What long distance providers are available to my land line?
November 2, 2015 2:08 PM Subscribe
Sprint no longer provides wire line (land line) long distance service here. Their announcement said that the local phone provider would have a list of options, but AT&T only tried to sell me their own long distance. Now what?
Please, if anyone knows how I can figure out what long distance providers are available to me, on a land line, in our area, tell me. I'm in area code 919.
I am peeved at AT&T. The phone support has gone beyond useless into actively-time-wasting and hard-to-hear-because-of-background-noise. I'm pretty sure they find us land line customers to be annoying and are waiting for us all to give up and change to less-reliable, less-comprehensible, less-good-for-actually-conversing cell service. Hah.
(Please don't mock me for keeping the land line. Land line service is wonderful for actually having conversations. The sound is clear and there are fewer unintentional interruptions, since there's essentially no delay. It's also great for business calls, for the same reasons, but elevated so that politeness=better results and less time for each project. So, we want to keep it, and we want to be able to talk to other people (e.g. parents) in distant places, who also have land lines.)
Please, if anyone knows how I can figure out what long distance providers are available to me, on a land line, in our area, tell me. I'm in area code 919.
I am peeved at AT&T. The phone support has gone beyond useless into actively-time-wasting and hard-to-hear-because-of-background-noise. I'm pretty sure they find us land line customers to be annoying and are waiting for us all to give up and change to less-reliable, less-comprehensible, less-good-for-actually-conversing cell service. Hah.
(Please don't mock me for keeping the land line. Land line service is wonderful for actually having conversations. The sound is clear and there are fewer unintentional interruptions, since there's essentially no delay. It's also great for business calls, for the same reasons, but elevated so that politeness=better results and less time for each project. So, we want to keep it, and we want to be able to talk to other people (e.g. parents) in distant places, who also have land lines.)
Ooma, which is voip but can run via a landline phone and has 911 service, which not all the voip services have. In my experience it is not *quite* as good as my previous landline (which was through verizon and I am pretty sure was also voip/online rather than copper wire) but it's close enough, and definitely better than cell phones. And very inexpensive after minimal
To Corpse's post: this (ooma) is not copper wire and it will not work if power/wifi goes out.
As with most of these kinds of services, I think I have some sort of discount/promo code, if you want it. [I don't know if it's allowed to offer this kind of thing on mifi; if not, disregard this.]
posted by 2 cats in the yard at 2:43 PM on November 2, 2015
To Corpse's post: this (ooma) is not copper wire and it will not work if power/wifi goes out.
As with most of these kinds of services, I think I have some sort of discount/promo code, if you want it. [I don't know if it's allowed to offer this kind of thing on mifi; if not, disregard this.]
posted by 2 cats in the yard at 2:43 PM on November 2, 2015
My wife and I have a landline through Time Warner Cable (we're in the 910 area code in NC). It's part of a bundled package (home phone, Internet and cable). She uses it far more than I do, but we've both found it to be extremely reliable in terms of both uptime and sound quality.
posted by Telpethoron at 2:56 PM on November 2, 2015
posted by Telpethoron at 2:56 PM on November 2, 2015
I left the end of a sentence off. I meant "inexpensive after minimal initial investment." Though it isn't really so minimal - I think it is about $100 or 120 for the basic unit. But after that you basically just pay local taxes, which for me (Maryland) is about $7, for basic services. "Premium" is more.
posted by 2 cats in the yard at 3:01 PM on November 2, 2015
posted by 2 cats in the yard at 3:01 PM on November 2, 2015
I'm in 919 and have landline service through frontier.com. I also keep the landline for work purposes (I don't get good cell reception at my house), but it means I end up paying a lot for phones that I don't use much.
posted by wens at 3:32 PM on November 2, 2015
posted by wens at 3:32 PM on November 2, 2015
Best answer: amtho is asking about long distance specifically, not just any phone service. When we lived in the 919, we used Credo Long Distance. The donating to progressive causes thing is nice, but mostly it was just perfectly fine, affordable, and functional.
posted by hydropsyche at 5:08 PM on November 2, 2015
posted by hydropsyche at 5:08 PM on November 2, 2015
Response by poster: Yes! Apparently I am terrible at asking questions. The title says it all: I have a land line (with AT&T), I need long distance service to be added to this, AT&T is not giving me a list of providers. I want a list of providers. Where is a list of long distance providers for land lines in my area?
posted by amtho at 6:22 PM on November 2, 2015
posted by amtho at 6:22 PM on November 2, 2015
Best answer: The phone book should have a list in the front, alongside the alternative local carriers. You can probably find one at the library if you don't have one handy.
posted by wierdo at 7:42 PM on November 2, 2015
posted by wierdo at 7:42 PM on November 2, 2015
Ah, no, sorry, you're not bad at writing, I'm bad at reading.
posted by The corpse in the library at 7:51 PM on November 2, 2015
posted by The corpse in the library at 7:51 PM on November 2, 2015
Best answer: I should have noted that if you do a substantial amount of long distance calling, at&t's unlimited LD service is (or was when I still had it a couple of years ago) reasonably priced for that usage. Their per minute rate is/was terrible, though, and has/had a monthly fee. Before they offered unlimited I used Qwest, as they were the first to go 5c/minute. One of my clients used to use Deltacom for their business service. NC was in their service area at one point, so they could be an option.
You still have the option of not selecting a direct-dial long distance carrier, in which case you can use any carrier on a per call basis by dialing their 101XXXX code before the number. You can do that even if you do select a default long distance carrier, actually.
Also, your state public service commission may also have a list on their website.
posted by wierdo at 7:56 PM on November 2, 2015
You still have the option of not selecting a direct-dial long distance carrier, in which case you can use any carrier on a per call basis by dialing their 101XXXX code before the number. You can do that even if you do select a default long distance carrier, actually.
Also, your state public service commission may also have a list on their website.
posted by wierdo at 7:56 PM on November 2, 2015
Seconding Credo, although I obviously don't know if they are offered in your area. Call their 800 number or fill out their form to find out if you can get them.
We are probably dropping our land line in the next few months, and have had Credo on it for like 20 years, and I will miss them. But we will continue to be customers of their wireless service ...
posted by intermod at 9:25 PM on November 2, 2015
We are probably dropping our land line in the next few months, and have had Credo on it for like 20 years, and I will miss them. But we will continue to be customers of their wireless service ...
posted by intermod at 9:25 PM on November 2, 2015
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by The corpse in the library at 2:25 PM on November 2, 2015