Getting rid of POTS -- landline phone?

If you're already off a "real" copper line there isn't much reason to keep what you have.

Cell phones can and will stop working in certain situations... but few problems will get less attention than their service restoration.

The only other thing I could suggest is that you silence the ringer on that "landline" so that it is effectively outgoing only. There is at least a little utility in a link that isn't cellular. A teensy bit.

EDIT: adding, my 'landline' has long since been reduced to an ip phone module feeding a 60 year old wallmount in the hallway, serviced by a mobile phone company over the internet (SIP)

I've only kept it because it's much, much cheaper than $74 per month.

 

maybe not a switch, but in the original forms there was a way to mechanically adjust the bell striker such that it couldn't hit the bells. In later models with electronic ringers there was some kind of switch lined up in the same mechanical keyway on the belly of the phones.

I don't know all the models from back then, but... flip it upside down and have a look. Some even had a rotary knob for ringer volume, which mechanically slid the hammer away from the bells.

 

Gotcha. You could certainly purchase replacement handsets with modern features like ringer mute, but I'm not suggesting that you do. It just strikes me as a very high cost for a very weak level of service.

 

I switch my landline to a cell phone years ago. I needed high speed internet for work, so I got a packaged deal that was the same price as the landline alone. Ported the old landline number over to the cell phone. I have that all powered by a good size UPS, that work was throwing away. That cell phone remains in my attic next to my Panasonic base station wireless home phone set. I believe I have around 8 of them dispersed throughout my property/workshops. A bit old school but it works.
Power outage issues on the cell phone is a cell tower problem. I had to call my provider and the FCC. The cell tower back-up power supply wasn't being maintained properly. I'm just a few blocks from the nearest tower, but dropped to one or two bars during a power outage - indicating that the phone switched to a tower further out. No one wanted to take responsibility for that, until the FCC stepped in. They're violating emergency services rules.

Hope this helps...

 

My late wife had trouble with a cell phone until I bought a cell phone in that case. Sad to say, it did not have multiple dial push buttons that would light when I called her.

Bob Wilson

 

I ported my landline to a Google number. So I still have the number, and I get calls through my cell phone without having to pay for that extra line.

 

We dumped the $60./month landline when they dumped the copper.
We got Comcast’s triple play and didn’t have to call everyone to change our number. That would be a hassle

 

I dumped the landline when its linked DSL internet service speed and quality somehow downgraded during the Pandemic. And the promised gigabit fiber optic upgraded turned out to be unavailable on our street. We transferred our legacy landline number, the same we'd kept ever since first shacking up, to a mobile phone (pre-paid VMNO) at significantly lower cost. Thus we didn't need to update any phone numbers. It remains our primary household phone, the spouse barely ever touches her flip-phone with very cheap prepaid service.

Updating email contacts for the new email provider was a much bigger deal, though we still get service through two legacy providers.

One downside to the new phone service: apparently a bunch of spammers had been sending us spam texts all along, we just didn't know because the landline couldn't receive them. Its mobile replace does, far far more than either personal cell phone. But the service provider's filters are now fairly good.

One upside: our 'landline' number can now travel with us, so we don't miss any calls or need to call the answering machine back home to see if it received any important messages.

 

Ok I can't stand it: what does POTS stand for? Surely not:

POTS: Causes, Symptoms, Diagnosis & Treatment

Say, I might have that...

 

Plain Ol' Telephone Service.

 

... which is a retronym for Post Office Telephone Service:

"Originally POTS stood for Post Office Telephone Service as early phone lines in most parts of the world were operated directly by the local Post Office. (For instance, in New Zealand the telephone system was owned and operated by the Post Office as recently as the 1980s.)"

You went too far down wikipedia's disambiguation page for POTS:

 

I got Ooma for myself, and my daughter has it, as a back up number to cell service. Use it quite a lot actually. About $5 per month, voip may be cheaper with other companies. It of course requires internet and a modem. If power goes off a back up battery or generator may keep it on as long as internet stays active. Maybe even this is old school now. I think it’s worth it. A regular land line phone plugs into it.

 

As you've already figured out for yourself, you no longer have 'POTS' if you were switched to Voice Over Internet Protocol (VOIP) - which may or may not be delivered over fiber.

Keyword: Internet.

POTS - Nearly ALWAYS delivered over Copper, is regulated.
VOIP - Sometimes handed off with Fiber, is not.

There's a time-tested way to determine whether or not you REALLY REALLY have a POTS number.

Call the Public Service Commission.
If you hear laughing and you are disconnected?
You have VOIP.
If your next call is from your local service provider asking "How Can We Help????"
You might have a 'for-real' POTS line.

They are nearly as rare as a split-window Corvette, only a little more expensive.

20 years ago, I 'isolated' three small towns - meaning they could not make long distance or 'out-of-LATA' calls or dial '911.'
This required LOTS OF 'paperwork' and explanations because as it turns out - telecommunications is highly regulated with well over 100 years of legal 'tail.'
Internet, on the other hand is still 'the Wild Wild West.' - even out west.
Oh, and since I KNOW you're wondering, there WAS an investigation, and I WAS held faultless in this 'incident' because I had a phone in my hand at the time and it was connected to "adult supervision" (it went dead when the isolation occurred) and I asked the 'magic questions' ("are you SURE you want me to do this??????? and "Are you REALLY SURE?!?!?!")

So...
I still fix phones for a living - only they aren't phones.

It's 'internet.'
THAT requires NO paperwork.
No investigations.

Welcome to the 'Wild Wild West!"

POTS used to be connected by battery - LITERALLY...A BIG A** BATTERY from the Central Office to your 1970's "Princess Push Button Phone."
This is no longer the case.
Develop a simple and layered power plan.
THEN work on your data.
If you have health problems that require reliable communications then this may 'non trivial.'

Also?
Robocalls are regulated with POTS.
NOT with VOIP.

Good Luck!