephones, (aka Plain Old Telephone Service, or POTS lines) are the home phone you’re most likely to see in the houses of the 40 plus set. The original technology is still in use, though newer handsets have improved noise reduction issues. Until recently homes across the country depended on Landline telephone service as their only source of telephonic communication.
Landline phones are still popular in movies and TV shows, where their dial tones and familiar signal sounds allow for more drama within the story and are more effective than the digital silence of cell phones. Nowadays caller ID and digital answering systems have eliminated the need for the answering machine, and cordless phone systems have replaced standard handsets, but for certain purposes, landlines still serve an important function.
During power outages, if your cell phone runs out of battery, you’re out of luck, whereas a POTS line is legally obligated to be powered from their central offices. What if they have an outage? They’re also required to have a generator. For families with small children or people with fragile medical conditions, that can be a lifesaver.
Another reason to have a landline is if you require a fax machine in your home. Digital lines such as those utilized by VoIP aren’t always capable of handling fax, which is why many offices that still use a physical fax machine may maintain a POTS line just for the machine. Elevator lines and other emergency phone lines are more examples of places that POTS lines serve an essential purpose.
Much of the time, however, VoIP (which means Voice over Internet Protocol) service is a great solution to phone service needs for either business or personal use. VoIP lets users make calls utilizing their Internet broadband connection by converting sound into digital packets of information that are sent in a similar way to other data, such as email.
VoIP offers: free or low-cost calling all across the globe, numerous features such as video conferencing, digital voicemail, automated assistants, call recording, and more. VoIP call quality is excellent and can sometimes even be superior to a landline experience; they can even include cell phones within the network. These services can be an invaluable addition to your communication systems and also help to lower costs and increase productivity, something that every business, big or small, can benefit from.