Landlines are becoming obsolete

You have to love those landline phones. For reliability, they cannot be beat. And although landline phone charges have dropped considerably over recent years, their competition still wins hands down based on cost.

Massive switch is coming

That’s why a massive switch is coming, with more and more of us hanging up the landline and picking up an internet-based phone, or cell phones at home.

So what is this mighty competition? It’s known as voice over internet protocol or VOIP, and its quality is getting better every day. All you need is a computer, an Internet connection and an inexpensive phone that you can buy at any electronics stores, or on the net. For about $20 per year, make all the local and long distance calls you want, unless you have friends in foreign countries. That’s extra.

Call quality perspective

From a call quality perspective, you probably won’t even notice a difference, though you may experience an occasional call drop. VOIP may not be for everyone and you need to be aware of some issues before you throw the landline out with the eight-track player. 

Homeowners may be willing to give up the impressive reliability of their landlines, knowing their cell phones can act as excellent back-ups, especially if it’s only for an hour or two once or twice a year. The upfront costs are minimal to make the transition, and with the down economy, it may be an obvious way to save money every month.

For businesses, there will likely be a role for landlines in the future, but only as a back-up. The day-to-day phone service will be VOIP because it is so cost-effective and relatively reliable. The most expensive aspect of making this transition for a business is replacing the phones for about $50 each. But given the savings - VOIP could easily slash monthly phone bills in half, and in some cases by 70 to 80 percent - Internet phones are here to stay.

If current trends continue in telecommunications, and I predict that they will, landline phones will pretty much fade away, if not get hung up completely in the next five to ten years.