Often when people think of PhoneGnome, they think of a little blue box and landlines. This article explains how PhoneGnome can play a role in a cord-cutting mobile-phone only experience.

With the ability to get so-called “naked� DSL (i.e. without including local phone service) from phone companies and high speed cable modem service from cable companies, a growing number of people are taking the plunge and going totally wireless. Those doing so, however, often worry about getting blindsided with unexpected, astronomical wireless phone bills.

PhoneGnome to the rescue!

Setting up a free PhoneGnome account for your cellular phone can help keep your airtime minutes in check while solving other common problems associated with a wireless-only household.

First, with PhoneGnome, you can activate a VoIP calling service to enjoy low rates and avoid pushing your wireless minutes over the brink. Call the US/Canada for 2.5 cents per minute without worring about whether it’s day, evening, or night, or “off-peak,” “out-of-plan,” or whether you’re “in-network” or not.

Second, enjoy the convenience and call quality of a fixed household phone, without the expense of a landline or traditional (Vonage-style) VoIP service. And make calls even when your cellular phone’s battery is dead or when you have no cellular signal.

Here’s how:

1. Go to www.phonegnome.com and create an account for your cellular phone number
2. Create a free SoftGnome SIP account with open credentials for your PhoneGnome account. On your My PhoneGnome site navigate to Features / SoftGnome Remote Access / Activate
3. Get a low-cost ATA from Voxilla, such as this Linksys PAP2 for $59.95
4. Use the Voxilla Device Configuration Wizard with built-in support for PhoneGnome to make setting up the ATA for use with your PhoneGnome account quick and painless. Use the SIP credentials shown on your My PhoneGnome site under: Features / SoftGnome Remote Access / Edit / View SIP Credentials

With the ATA connected to your broadband Internet connection, and activated to your PhoneGnome cellular phone number, you can make calls when you’re at home, any time of the day, using a standard household phone (corded or cordless).

You can make free calls to other PhoneGnome members, and anybody with an open SIP account like Gizmo or FWD, or users on Gtalk, Yahoo, or MSN.

Enjoy low cost PhoneGnome VoIP rates for calls to regular and mobile phones around the world without consuming airtime on your mobile plan.

Best of all, it’s free and there are no monthly fees!

Caveats

Ultimately, making the decision to cut the landline cord is a personal one; it’s not right for everyone.

In particular, be aware that 911 service on cellular networks is nearly useless in many parts of the country, despite any hype from the carriers. If you drop your landline, please program the numbers for your local fire and police into your cellular phone and keep them handy (tape them to any other phones you use). We are not fear mongering here. We speak from the heart on this. Also note that in a major disaster, cellular service will often not be usable (your PhoneGnome VoIP service is probably more likely to put calls through in that case). This has already happened several times in the US, including 9/11, the Northeast blackouts, and Katrina. The following comes from a Wall Street Journal story Cutting the phone cord isn’t as popular as predicted

Jesse Short, a 28-year-old employee with an insurance company, decided not to sign up for a fixed line when she moved to Manhattan four years ago. She figured her cellphone was all she needed for her active lifestyle.

Then came the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, and cellular networks became so clogged she couldn’t call her family. Two years later the same thing happened during a blackout in New York and much of the Northeast. That finally convinced her to get wired. “After the blackout, I needed to use a pay phone,” Ms. Short says. “That’s when I realized I needed a landline.”

Before taking the wireless-only plunge, you may want to check out these articles:

• Think twice before you cut the cord
• Time to Ditch Your Landline?
• Cell phones may hinder 911 help

TRAC.ORG makes the following suggestion:

Before making the decision to cut the cord with your landline phone company, we recommend that you try using only your wireless phone for one month and see how it affects your communications needs and monthly bills. Since most local carriers charge a connection fee to hook up new service, you don’t want to cut the cord only to find out that you can’t live without your landline after all. If after thirty days of wireless-only living you find that your telephone budget is better off, cutting the cord may be right for you. To conduct such a trial, consider putting a recording on your landline stating that you are temporarily available only at your cell phone. This assures you that your one-month test truly simulates your normal incoming and out bound calling habits.

That looks like sound advice to us.

If you do decide to go the wireless-only route, we hope you find the benefits of using PhoneGnome’s free services from the home on a standard phone as described above helpful.

This entry was posted on Monday, June 4th, 2007 at 1:14 pm and is filed under General. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.