Whats the point of a landline...

[highlandsflyer]

Just as an aside - when I drove to Skye in 2007, I was amazed at the full 5 bars of Vodafone that I got no matter what dark road I was on.

When working in Aberdeen and all points south/ west to Glasgow and Edinburgh, I was using 3 for email and internet without interruption.

Certainly decent coverage along the major routes. They daisy chain transmitters along the main roads. Where you have problems is as soon as you head up a track into the hill and you find coverage is zero for any network. Lots of our farms and dwellings tend to be nestled in the glens.

Aberdeen/Edinburgh/Glasgow check. No problems there, as you would expect given the terrain/density of population. I have dongles for three different networks to access according to where I am and never had a problem anywhere non remote in Scotland.

Ultimately wired is a better solution than the alternatives right now for the majority of users in remote rural Highlands, except for the few places powerful wireless transmitters have been set up to provide internet services as they are not on a modern exchange.

 

[technodup]

...when all you get is with-held numbers and blank calls?

And dont get me started on the Telephone Preference Service!

So businesses can make money by phone selling and at the same time have a laugh at the fannies who seem unable to deal with a perfectly polite "Hi, I'm from xyz..."

TPS is a waste of time and 99% of people registered don't understand what it means. Having done this type of work in a previous life it's always amusing to hear some berk give it the "I'm on TPS- this is illegal" line when actually they don't have a scooby what they've signed up for (or against). Ironic that they definitely don't want to sign up for anything you might be offering but they willingly sign up for TPS despite not understanding it. Nuggets.

 

[The History Man]

Was this before you retired?

 

[highlandsflyer]

Having done this type of work in a previous life

Were you also Napoleon and Alexander The Great?

 

[The History Man]

Hate to think what you did in the one before it!

 

[Neil]

...when all you get is with-held numbers and blank calls?

And dont get me started on the Telephone Preference Service!

So businesses can make money by phone selling and at the same time have a laugh at the fannies who seem unable to deal with a perfectly polite "Hi, I'm from xyz..."

TPS is a waste of time and 99% of people registered don't understand what it means. Having done this type of work in a previous life it's always amusing to hear some berk give it the "I'm on TPS- this is illegal" line when actually they don't have a scooby what they've signed up for (or against). Ironic that they definitely don't want to sign up for anything you might be offering but they willingly sign up for TPS despite not understanding it. Nuggets.

There's a pretty damned foolproof way of not being inconvenienced by them, don't answer - that's what answerphones and call screening is for. And if by odd chance I do, if I hear silence, or it sounds like one of them, I just put the phone down, anyways.

It's my phone, my phoneline, I don't have to be polite, or answer it if I don't want to. I use caller ID, so I normally get an idea about roughly who it is before answering.

Uncannily, I rarely seem to get such calls...

 

[highlandsflyer]

I have probably mentioned it before, but I once agreed to a second call back from a conservatory firm whom I eventually asked, "Will there be a problem putting it on a high rise flat?". They accused me of wasting their time after calling us several times a week for months!

I used to love putting people onto the householder when I worked with learning disabled adults.

 

[Alison]

I have no phone plugged in as the only reason the line is there is to carry data.

Same here.

The thing is to call practically anyone on a mobile other than those on the same network that you have as friends is expensive yet for £8 a month on BT we can call for one hour at a time any day anyone on a landline for nothing, I call my mum and after an hour just hang up and call again and there is no further charge so my husband can call his whining mum :roll: yet on the mobile, when it works, it's astronomical, I hate the crap calls either to my mobile or landline but I'll defo keep the landline, 1. excellent reception of course, and so much cheaper than calling everyone on mobile and 2. I don't even have friends and it's still cheaper.

Alison

 

[technodup]

There's a pretty damned foolproof way of not being inconvenienced by them, don't answer - that's what answerphones and call screening is for.

I agree. It's the fuds who do answer then get all ranty because it's not their pal asking them down the pub that are the plebs I'm talking about. And we've clearly got a few on here...

I would feel a bit for old folk with an old phone in the hall that they've got to get up and get to to answer, but for anyone mobile or with the sense to have a cordless phone, or under 70, or equipped with > 2 brain cells I can't fathom why anyone would get over stressed about people trying to make a living.

 

[The History Man]

I think it's because some of us have noisy 'on show' jobs and cherish the peace and privacy of our home that we feel a nuisance call invades. Only my view. I 'screen' my front door as well as my calls! If I do get one wrong and the script starts I just say no thanks and put the phone down.