Keeping Bell Line for Emegencies?

Posts: 5

I can't seem to find this information anywhere, but what is the cost of setting up an emegency line with Bell? I'm thinking for 911 purposes, but I guess it would also be useful in case the power goes out.

Posts: 336 · Posted: Sun Feb 06, 2005 11:07 am Post subject:

At this stage of the game, I would not trust a Voip telephone company as my only phone. I don't have any other wired lines in my house except for Vonage. However, I do have a cell phone. You can get "pay-as-you-go" cell phones in Canada where you are only charged if you use the phone. That is probably your best bet. It would be the least expensive. I don't think Bell would want to get into providing a phone just for 911 dialing. You could call them and ask, but they would likely charge $98 to install it, and $30 per month for the line knowing Bell.

Also, you might want to put the number to the Fire, Police and Ambulance on your phone. You can call all 3 of these directly if you know the number. I found these numbers in the Gatineau phone book - blue pages behind the white. I called all three of them and asked if these numbers could be used in lieu of 911. They said "Yes, but you should use 911." I did not bother explaining that I don't have it. I printed the Gatineau emergency numbers on sticky labels, and placed them onto the bottom of all of my phones.

FIRE: 819-685-5035
POLICE: 819-684-5311
AMBULANCE: 819-561-1343

Just in case you cannot get to a phone in time. It is also good to have the phone number of your next door neighbour in case there is some emergency. Preferably a neighbour that has Call Display so that they can see it is you calling in case you cannot speak. Wink

Posts: 5 · Posted: Sun Feb 06, 2005 10:50 pm Post subject:

Thanks for the info. I guess I didn't make it entirely clear. I already have Bell service. I'm trying to see how I can reduce the bill to the cheapest possible. Come to think of it, I do have a cell phone too, but it wouldn't help if I there was an emergency and I wasn't home, but somebody else was.

Thanks

Posts: 336 · Posted: Mon Feb 07, 2005 12:46 am Post subject:

TBone2K wrote:

Thanks for the info. I guess I didn't make it entirely clear. I already have Bell service. I'm trying to see how I can reduce the bill to the cheapest possible. Come to think of it, I do have a cell phone too, but it wouldn't help if I there was an emergency and I wasn't home, but somebody else was.

Thanks

You could post the information on your phones that 911 doesn't work, and post the emergency numbers. All people living in your house should be informed about this. If you have someone looking after your house while you are away, it is important to also make them aware of it. 911 has only been around for a short while. Prior to 911 we used to dial the numbers of the Ambulance. Mind you the police number was 4105 and fire was 4103. Prior to 911 people still managed to get through to emergency services. My mother used to always keep the emergency numbers by our phone just in case. We never had to use them, but it's nice to have them there. In many cases if there is a fire in your house, staying there to call the fire department might not be a good idea anyhow. Getting yourself and your family out of the house is the first thing, and then get a neighbour to call 911.

Posts: 91 · Vonage Forum Senior Joined: Nov 26, 2004 Posts: 91

Also purchase a UPS (Backup Power) for your DSL/Cable modem + Vonage adapter. Unlike a regular phone, your Vonage phone won't work when the power goes out.

Posts: 336 · Posted: Thu Feb 10, 2005 11:09 pm Post subject:

coolspot wrote:

Also purchase a UPS (Backup Power) for your DSL/Cable modem + Vonage adapter. Unlike a regular phone, your Vonage phone won't work when the power goes out.

That is an excellent point. The UPS devices have dropped in price over the years and have become quite affordable. There are various prices based mainly on how many minutes the UPS will support the attached devices. The more devices you plug into the UPS, the shorter amount of life you will get out of the batteries when the power goes out. With mine, I only have my modem and my Motorola ATA plugged in. It seems to last roughly 2 hours in a power failure. I tested this by pulling the plug from the wall one time. I've only lost power twice in the past 4 years. Last week was my second time to lose power, and it was out for a little over an hour. My phone system never went down for even 1 second.

Posts: 37 · Posted: Sat Mar 12, 2005 5:12 pm Post subject:

It is my underdstanding that Bell no longer physically disconnects your wirong form the Central Office they just drop you from the DMS switch. And I further underdstand that even with your line disconnected you can still call 911 and 310-bell. This info from a friend who just moved and had problems getting phone service. His phone could call 310-bell and 911 until he was actually connected.

Posts: 34 · Vonage Forum Junior Joined: Feb 06, 2005 Posts: 34

I tried this and at least in toronto you can only dial 310 bell not anyother 310 number. I'm not willing to try to call 911 for no reason so i don't know if that'll work

Posts: 26 · Vonage Forum Junior Joined: Mar 15, 2005 Posts: 26

Personally - I have been without wireline phone service for nearly 2 years (mobile only).

911 is important to me, yes, but I'm not going to give up the (possible) savings differential w/ Vonage just to get 911 service.

Any 911 features that Vonage adds is icing on the cake.

Posts: 336 · Posted: Wed Mar 16, 2005 5:51 pm Post subject:

It is risky not having easy and quick access to an emergency number. You might think differently if your house was burning down. This is why I recommend obtaining the local 7-digit numbers of your police, fire, and ambulance. Attach those to your phone, just in case you are the person in trouble and someone else is in your house trying to call for help!