You can get a "basic phone line" through Century Link for I believe $15.99. The FCC limits how much phone companies can charge for basic service. But that has no long distance, no caller id, etc. It would be a real phone line and you could make and receive local calls too. Just though thought. On a side note, most people don't know about basic cable either. You can get just the local channels for about the same cost through Comcast. Good for people on a tight budget without a good antenna. :) Matt On Sat, Jan 21, 2012 at 7:14 PM, Chuck Cole <cncole at earthlink.net> wrote: > My Phonepower VOIP service has a 911 feature... and GREAT web > features.. emailed voicemail, etc. .. plus free "softphone" SW to use > phone as if home via my laptop without router hardware wherever I have a > WiFi connection. $14.95/mo. FAR better than Vonage, cheaper, and no > hidden > costs. If someone gives my ID when signing up, then we'd both get a $10 > one-time discount. This is not intended as a commercial message, and I'm > just a subscriber. I eliminated all of my landline service, but have 911 > service, 411, etc. > > Dunno about what you requested tho. > > Chuck > > > -----Original Message----- > > From: tclug-list-bounces at mn-linux.org > > [mailto:tclug-list-bounces at mn-linux.org]On Behalf Of G Scott Walters > > Sent: Saturday, January 21, 2012 3:50 PM > > > > My household currently has local phone service with CenturyLink. Like > > most people, we make most of our calls on our mobile phones. The primary > > reason I've not considered going without a land line, is for 911 > > service. I have two kids, and would prefer that they are able to pickup > > a regular handset, than try to find a prepaid cell phone in a drawer > > somewhere. > > > > Its come to my attention that some states require emergency phone > > service, even on a disconnected line. This is sometimes called a 'soft > > line' or 'warm line'. But the only information I can find on this law is > > from a 3 year old article from Consumer Reports here: > > http://news.consumerreports.org/electronics/2009/05/update-about-9 > 11-and-disconnected-landlines.html > > Can anyone definatively say that Minnesota does or does not have this > requirement? Anyone with a disconnected CenturyLink line into your home > willing to test this? Apparently, you can dial 811 on a disconnected > line and get to a telco switch board; I wouldn't recommend to anyone > dialing 911 for non-emergency reasons. > > Thanks > > Scott > > _______________________________________________ > TCLUG Mailing List - Minneapolis/St. Paul, Minnesota > tclug-list at mn-linux.org > http://mailman.mn-linux.org/mailman/listinfo/tclug-list > -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: <http://mailman.mn-linux.org/pipermail/tclug-list/attachments/20120121/f813bcdf/attachment-0001.html>