Before I thought to even ask or research about a security system on the forum, we already signed a contract with ADT. I was pretty happy because it was half the price of the first quote, and we are 2 miles from small town, and 20 miles for next largest town, so just never thought to check on a more local outfit. Okay so anyways, we just finished up our install the other day. So we are still on the learning cycle, which means we are not "live" with any alarms calling anyone unless it is fire. Okay so yesterday morning, my DH forgets and opens the door. So the count down begins. He keeps punching in the code, and telling it to Stay, like it was the dog. I guess he was thinking that since he was Staying, that should shut it off. Well it didn't. It was engaged so it needed to be code, then OFF. So the countdown has begun with the initial inside alarm, and it is talking to you, so everyone in the house hears it. I kept thinking, okay he is a highly intelligent fella, it is just a matter of time before he shuts it off. I guess everyone else in the house was thinking the same thing, but eventually I got up and the teenager in the house had also already begun his crawl out of bed and he turns it off, but not before the BIG siren goes off outside. Okay so anyways, this was at 6:40 yesterday morning. We don't have real close neighbors breathing down our neck, but they are plenty close to hear this blarring alarm going off inside and outside at 6:40 a.m. on a Saturday morning. So THIS morning, at 6:40 in the morning, guess who was out mowing his yard? Coincendence? Maybe lol, but I think not. haha We wouldn't be able to hear his mowing too awfully much anyways if we were still in bed, we are insulated pretty well, but I had already been up with the horses, but anyways, we got a kick out of it :-)

Yes, Ooma is a device you buy that provides VOIP. We got ours from Costco for 179.99 and had it set up w/in 30 minutes. They assign you a temporary number that you can either keep or pay 39.99 (one time fee) to port over your own number from Att. The cost for regular service which includes call waiting, voice mail and caller id is nothing, you only pay the monthly taxes which in our area is 3.96/mo. I just had the pleasure of dumping ATT yesterday and couldn't be more excited! The savings for us was substantial plus we get to keep the number we've had for years. yeah! We've tried VOIP before so my husband was a little leery; but I figured why not give it a try? If it doesn't work we've really not lost anything, especially since we could get the device from Costco and Ooma offers a temporary number. I was amazed, the calls really are very clear. So far no one has noticed a difference or said anything. The main requirement is you need to have cable or broadband and not DSL for your internet. If you have DSL, it's worth switching to Broadband, I think. Of course as with anything there are pros and cons, and you can read about them in the thread I had going. It's really a personal decision about what is best for you. www.ooma.com Here is a link that might be useful: landline vs. cell phones

Note that "AT&T" landline phones are rebranded VTech phones and have nothing to do with either the current AT&T company or the old, indistructable Western Electric phones that the AT&T phone company used to rent out. If you compare VTech and AT&T phones with a similar feature set, you'll find they're nearly identical, but they tend to charge more for the AT&T-branded versions. Likewise, General Electric doesn't make GE phones; they're made by French consumer-electronics firm Thomson, which also makes phones under the RCA brand. I ditched the landline about 7 years ago, but when I had one I bought a used Polycom SoundStation Premier speakerphone, one of those triangular phones you see in office boardrooms. It has wired and/or wireless remote microphones and speakers, as well as three mics built into the main unit. They allow you to talk on the speakerphone with outgoing sound quality almost indistinguishable from a regular handset, and the remote mics let you walk around the room whilst talking. Callers never guessed I was talking on a speakerphone. My system would have cost upwards of $2000 new (intended for businesses), but I got mine used on eBay for a few hundred. They would be even cheaper now since offices have largely switched over to VoIP phones and are selling off their old phones that connect to traditional phone lines. The only downside was that they never made a cordless handset. But if you want a great speakerphone, check them out or their related SoundPoint series, especially the newer ones. For cordless phones, I've had pretty good luck with higher-end Panasonics, but I haven't really paid much attention to landline phones recently enough to make any recommendations. They are amongst the most frustrating items to buy, because you have no way to know how they sound until after you buy them, rip open the packaging, and try them in your home. At least with mobile phones, the major carriers have stores that let you make test calls on their phones before you buy.

This is the reply I just posted on "Cell vs. land line": o RE: Cell phone as Home phone * Posted by lithigin (My Page) on Wed, Jun 14, 06 at 13:52 Have you considered VoIP (Voice over internet protocol) service such as Vonage? DH and I spend $80 each month with taxes on our joint cell plans. Vonage has two main plans: $15/month for 500 minutes $25/month for unlimited minutes We have the first plan and pay about $16.50 per month, total. PROS: Low, low taxes! Low, low rates! Very easy to forward your home calls to your cell when you're traveling. All features are included...voicemail, voicemail sent to your email, caller ID, etc., etc. 911 works just fine (contrary to what Time Warner Cable likes to tell me when they try to get me to switch!). You just have to register your physical address so that it is linked to your phone number. You can get any area code you want that Vonage serves (you just relocated to NYC, but your entire family is from Nebraska; you can choose a Nebraska home area code). CONS: You must have cable modem service to use VoIP. If your internet goes down, so does your phone. But you have a cell, right? Also, all calls cost an equal number of minutes, so you pay 'airtime' for 800 number calls. Vonage does a referral plan where both parties get a month or two free. If you're interested, PM me with your email address and I'll send you an invite. We are very happy with the service. Lindsay