I've opted to keep my landline. I have a houseful of kids and do not want to worry about them using my cell phone to make calls. Plus, I don't want their friends calling on my cell phone when I'm out and about and don't necessarily have the kids with me. Perhaps I'm in the minority here with kids still at home but I can't imagine not having a landline in that case. There are times my kids are at home when I'm not there, so how would they make a phone call? Plus, sometimes my mom babysits and she does not have a cell phone so she would have no way to call me or 911 if there was an emergency. I also live in an area where power frequently goes out, so I have a regular plug in phone (not cordless) to use when power goes out. I might reconsider once all of my kids either have their own cell phones or are no longer living at home. I also reserve giving out my cell phone number to select good friends/family/school - I don't like people having constant access to me when I'm not at home. If I'm not at home, chances are I don't want to be bothered with a phone call so I prefer they leave a message at home and let me call back when convenient. I suppose I'm weird like that but I don't like people calling me while I'm driving, while I'm out grocery shopping, etc.

Couldn't you just set up a free email account for her and use that to establish an account? She'd never even have to use it. You could buy the time for her and let her pay you back. For that matter, you could just share your own time with her. I did that with my sister and some friends for years.

the inlet method is the best, that is how we do it at E911 centers, with the outlet feeding the UPS having the same style connector as teh UPS end of the feed cord so that in the event the UPS fails we can bypass it easily. i have also seen some install where SO or similar cable ran from teh wall to plug into the UPS. in the box at the wall this was attached to the in wall wiring, be it romex or THWN. they make box covers that have a clamp for the cable.

An Ooma device can be used anywhere in the world. I've read many accounts from people who have bought one before moving overseas, or who send them to family members back in the "old country". All that's needed is electricity and a minimal speed (faster than dial up) consistent internet connection. There are other solutions for having a free "local" US number when overseas, including Talkatone, a company that's owned by Ooma. Talkatone calls similarly go over a cell phone's data connection but incoming calls make the phone "ring" just as a regular phone call would. (A relative of mine lives abroad and we use this for phone calls). The Ooma device has a US phone number and all calls to the device are free and from the device are free to US numbers. Likely not of value to a Canadian user except for one who makes lots of calls to the US.