National Access Long Distance

Showing posts with label Home Phone. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Home Phone. Show all posts

Thursday, November 21, 2013

Your Service, Your Choice

          Have you ever had to make a choice on which phone company to go with?  Have you ever wondered how you even have that choice?  You may have heard of it.  It’s called deregulation.  Deregulation broke up big monopolies where one company gave customers one choice on one kind of service for their utilities, even the telecommunications.  The telecommunications act of 1996 opened up doors where customers had the choice of providers, advanced services, and competitive prices.  Deregulation was great for the marketplace and consumers alike and as you read on you will explore why.
          First of all deregulation gave customers the choice of providers.  This is great because a customer does not have to settle with one type of service.  If a customer is not satisfied with a provider in any way they have the right to shop around.  For this reason it forces companies to stay competitive and strive for higher quality assurance.  This is greatly beneficial to the customer and insures they have greater experiences with their chosen provider.
          Another great outcome of deregulation is the advanced services and technology that has become available.  Before when big companies controlled everything in their market it left little or no room for anyone or anything else.  For example, before the bell companies were forced to divest they controlled everything down to the actual phone in the house.  They would rent this out to the customers and not allow them to alter or change it in any way.  This hindered the creation of the answering machine and fax machine as well as the evolution of the technology that we have today.  Deregulation has helped clear the way for the advanced services we have today.
          Last and probably most importantly deregulation has forced companies to price competitively.  With most utilities the product is the same and a company must distinguish itself by its service and pricing.  It is simple to see that a company with better service at lower rates will gain more customers.  This competitive pricing leaves you with better service for less.

          Deregulated utilities are great and beneficial to all of us.  Remember the next time you are looking around for a utility company it was deregulation that made the choice of providers, advanced services, and competitive prices available for you.  For more information on saving money on your long distance bill contact National Access Long Distance. 

Thursday, November 14, 2013

College Student Communication


The college student needs a lot before going off to college.  With a new laptop, tablet, college gear, backpack, writing utensils, etc., they are off to the next chapter.  But wait?  Did they forget something?  The landline, say what?

Yes the landline!  National Access Long Distance, encourages you to consider the landline as a great way to keep in touch with your college student when they are off at school.  Whether they are living in an apartment or a dorm, the landline can be a great resource for them to keep in contact and stay safe.

While their cell phone may get lost or broken, the landline stays in the same spot and is reliable for communication.  Contact National Access Long Distance for great rates on their long distance plan!

Monday, November 11, 2013

Who's the Boss At Home?

Businesses have entire staff divisions dedicated to watching the bottom line and company spending. At home the only person watching the budget is you. Phone service is a simple way to make a responsible decision in saving money.
                There are nearly endless options when it comes to how phone services can be used in the home setting. A driving factor for consumers in this tough economy is cost. While cell phones may seem to cover all of your needs, upon closer inspection a cell phone hardly provides the best option for the home telephone. Most calls from the home are local and rates for local landline calling are unparalleled, particularly when compared to cell phone rates. Cell phone service providers are notorious for charging users for any number of reasons like peak hours, international rates and roaming charges. Opening your phone bill each month should not be a nerve racking, painful experience. Landline services can be obtained for one flat fee each and every month which makes paying that monthly bill a routine experience.
                Another reason that landlines are far superior to cell phones in the home setting is the accessibility that they provide. The family usually has one telephone number with a landline and there is the capability to have a phone receiver in as many rooms as you would like.  The convenience of finding a receiver and answering the call is simple with a landline.  When the cell phone rings at home, everyone’s first thought is it my phone ringing, where is it?  That is if you hear the cell phone at all, especially with all the special ringtones and vibrate options that come standard with them these days.

                At the end of the day every home has different needs, but having a phone is a universal need in the home. A landline provides a low cost, convenient, reliable option that can best serve every home when set up appropriately. You can be the boss when it comes to how you spend your own hard earned money at home!

Friday, November 8, 2013

The Insurance Line

            No one chooses to be a victim of a natural disaster or other emergency situation. We can, however, plan to minimize our exposure. We try to prepare with backup plans and emergency safety kits.  We purchase insurance for our house, belongings and cars.  Houses are built with rooms for different natural disasters.  But we can’t prepare for everything.

A part of the preparation that can be forgotten is ensuring our landlines remain intact. The landline provides an insurance line.  When people are cutting off their landline service and purchasing insurance on every electronic device, they are forgetting that the landline is an insurance protection plan for their lives.

            Landlines are generally more effective than cellphones in emergencies. They are familiar to older household members and their use can be taught to younger children with ease. Landlines do not go down when the power goes out. Not all cellphone providers have E911 that directs your calls to a local response center; your call for help may be sent to a regional center for routing, costing precious moments.

            In May, 2013, the central region of Oklahoma experienced severe thunderstorms, flooding, and several devastating tornadoes. Large swaths of land were ruined by nature’s raw power. Directly affected cellphone towers were incapacitated and the sudden influx of calls for help jammed the remaining ones.  That and local emergency responders and the civilian leadership scrambled to find landlines to coordinate their efforts. Human lives hung in the balance.

            This is but one set of incidents of many. Citizens in the large cities and smaller remote areas of the country are already well aware of the importance of maintain a landline in case of an emergency. Despite increasing acceptance of wireless as the primary telephone, many people not living immediately in the very large metropolitan area maintain a landline as their lifeline.

            If disaster struck, would you be prepared?


            Keep your landline as your insurance plan and contact National Access Long Distance to save money on your long distance services.  

Thursday, November 7, 2013

Don't Limit Yourself, Get a Landline

While cell phone have many advantages with mobility, they have many disadvantages with the use they were created for…calling someone.  You can do just about anything on your cell phone these days except call the person you need to get ahold of.

The reasons vary but all seem to have the same problem of not being able to get in contact.  Your battery is dead, you are out of minutes, there is no signal, etc.  When you need to get a hold of someone, you don’t want to hold your phone in the air searching for a signal. 

Your landline doesn’t have access to Candy Crush or work as a calculator; however it does make a phone call when you want it to.  Isn’t that what you wanted from your mobile phone originally?

We understand you aren’t getting rid of your cell phone; we just want you to remember not to get rid of your landline.

The landline provides clear phone calls every time you call no need to worry if you are roaming.  You pay per minute with the landline at a reasonable price.  There aren’t overage fees or roaming fees.


If your objective is to get ahold of someone when you call them, keep the landline around for all your home or business calling needs.  Save money on your landline with long distance by National Access Long Distance!

Wednesday, November 6, 2013

The Home Phone for the Family

Having a cellular phone is a common occurrence in most households throughout the United States.  In our technologically evolving nation, almost everyone has some type of wireless device regardless of their age.  With so many different instruments available having the ability to access nearly anything one needs such as checking an e-mail, browsing the web, taking photos, getting directions through GPS apps, playing music, on-line banking needs, setting up accounts and paying bills, and of course making and receiving phone calls.  We can’t forget the face to face chatting and screen share programs now available.  These are just some of the numerous features and functions of a wireless component, which is designed to help achieve a more convenient life for the user.  But should a family eliminate their home phone for all the modern conveniences of a cellular phone, and give up the security, privacy and stability of the family home phone? 

A landline offers many valuable features in the home that many people forget about or simply do not think about.  One never has to worry about the home security system if it is connected through a landline or the ability to call for emergency assistance on a home landline.   For those who have children or an adolescent in the home, they know all too well how long a teenagers phone conversation can be to a friend.  People tend to spend hours on the phone with family, and friends, not realizing the length of a conversation until they have to count the minutes.  With a land line there are no roaming costs and you pay per minute without worrying about overages.  There is no worrying about the battery going dead during an important call with a landline.  A parent also has the capability to call their home to check up on the whereabouts of their child and have the peace of mind knowing they are safe.  Whereas when a parent is calling their child’s cellular phone and left unsure of their location. 

There is also the cost factor to consider.  A basic landline cost is usually, on average, around $25 a month compared to the astonishing costs of cellular phones that continue to skyrocket.    


All these issues are important points to consider when deciding on what is best for your family and if you would like to save even more money on your family phone contact National Access Long Distance.

Tuesday, November 5, 2013

Why the Landline is Underrated

Many people are thinking about abandoning their landline and switching over exclusively to their cell phone. It appears that the cell phone is more beneficial, convenient and cost effective.  Sometimes technology may seem better, but actually it can complicate life and cell phones are a good example of that.

For instance, when was the last time you washed your landline phone? Or, have you ever left your landline in the car and forgot it, so that you missed a day's worth of important calls? Of course not, because that can never happen! You always know where that landline phone is!  Sure, cell phones are a convenience you can take anywhere, but if that is all you have for communicating and you lose it, you can find yourself in needlessly stressful circumstances.

Don’t worry about counting minutes with your landline either!  Once you get home, put the cell phone down and rely on the landline to save some money.

Nevertheless, another problem that you run into with a cell phone is your privacy.  The ease with which cell phone signals can be intercepted is extremely alarming.   

Last, but not least, is when the power goes out.  Can you trust that they will come back on in a timely manner?  We know that lately the power has been going out for an indefinite amount of time with the natural disasters that have hit.  If you have a generator you are set up for success, however if not, you need to be ready!  The landline does not rely on a power source and can work regardless of how jammed the cell phone towers are.


Save money with a landline and save even more with National Access Long Distance.     

Monday, November 4, 2013

The Lasting Landline

Since its inception in 1875 the telephone has been a device destined for great communication.

The landline telephone enables people to easily communicate with one another at great distances unlike any other device can. I doubt even Alexander Graham Bell could have imagined just how great his invention was.
The landline phone has been around for over a hundred and forty years.  Many technology advances have been spin offs of the original landline.  Many of these are similar to the original and are technological wonders in their own right, but the original wonderful creation, that marvelous achievement that changed the way the world talks to one another, is still king! The landline telephone is the time tested standard that all new devices attempt to imitate. The landline reigns supreme and empowers the users to call anywhere at any time.  While the cellular phone says call when I have enough bars and only when you have enough minutes. 

Homes and businesses alike throughout the entire world enjoy daily use of the worry free, affordable landline. From the most remote villages in far off lands, to the very shops in Boston where Bell and Watson first called out to one another with those now immortal words "Watson come here. I have something I want to show you".

Since that now historic day, many advances have been made to the device itself, including the way connections are relayed or made from one continent to another.  The telephone has been modernized to enhance the functionality for our modern world. But, the same basic premise that launched this enormously successful device remains the same. The home phone line enables the user to speak to whoever they wish, whenever they wish to do so. Be it at long distances, across the street or even within the same building.
Many of our top government agencies use a landline when security is of the importance. This is true because a landline is not so susceptible to the interception of anyone who might be monitoring the airwaves with ill intent. That’s true for all of us. It is for that very reason so many top business use the landline as a means to transfer sensitive data from one location to another. For example ATM and credit card machines use this simple way to secure the safety of information being sent for processing via the landline.

Yes, it is hard to imagine that Bell could have ever expected the telephone he invented so many years ago would become a household item

If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.  The same goes for the landline. The landline works to meet our needs in the crisp, clear, secure way, only it can.

To learn more about the affordable long-distance companies serving you in your area. Contact National Access Long Distance to learn more.

Friday, November 1, 2013

The Address of Your Emergency

No one is ever in a great position to deal with the dreaded and horrid inconveniences of an emergency. These sudden unforeseen crises (usually involving danger) require immediate action. During a time of emergency you would not want to trust to an unreliable source of help.  Cell phone or VOIP services are unreliable and not the phone you want to be using when there is any sort of emergency.

When an emergency occurs, you are full of panic, possibly unable to answer the questions the dispatcher is asking.  The question regarding your location comes up, do you know where you are?  What house are you at?  If it’s your own, you can probably provide it with little thought.  However, what if you are at your sibling’s or your child is the one on the phone because you are hurt.  A landline provides the address to the dispatcher, no need for the questions, they send help.

If you call 911 with a cell phone they find your location by using the cell towers and GPS services.  This can be inaccurate and timely, during a time when every second counts. If you live in an apartment complex, this impairs the accuracy even more with location of an area and not which floor.  While the emergency button on your cell phone is great, it only speeds up the process so much.

The emergency 911 services were created to save our lives and get us help; this process was made around the landline.  Cell phones came along much later and they are still refining this process.  Don’t let your emergency be part of the learning process; keep your loved ones safe with a landline.

Now when you are out on the road, the only option you have is the cell phone and in that situation it is a great to have that technology to assist you. But from the house or the office, why entrust your life or welfare to the parameters of technology for the sake of a so-called convenience?


Landlines are also easier to operate in the event of an emergency, especially for kids and senior citizens. Sure cost can be the biggest issue, but really can you put a price on your well-being? Besides, there are ways to help decrease current landline costs. To save money on the long distance portion of your landline phone, contact National Access Long Distance.

Monday, October 21, 2013

Top 10 Reasons To Keep Your Landline!

Many landline customers are facing the dilemma of cancelling their home telephone because they feel like having both a cell phone and a landline is too costly. When in fact, landlines allow for clearer calls, more privacy and 911 address accuracy. A landline does not use software and your calls travel over permanent terrestrial circuits. In layman’s terms, your calls travel by wire over the land, as opposed to cell phones connecting with the telephone network using radio waves.

Top 10 reasons you still need a landline:
1.      Landlines offer a clear channel of communication without the white noise or dead zones.
2.      Landlines are reliable in extreme weather, power outages and in other emergencies.  Landlines do not rely on electricity or towers, making them more dependable.
3.      Landlines provide a direct connection for your home security systems, DSL, dial-up connections or VOIP systems.
4.      Landlines offer more protection against debit or credit card fraud, since it is more difficult for eavesdroppers to tap into a wire to steal personal information.  Hackers can easily purchase a device that intercepts the radio waves used for a cell phone call.
5.      Landlines give users peace of mind and added security by providing a different phone for sales calls.
6.      Landlines prevent your family from being tracked because they do not have location-based services (GPS).
7.      Landlines provide your family members and guests with a telephone line.  This way you are not inconvenienced when they need to contact someone and their phone may be out of service.
8.      Landlines are linked to the home address.  When the phone calls 911, the address automatically pops up on the responder’s computer; regardless if a person can communicate or not, a 911 dispatcher will send help!
9.      Landlines are needed to locate our cell phones!  Lost in the couch cushion?  No worries, just call it with your landline.
10.  Landlines have affordable monthly rates for unlimited local calling and at no additional charge. Other phones may be easily plugged in to any existing phone jack for the convenience of everyone.


If you want to save even more money on your long distance service, contact National Access Long Distance.

Monday, October 14, 2013

From Children to Extended Family, Depend on the Landline

The family is a unit that is governed by parents, and as such, the parents are the ones who dictate how the family will operate. While most children these days do have a cell phone when they become responsible enough, there are still times when the parents must control incoming calls. The most efficient solution to curb unwanted calls being received by your children is the reliable landline home telephone.

The world is full of difficult situations and anything that we can do for our children to protect them from unnecessary evils, we should do. It can be to allow our children to grow while we are trying to protect them. Some make it a point to make sure that when their oldest reaches an age where they need a cell phone, they are allowed a personal phone for mobile use only.  By having a landline home phone, it can give you peace of mind knowing that any school, telemarketer or various other calls are directed to the house not the personal phone of your child. 

The family landline isn’t just for family in the house; it can be great for the family that is spread out over the nation and in other continents.  For the family that is far away but close in your heart, it can be nice to have a phone where the entire family is able to reach you.  Even if you change your cell phone number, you have a number that is consistent and that the entire family can be reached on.  

Families are the most important thing in the world and anything you can do to make the family a little safer is worth it.  We are here for contacting Aunt Barb out in Chicago or Uncle Bob out in San Diego.  Keep in contact with everyone and keep your family safe with a landline.


For your long distance services contact National Access Long Distance.

Friday, October 11, 2013

The Reliable and Dependable Phone

It seems like no matter how some things can change, others will always stay the same.  The need for a home landline has gotten away from some, while others still see it as a staple in their house. 

Many find it as a great way to keep personal and business away from every other company or place that needs a phone number along with other information.  Others find it as a great way to see if their children got home from school safely. 

It proves to be great for visitors, if their cell phone doesn’t have reception at your household, they can still contact people without using your personal phone.  Many don’t like others using their personal phone, where notes, contacts and photos are stored.  It’s also nice to know they won’t use your limited minutes.

Your home phone is also a more reliable solution for your telephone needs.  In an emergency the landline gives a security that cell phones do not provide.  When calling 911 with your landline, the correct address automatically shows up.  No need to worry if the visitors know the address or if you can’t communicate at the time. 

The technology with landlines has also advanced and provides many extensions.  This gives every member of the family access and even access out by the pool or in the basement.


The landline is reliable and dependable.  Keep it affordable with long distance from National Access Long Distance.

Monday, October 7, 2013

A Traditional Landline vs. Alternative Services

With technology advancing as fast as it has, 20 years from now cell phone and cable providers could provide the same reliability as a traditional landline does, but right now they don’t. Consider the following before deciding to rely solely on your mobile phone.

Bundling phone service with a cable provider or just having a cell phone may save a few dollars.  However, people must remember the old cliché “you get what you pay for”. With a cable provider when the cable goes out you lose all services through them including phone and internet. Additionally once your initial contract through the cable provider expires, your rates will jump dramatically for the bundle.

Cell phones provide a convenience of being at your fingertips, in the case of a large scale emergency such as September 11th or a natural disaster. However, the convenience goes out the window when you are unable to use your cell, because the towers are jammed with traffic. Not to mention the convenience is also gone when you lose track of your cell phone or it is stolen. Then you have to take money out of your savings to replace it when not eligible for an upgrade.  If you just need a phone for local calling purposes a cell phone is the cheaper avenue, while the landline is more suitable for long distance.

Another avenue for phone service is voice over i.p. it has many of the same flaws. If the internet goes out you will be without a phone.    

If you are a business owner canceling your landlines and selecting an alternative service can be extremely costly. All the alternatives hinge on one of two things; either you are required to have power or internet.  If the power is out your customers will not be able to contact you, simply taking their money to one of your competitors. So are you going to risk throwing money down the drain with something that is not reliable?

Contact National Access Long Distance to save money on your long distance services.

Friday, October 4, 2013

Top Ten Reasons for Having a Land Line Phone

You know every time the topic landline comes up it is usually met with thoughts of but it’s not as convenient as my cell phone.  Contrary to popular belief, there are benefits to having one. So here are 10 solid reasons to maintain a landline phone:

1. Works Better for 911 services: When you call from a landline, it will automatically go to an enhanced center. This proves to be important when you or the person cannot speak. The landline also will allow the dispatcher to have an accurate address whereas the cell phone only gives a general area.

2. Its Stationary: It's based in your home so you’re not going to misplace it. It is not going to be stolen nor will you leave it at the restaurant or office. It's usually centrally located and multiple lines can be throughout the house for easy access.

3. Better Connection: You get the clearest and most stable calls on a landline with better volume, especially if you use a corded phone. 

4. Security: Landlines ensure more security when doing phone business like banking or social security issues?

5. Easier to use: Since a landline phone only makes calls, it makes it a lot easier to operate. This proves to be handy for emergencies with children making the call. It also makes it easier for elderly people to see and operate.

6. Natural Disasters:  Cell towers are subject to the weather more than anything. Even an ice storm can affect its ability to function.  It is true that landlines are subject to weather, especially tornados; service crews for landlines have a much quicker response time.

7. Reliability: Even though many will use cordless phones as their landlines. You still can always have one outlet with a corded phone in case the battery dies, you can go to the speaker phone on the base of most cordless phones.

8. Value: There is no need for insurance, no data plans or over use charges. No extra accessories like covers, extra chargers, screen covers, etc. is required to extend the phones life either.

9. Power: There are no worries when the power is out because the landline phone will still be working in most instances. The local landline carrier provides local emergency backup systems. No need to worry about batteries and chargers.

10. Lower Cost: Landline phones are amazingly more affordable than most cell phones. There’s never a roaming charge. This comes in pretty handy when you have a whole family using the same phone making hours of calls a day.


So regardless if you talk a little or if you are a blabber mouth, the landline can provide an all-around cost effective option and security for all of your talking needs. Please think about this list before you consider discarding your landline. And if you want keep you landline cost low by saving more money on your long distance service, contact National Access Long Distance.

Thursday, October 3, 2013

Your Home Called...It wants to talk too!

In today's society, to not have a cell phone would almost place you in a category of being archaic. If you weren't able to play games, text people, check your Facebook status, what would you do on the elevator or walking from place to place?  In all the time you spend on your mobile entertainment system, did you ever stop and think how the home feels?  Did you consider the total effects of not having a landline in your house?
The first thing to consider is the fact that your life, even as busy as it may be, is not 24 hours a day away from your home. At some point you do have to go home, especially if you have a family with kids.  We all have experienced some of the pitfalls of cell phones at home; starting with the dreaded "low bar" areas within your house or backyard.  How many times have you had dropped calls in the most comfortable area of your house? Never mind the fact that your carrier promised that this phone has strong reception and that their coverage blankets the city you’re in. No matter what, there is always some blank spots or spots in your house that seem to not have the best reception.
Do you really want to deal with a choppy scratchy call when you are talking to loved ones or about your personal business? How many times have you walked away from your phone accidentally leaving it on silent to come back to a missed call?
At the end of the day, no wireless network is flawless. So if your household has no landline phone in it and there is an emergency at school with the kids, do you want to risk not being able to be contacted because the cell phone isn’t working? 
In addition, what about the others in the house? Do you really want to have to pay for multiple cell phones? Besides you know how your kids are going to use them more than their school books, which means over charges, unless you are going to pay for unlimited.
The VOIP system isn't that much more comfort. VOIP is subject to power outages, viruses (since it is CPU based), deadlines as well as signal strength (bandwidth) when other devices are using the internet in your home.
If you were to be robbed, how are you going to call the police?  We all know that thieves target cell phones and computers. The weather can also have a major effect on both cell phones and VOIP. Just ask the victims of Hurricane Sandy and Hurricane Katrina. The landline though can work through power outages and won’t rely on the cell phone towers everyone else is using.  If you can’t talk on a call to emergency services on a landline they have your address automatically and can send services to you.
About 64 percent of homes in the U.S. still have landlines. The call quality of a landline is superior to those of cell phones and through power outages. Landlines help you buffer out unwanted calls to your cell phone by being a main point of contact.

The landline helps your home feel safe, especially via a home security system. So keep your home happy and in touch with its own phone. And if you want to save money with better rates on your long distance service, contact National Access long Distance. 

Friday, September 27, 2013

The Family Line

The landline should always be the primary choice when it comes to the family phone at home.  Even if every member of the household has their own cell phone there are still many benefits and a need to maintain the landline. For most people the home phone is always known as that permanent number where they can reach or be reached at home. A number that is part of the home! Cell phones on the other hand are always changing and sometimes the number as well. It’s good to have a landline number the entire family knows and can depend on whenever they want to reach home.

One reason to keep a landline for the family phone is its reliability and dependability. The landline phone is still there whenever the power goes out or a cellphone breaks, is lost, or loses reception.  It acts as a life line when children or family members need to make an emergency call and there is no other way.  To have a phone to rely on for a situation like that is reason enough to keep a landline in the home.


Landlines are universal and great for family households. Instead of paying for each individual cellphone number which can get expensive the larger the family, anyone can pay one fee for the land line number and put a phone in every room in the house.


It is simple to see how important it is to keep a landline in the home. Maintaining a landline is a necessity to doing the best in taking care of the family household. The family home would not be complete without a landline. To save money on long distance contact National Access Long Distance.

Tuesday, September 24, 2013

Did you know about your landline?

A landline provides security that a cell phone doesn't have.  One of the ways is the 911 service that is especially useful if you live in an apartment (dorms count too).  Check out this video on the ways that landlines come in handy! 


Monday, September 16, 2013

Everybody's Parachute!

Keeping your landline makes sure every family member or visitor is safely grounded.   With a landline you have a "go to resource” when a natural disaster or emergency occurs.  

Landlines have secure power, are easy to locate and usually aren't silent. Consider this:

  • Landlines are never incapable of making a call due to cell tower volumes which can be compromised during power outages or civic emergencies.  
  • You know exactly where your phone is every time you really need it. Imagine if someone was breaking into your house and you couldn't find your cell phone?
  • Have you ever tried looking for your cell phone when it's changed to silent mode? Unless you remember exactly where you left it, you could be searching for hours. But not with a landline; it won’t slip under the couch pillow when on silent.

With a family phone, signal strength is never an issue. For some people, reception can be poor even in their own home. Sometimes you don't find this out until you switch carriers and then you are stuck with a spotty service or static on the line. But have you ever heard of that happening with a landline.

Many people in your home need to depend on a landline. Be it a visitor without a cell phone, a child or grandma, your landline has you covered - just like a parachute.

Monday, September 9, 2013

Keep Your Cell Phone Private

            Many people do not realize that the same radio frequencies that are responsible for making cellular phone communications easy are the same elements which allow outsiders to invade their privacy.  Radio frequencies can be intercepted, private information can be swiped through a cellular phone Wi-Fi connection, smart phones, like a computer, can be hacked. 

These techniques are used by stores and retailers to track customers’ whereabouts and purchases.  Individuals can also hack onto phones in an attempt for identity theft.  Even the government uses your signal to collect incriminating or personal data without your knowledge.      

            There are, of course, some prevention techniques that a person can utilize to protect themselves.  First and foremost, one should never give out information to anyone who calls you or notifies you of needing your personal information such as a credit card or similar sensitive information, especially over a cellular phone.  Sometimes though it can be necessary to update payment information for a bill or order a new service, then a land line should be used to handle this type of business.  In fact, there are huge benefits gained from the use of a land line in respect to maintaining privacy.  In a world where one's phone number is requested by businesses on a regular basis, it is better to provide a land line number and keep one's cellular phone for personal calls, thereby reducing interruptions and reserving cellular phone use for people you actually want to speak with.  In other words, if you want to keep your cellular phone number private, choose to keep your land line.  If you want to save money on your land line, contact National Access Long Distance.

Wednesday, September 4, 2013

E9-1-1: Can You Trust It?

            Most people do not know the differences between 911 and E911 (Enhanced 911), and just how important some of those differences are.  In fact, while E911 services carry some obvious benefits, consumers who are concerned about safety should consider maintaining a landline telephone service, for the safety of their families.
            Basic 911 services, in terms of a landline, usually means that when an emergency call is made, the system automatically reports the telephone number and location to a 911 operator, serves as a dispatcher. A phone call made to 911 with a landline is extremely reliable and accurate with location.  However, what about 911 for cellphones?  Basic 911 services in this case could result in one of three ways: the 911 center gets no information, it only gets the cellphone's number, or the center gets the call back number and coordinates with a POSSIBLE location.  This last one is the least likely, which is where E911 comes in.          
             E9-1-1 services are utilized by cellphone companies and VOIP (Voice Over Internet Protocol) phone services.  This service is meant to rectify the problems caused by basic 911.  With E911, the consumer's billing address is stored in a database so that when an emergency call is placed, that call is automatically routed to the emergency center that corresponds with that location and the information is displayed on the dispatcher's screen.  This means that if the call is incomplete, disconnected or if the caller cannot speak, then emergency services still has a location to go to.

            While E911 answers some of the issues raised by wireless communications and emergency services, there are, in fact, still a number of problems.  The addresses stored as the consumer's location must be updated any time that customer moves, changes their number or adds numbers, otherwise, emergency services may go to the wrong location.  Furthermore, in the case of VOIP services that require broadband connections to operate, if the power is out or the broadband connection is down, then no 911 services are available.  The same holds true if your Internet service gets cut off due to any type of technical difficulties. Obviously, E911 services are far from perfect and may not be available in times of an emergency.  For this reason everyone should seriously consider maintaining a landline for the safety of their families.  If you want to save money on your long distance service, contact National Access Long Distance.