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The thought of giving up your telephone landline in no way minimizes the importance the telephone has served in modern society. The landline has been an incredibly important means of communication for every one from the business person to those in need of emergency assistance.

However, in the last decade or so, new options have appeared on the scene as affordable alternatives. Namely, the Cell Phone and Voice Over Internet Protocol (VOIP), or the Internet Phone. Because these options can sometimes be less expensive than the landline, the question arises; Is it possible to give up your land line phone for one of these alternatives?

My wife and I went through this analytical process ourselves. Some years ago we saw an advertisement for very low cost VIOP service from a company called Lingo, and we decided to try it out. After all, if it proved reliable, we would only be paying $20 compared to $59 for the land line, and long distance would be free within the US.

So we ordered it. It was simple to set up, and the program offered some very good features. It even worked so well that after a week we decided to cancel the landline. Unfortunately, it was only a week or so later that trouble began.

The phone, hooked up to our cable Internet, would go off line sometimes while we were at work, even though the cable Internet was still working. Then, when we came home there were no messages. This was especially troubling for my wife who was selling Avon at the time. She needed for customers and associates to be able to reach her.

We would call the VOIP company and get the issue resolved only to have it happen again in a few days. The final straw came when we were left without VOIP for a week because of technical issues. We canceled. I must say, they were very good about accepting our cancellation before the contract term was up. There was no penalty.

Not all VOIP service is bad though. In fact I would not be surprised if the company above, Lingo, has not resolved it's difficulties. Also, a business associate of mine has Comcast Internet Phone and is very happy with the service. So it can work well. We had subscribed when the technology was very new, and I guess there were some bugs to work out. I think that a reliable VOIP service could easily serve your needs as well as any landline and, even better, long distance is free.

When we first subscribed to our cell phones we intended it to be used for emergencies. In case we were traveling and broke down or had an accident or another

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