Reddit mentions: The best landline phones

Hi! My name is Margy. I'm 21. :3

I like being outside, making friends with people who don't have many friends, making and listening to all kinds of music, pretending I am a dinosaur, playing with cats, feeling pretty, watching television series and movies (current favorites are Freaks and Geeks, Chuck, GoT, Sherlock, Firefly of course, and a few others), reading everything I can get my hands on, and playing video games (Borderlands, Assassin's Creed, Kingdom Hearts, Bioshock, anything Pokemon, TOO MANY TO LIST).

I also love cute things (like Totoro omg ♥♥), shiny things, cheap drinks, and horses. I'm studying Equine Business Management in college - going into my senior year! I'm also a resident assistant, which is a huge part of my life.

I'm silly and easy going, and people say that I'm easy to talk to. I also really love art, Sour Patch Kids, my boyfriend of two years, and Chinese food. And sushi, omg. I had sushi for lunch. ♥.♥

This is my item. I picked it because it's funny and adorable, just like me, heehee. But for real, you communicate with people on a phone, and I think communication is the most important thing on this world. But you have to have fun with life too, so why not communicate on a hamburger! :D

GREAT idea for a contest! I did a mystery box exchange once and I loved it!

Are you technical? have the patience for a DIY method?

PBX (voip) system:
-----------------------------

Here's a guide on configuring a PBX system:

FreePBX tutorial

Here's how to install FreePBX on a raspberry pi ($35 device, supposed to be able to handle ~5 active callers):

FreePBX Raspberry Pi install video

RasPBX site <-- (os in video above)

From their FAQ:
--------
>What is the performance of Asterisk running on the Raspberry Pi?

>In a typical setup with RasPBX, 10 concurrent calls are possible on a Pi 1. This is also the case for conferences, meaning 10 participants can join a conference. More than 10 calls do work, but audio quality decreases considerably with every additional call.


Voip phones:
-------------------------
Here's the affordable phone I use (works great):

Yealink T21P

^ !!!! YOU NEED TO BUY THE ADAPTER SEPARATE OR HAVE A SWITCH THAT HAS POE (Power over ethernet, 802.1at [PoE] or 802.1af [PoE+] will work for this phone). Plenty of cheap switches on amazon or you can get a PoE injector.

Just google / youtube Yealink for other models. There are more feature rich, depending on what you need.

VOIP Provider:
--------------------------
I use voip.ms (I'm in Toronto, Canada). But they have servers throughout US. You might find a better wholesale voip provider, just do some research. I can tell you that $25 deposit on voip.ms goes a long way.

Voip MS Wiki


QoS:
-----------

Quality of Service is what gurantees a certain quality (priority and or bandwidth reservation) for your VoIP (or other traffic). So people watching the NHL playoffs will not screw with your calls and make you sound robotic :]

Get a router like this:

Ubiquiti Edgerouter-X

Here's a guide to setup QoS

EdgeOS QoS <-- (this works with FreePBX / voip.ms by default. May you will have to tweak the dscp values for another pbx / provider)


EdgeOS (Edgerouter operating system) has zero licensing fees and an extremely low cost of ownership. Also has an easy wizard these days (and a decent gui) to get started quick. Running it for my network/VoIP setup and a couple of my clients flawlessly.


--------------------
If you found any of this useful be sure to thank Chris Sherwood (Crosstalk Solutions) on youtube, the creators of RasPBX and feel free to join the guys & gals on the ubiquiti community forums.

I personally do not consult for remote clients but you could reach out to Chris and he may take you on as a client. He's been doing VoIP for a long time.

Feel free to reply here if you have any questions / comments.

It's so wonderful to hear that you had a great day today! I had a good day today, too, but last night I got to meet Jason Gann (Wilfred) and after his meet-and-greet, he spent most of his time talking to me. =)

(Also, everybody that went got some free doggy items and the second season of Wilfred on DVD!)

It was the best night I've had in years.

May I enter to win a gift card? If not, I would like to enter to win this cute pillow or hamburger phone. =)

Thank you very much for the contest and I hope you have an even better day tomorrow!

Wait. Lets back up. You say "instead of paying for expensive landline PHONES why not use a smartphone." (emphasis mine).

So you mean to tell me that your issue here is that the PHONE itself is the "expensive" component in your setup? Not the phone service? And your contention is that a smartphone + some other wireless device to make the smartphone do what it wasn't designed to do and connect up to an oldstyle copper POTS line is somehow gonna be cheaper than just buying a landline phone made specifically for that purpose?

Here's a 2-pack of wireless POTS phones for $55:
http://www.amazon.com/Panasonic-KX-TGE232B-dect_6-0-2-Handset-Telephone/dp/B00IWE0CYU/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1425243243&sr=8-1&keywords=landline+wireless+phone

I found that without even trying and those are new. Because landline phones are basically a dead technology, you can go into the electronics section of any second hand or thrift store in America and pick up a wireless phone setup for less than $20.

"The internet" is relevant in this specific case because there are a bunch of services that allow you connect up the POTS system in America over the internet for free. First one that comes to mind is Google Hangouts / Google Voice. After you set up a Google Voice phone # (which is free), you are able to make & receive calls from Google Hangouts running on a computer or Android device. Costs nothing to set up and costs $0.00/minute to make & receive calls in North America. Does not require any sort of phone line, land or otherwise. Google Voice also does a bunch of other nice stuff, but in this particular case its a nice way to take an extra Android device and turn it into a usable telephone device for free. It'll work as long as the device is on the internet. Some of my savvy-but-poor friends who don't have mobile data use this method with phones & tablets and just hop from WiFi network to WiFi network, since in the city there is now pretty good WiFi coverage for free.

There used to be a company called TalkSwitch that did all of this and did it affordably, but then they sold out to Fortivoice/Fortinet and their products basically don't exist anymore, which leaves the SMB market in a bit of a bind. Sometimes you can find their stuff secondhand if you're willing to go that route, but at this point I bet those handsets and boxes are taking their last breaths.

About a year ago we took a chance on an X16 system for a small but busy dental office, hoping we wouldn't have to come up with a whole other solution a couple of weeks later. To our surprise it was easy to set up and has been working really well in that environment.

It has almost all the features you're looking for, with the possible exception of ring groups. I'd have to check with one of my guys and see if Xblue supports ring groups or not.

The one issue we ran into is that the system doesn't like having digits dialed too rapidly. You'll almost never actually encounter this, but there was one office person on site that, anytime there was a repeated digit in a phone number, like "4003", would double-tap the repeated digit. We set up a logging device between the Xblue system and their lines to the mpoe (Comcast in this case), and near as we could tell Xblue was doing everything right but the mpoe side hated it. We initially contacted Xblue support on this and found them to be friendly and wanting to help, but it wasn't something they had encountered before.

I've had to deal with Avaya in the past and I hate them with a fiery passion. Support was nonexistent unless you purchased the system from an approved vendor along with a support contract, and their entire setup was designed to be difficult and spiteful.

I've used voip for my home phone service for the past several years.

I first started with an ATA connected to a Panasonic DECT cordless phone. This worked fine, but I was always having to troubleshoot issues with DTMF talk-off and echo.

A few years later, I decided to stop using the ATA and upgrade to an actual IP phone. The difference was huge. I never had echo issues or DTMF talk-off issues with the IP phone. Also, the sound quality was much better and there was less latency in the conversation.

I would highly recommend that you spend a little more money and get an IP phone. They don't have to be as expensive as a Cisco phone. Here are a few that may be worth considering (I'm not sure if you are looking for a desk phone, or a cordless one.):

https://www.amazon.com/Grandstream-Enterprise-Telephone-GXP2130-Included/dp/B00JBVVZV2/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1486317550&sr=8-4&keywords=ip+phone

https://www.amazon.com/Yealink-YEA-W52P-Business-Cordless-Phone/dp/B00BIV3Y26/ref=sr_1_15?ie=UTF8&qid=1486317550&sr=8-15&keywords=ip+phone

https://www.amazon.com/Panasonic-KX-TGP600-Dect-Cordless-Handset/dp/B011S51ZN6/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1486317617&sr=8-4&keywords=panasonic+ip+phone

https://www.amazon.com/Yealink-Professional-Gigabit-Phone-PART/dp/B00PBBAI3C/ref=sr_1_7?ie=UTF8&qid=1486317653&sr=8-7&keywords=yealink

I got my dad one of these pendant's.

Basically, you can program up to 4 phone numbers for it to call once the button on the pendant is pressed. You can also program it to call "911" (which you can turn off). When it calls the first number, it asks the person answering to press "7" to continue. This is to make sure it hasn't reached an answering machine. If no one answers or doesn't press "7", then it will call the next number.

Once they press the pendent button and the call is made, they can speak to and hear the other party directly from the pendant.

If you'd rather get an e-mail/text rather than a call, you can get a cheap VOIP (Voice over IP) telephone number and program the pendant to call the VOIP number. Then you program the VOIP to send a text or e-mail upon receiving any calls to that number. Well, you don't "program" anything, you just check a few boxes in the VOIP set-up menu system offered by your VOIP provider.

A VOIP phone number can be as cheap as $1.00/month. Take a look at Callcentric or VOIP.ms.

Good luck!

This is a selection of what I keep in my tech go-bag. You'll build your kit as you learn and build experience, or realize you could have helped a customer out of a jam quicker if you had that tool with you.

• cheap flashlights you wont feel bad about leaving in a ceiling or inside a rack: https://www.amazon.com/Magnetic-Lights-Super-Bright-White/dp/B00I45JKTA/
  
  
• torx screwdriver for lots of little devices. I have a similar set and it's pretty decent: https://www.amazon.com/Vastar-Magnetic-Precision-Screwdriver-Electronics/dp/B015F734P0/
  
  
• power supply tester
  
  
• rechargable canned air
  
  
• zip ties
  
  
• velcro: https://www.amazon.com/iMBAPrice-Cable-Fastening-Tape-Yards/dp/B00FT2WHO6/
  
  
• leatherman/gerber multi-tool (needlenose) convenient when you need to do something quick and you don't have your bag with you.
  
  
• Set of pliers/wire cutters (leave the chanel locks at home): https://www.amazon.com/Tools-VISE-GRIP-4-Piece-Traditional-2078707/dp/B000CFMCTK/
  
  
• sharpies
  
  
• electrical tape: the good kind not the cheapo stuff
  
  
• multi-screwdriver: https://www.amazon.com/Lenox-Tools-23932-Multi-Tool-Driver/dp/B0013NX2DA/
  
  
• cordless electric screwdriver if you have lots of screwing to do.
  
  
• razor knife: https://www.amazon.com/Gerber-Lite-Pocket-Knife-31-000345/dp/B002RILCLY/
  
  
• cable tester/tone generator: https://www.amazon.com/ELEGIANT-Multifunction-Tracker-Measuring-Instrument/dp/B01HCQSHNG/
  
  
• analog phone for testing phone lines: https://www.amazon.com/Saytay-Telephone-Lineman-Tester-Connectors/dp/B01ABT7458/
  
  
• punch down tool: https://www.amazon.com/TRENDnet-Punch-Krone-Blade-TC-PDT/dp/B0000AZK4D/
  
  
• cable crimper: https://www.amazon.com/TRENDnet-RJ-45-RJ-12-RJ-11-TC-CT68/dp/B0000AZK4G/
  
  Various extra parts I've accumulated over the years like screws, ATX Molex Power to SATA Power Adapters, ATX Molex Y splitters, SATA cables etc..
  
  Good luck and some tools overlap like multi tools and pliers so if budget is low, go with the tool that covers the most jobs.
  
  Edit: I noticed your bag is kind of expensive compared to something like a Dewalt tool bag. I use a plain Dewalt bag which is not as cool as the one in the link, but it's just as tough. This might be a good and less expensive consideration for you if you don't require the look of a briefcase for your tool bag.
  
  Edit 2: You may want to mark your tools with a wrap of some crazy bright color electrical tape to be able to recognize them when they walk away.
  
  
  

if mom needs phone and sprint coverage is good in your area i suggest you get her on this plan tonight

https://social.ringplus.net/discussion/7850/blt-2-free-plan-discussion/p1

if you can.. its 6000 mins txt mms 6gig data... pay zero per month if you don't go over and a one time signup/topup fee of I think $38 .. they may or may not have phones for sale .. you can get a cheap one .. flip phone or basic android.. and then swap in a more expensive one later like your samsung or iphone .. phones must pass their check which looks to see if you are paid up on your plan with your current provider and that its unlocked.. if you miss the sale watch them on twitter for the next sale...

then if mom likes her home phone you can get a Vtech Connect to Cell cordless phone that will use moms cellphone to make and answer calls.. it works by bluetooth and it automatically connects when you come home and put the cellphone near it.. just get a wall jack usb charger hook the cellphone up to charge and leave it on and she can use the homephones

https://www.amazon.com/VTech-DS6621-2-Cordless-Bluetooth-Answering/dp/B00KJJCL9K/


as for television you have to talk with her about what she likes and needs.. antenna offerings can be excellent in areas near cities .. you can get 2 dozen stations.

I think your statement is far beyond the truth. It's like saying the Cortelco ITT 2500 was the best phone we were ever gonna get because it provided all the basic functions of a phone, and that's really all you need.

The commercial aviation industry does need something revolutionary, and has for awhile, since we're all sitting in retrofitted planes from the early 80's, while airlines buy each other out instead of actually competing to make air travel a worthwhile experience again.

Phone+Tone to Pulse Converter+VOIP box+Google Voice=My daughters first and only phone I provided.

For all other tech; people need yards raked, poop scooped, dogs walked, babies sat.....

BTW she loves it her friends can call her, she can call them, the old who gets to the phone first game is live. And yes slamming the phone is the only way to hang up.

If you have bluetooth on your cellphone,
you buy this. It acts like a bluetooth headset, it has a great speakerphone, and you can all pickup a handset and talk on it too, just like a home phone.

Good point how about this one: http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/aw/d/B00FYU8T4U?cache=bf72a1035c77b2b153078fcbb2f8e65d&pi=SY200_QL40&qid=1411312894&sr=8-2#ref=mp_s_a_1_2 This is surely better than a cordless phone of similar price: http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/aw/d/B00AF83FOK?cache=bf72a1035c77b2b153078fcbb2f8e65d&pi=SY200_QL40&qid=1411312785&sr=8-1#productDescription_secondary_view_pageState_1411312793722 but why surely the technology isn't that different

Marston !!!

please tell me you still use a landline! Pleassseeee

I love lamp

salt n peppa's here

vase to match the lamp!

This is so much fun!

Not sure what you're trying to accomplish, but it sounds like you're over complicating it by bringing VoIP into the conversation.

What about a corded/cordless phone system with Bluetooth? Something like this - https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00V5ZJRNU/ref=cm_sw_em_r_mt_dp_U_qankDbDPFQZPG

Something you need to realize with that, those are both third party sellers.

You want something sold by amazon.

A better example would be:

• VTech CS6909 (Canada)
  
• VTech CS6909 (COM)
  
  Third party sellers are allowed to set their prices to whatever they want. They can set it to 1M if they want, it might not sell, but it might.

I don't own either of the products I will describe so I'm not sure of the names and model numbers. I'll include some links as hints so you have an idea of what products to look for.

Walmart sells an IP phone attachment called BasicTalk. There is a $10 a month charge for the service. It replaces the land line and will hook into the home phone wiring so you use normal phones. A friend has this system and has told me it works well.

I'm not sure it it meets your needs but Panasonic and possibly other telephone manufacturers make multi-handset cordless phone systems that connect via Bluetooth to cell phones. So, the systems becomes an extension of a cell phone. It works with or without a land line. That might be useful because calling a paired cell phone causes all the handsets to ring. So, if one of the cell phones is in the house and linked to the phone system the home phones will ring. (I read the features on the box of a model of a Panasonic system that had a text message indicator too, but I'm not sure of the model number.) I've seen Panasonic (and AT&T?) systems at Sam's Club for anywhere from $89 to $139 and here is one model on Amazon so you can see what I'm talking about. The system I've seen allows two cell phones to pair via Bluetooth.

By the way, I suspect it is possible to hook the Panasonic phone to the BasicTalk box and have both IP and cell service. The only problem I am aware of is that when the cell phones are connected all outgoing calls will go through the cell phone. Investigate carefully.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY HDATZ

Ever see Juno? Yes? No? Still cool either way

BTW, what your "large telecom company" is almost certainly doing is connecting your analog telephone to a voip adapter. i.e. you are already using voip.

Look for and buy a "business" telephone system. "business" phone systems will have the features that you need. Don't get voip adapters for your analog phones.

Get something like the following. It is expandable up to 6 lines:

https://www.amazon.com/Panasonic-KX-TGP550-SIP-DECT-Phone/dp/B002SUEQBY

What about this sort of thing? I have an old cell phone that I could hook-up to it for them? Seems like it would work with any phone or plan that way, right?

https://www.amazon.com/VTech-DS6621-2-Expandable-Bluetooth-Answering/dp/B00KJJCL9K/ref=pd_sbs_107_t_1/135-0766618-2293469?_encoding=UTF8&pd_rd_i=B00KJJCL9K&pd_rd_r=ca81653e-babc-4e46-b789-ece757397218&pd_rd_w=uMbkA&pd_rd_wg=CQmkR&pf_rd_p=5cfcfe89-300f-47d2-b1ad-a4e27203a02a&pf_rd_r=R7QJTECZJ125SYGXQD07&psc=1&refRID=R7QJTECZJ125SYGXQD07

Here you go.

Pretty sure these are the ones I have, but I'm not home yet to verify the exact model number.

Nope there was no option like that. Look for yourself.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00V5ZJRNU/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Consider the Panasonic KX-TGP550 SIP DECT.

http://www.amazon.com/Panasonic-KX-TGP550-SIP-DECT-Phone/dp/B002SUEQBY/ref=sr_1_3?s=office-products&ie=UTF8&qid=1451685963&sr=1-3&keywords=panasonic+sip

Supports up to six phones and eight lines. Can do everything you want except for record calls. I think there are other means available to record calls.

https://www.amazon.com/Converter-Antique-Rotary-Telephone-Modern/dp/B00DUDAR5M

This is the closest thing I can find. Hopefully this is a decent lead for you let me know if this is what you’re looking for

What about something like this? VTech DS6621-2 DECT 6.0 Cordless Phone with Bluetooth Connect to Cell/Answering System, Silver/Black with 2 Handsets https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00KJJCL9K/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_EmKxCbFHS7RQ4

Weird you want? Weird I got.

• Bacon and Egg Ornaments
  
  
• Related to the mug you got him print
  
  
• Nyan Adventure Time Magnet
  
  
• Hamburger Phone
  
  
• Gecko Fan
  
  
• Sloth Christmas Sweater

I bought one of these for my kit:

https://amazon.com/Saytay-Telephone-Lineman-Tester-Connectors/dp/B01ABT7458/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1469475891&sr=8-1&keywords=Phone+tester

It's worked well the handful of times I've needed it.

I had to get a new line for the BOGO phone. I'll be turning the new line into a home phone and buying a home cell connection set so my kids will have a phone to use to call for help. I don't trust them enough with an actual phone yet.


I'll also probably bring it with when we go on trips as a hotspot.

Surprised you didn't end up with this, handed to you without a word: http://www.amazon.com/Hamburger-Cheeseburger-Burger-Phone-Telephone/dp/B0016CVUR8

Go buy one on amazon then. They still make them. Rotary dial phone

My business uses this system. It's fairly quick and simple to setup, and as of yet (2 years of use) hasn't failed me. It can be setup to ring all phones or just 1 when calls come in.

If all you want is the handset, those are still sold as retro kitsch:

https://www.amazon.com/Native-Union-Phone-Retro-Handset/dp/B004Z6M918

Or you can buy the whole phone:

https://www.amazon.com/Vintage-ROTARY-fashioned-Rotary-Telephone/dp/B00A66R3YY

Perhaps instead of looking for a typical business style phone maybe one of the more modern DECT cordless style phones would work, such as:

http://www.amazon.com/VTech-DS6321-3-Cordless-Silver-Handsets/dp/B002JH1C5Y

You store the names in the phone book, then perhaps the receptionist can hit flash, nav to the phonebook, pick who to transfer to & then connect the call into a 3-way, then hang-up. Could be kind of clumsy & definitely no guarantee it'll work proper.

There might also be softphone software that could do similar things using a VOIP provider, no physical phone would be needed just a headset hooked to the computer.

Related.


Other side of related.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0016CVUR8/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_vRQIDb9WP5AW9

https://www.amazon.com/Converter-Antique-Rotary-Telephone-Modern/dp/B00DUDAR5M

VTech DS6621-2 DECT 6.0 Expandable Cordless Phone with Bluetooth Connect to Cell and Answering System, Silver/Black with 2 Handsets https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00KJJCL9K/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_rlzSDbB528ADJ

In the US, throughout much of the time rotary telephones were in use, the customer didn't own the phone. The equipment was the property of the phone company. This may affect the availability.

Anyway, you can buy replica rotaries on Amazon and probably other sites. You can also buy the one your found and replace the cord (also sold online).

omg $6.87, you need this:

hamburg phone!

most telcos don't support rotary any more. You can get a converter to use an old phone.

https://www.amazon.com/Converter-Antique-Rotary-Telephone-Modern/dp/B00DUDAR5M

You can get a pulse to tone adapter to make them support tone exchanges. ENTS (ents.ca) had a rotary phone on the voip system we had going there. A quick search turns up https://www.amazon.ca/Converter-Antique-Rotary-Telephone-Modern/dp/B00DUDAR5M. I don't remember where I bought the one we put in at ENTS but it was about the same price. It's painful to call anyone though, especially with 10 digit dialing.

No one can steal your data from this phone: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00A66R3YY/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_awdb_t1_HEZ1DbDHRPA49

• I freaked out after being let go from my first job out of college. It was in my field of study and I was only there two months. I didn't do anything wrong and I wasn't ever late but I was let go for "not fitting it." The owner said I was too quiet and shy and didn't want the public to get the wrong impression by my introvert personality. I went home and cried like a baby. I felt like a complete failure and like I'd wasted my degree. I called my mom, who drove two hours to see me. She took me to lunch and then let me cry it out. She gave me a pep talk and immediately I felt my pity party go away. She kept me from thinking anything negative and boosted me when I needed it.
  
  
• I really wish I had this hamburger phone as a cell phone. I think its pretty freaking awesome!
  
  
• Don't sweat the petty stuff and don't pet the sweaty stuff
  
  
• you're going to be ok I promise. I freaked out when I was about to graduate college. Its a big change, big responsibility, and is scary. Its nothing close to as bad as you're making it in your head. One step at a time love. It will all work out and be less scary : )