For the first time in eight years, I have an analog phone line. While my phone does not look like the one below, it uses a POTS line just like analog phone have for decades.

Why did I do this? It’s wise to have backups in case something fails because two is one and one is none. This applies to services as well as tools, because even reliable phone systems can fail from time to time. Having a secondary (or tertiary) means of communication is crucial given some of the limitations inherent in popular systems.

Mobile Phone

Cell phone service in major metropolitan areas like Phoenix is reliable and convenient. However, during an emergency cell towers can be overwhelmed with traffic or even go down due to physical damage.The voice quality of wireless phones isn’t the best either and can be affected by electromagnetic interference. Portable communication is great and most of us use it daily, during a disaster though cell phones might not work.

IP Telephony

VoIP is a great and very low-cost means of communication. Broadband services like CATV and DSL are available in most metropolitan areas, which offer both high bandwidth and reliable connections to the internet. These systems tend to be more reliable than cell phone networks but can have even worse voice quality at times. Their performance is affected by factors like network traffic and the number of hops a packet has to travel.

Analog Phone

So why did I opt to add the cost and equipment associated with an analog line? Besides having a backup phone line, I wanted to have better voice quality for conference calls when I work from home. Plus at $15/month for unlimited local and toll-free calls, I can avoid spending more for minutes on my mobile phone plan. I figured it is cheap insurance and a useful tool for work, it made sense for me.