Query: How to find cheaper alternatives to a traditional home telephone line?

Relevant passages:
 <=SEP=> Cheapest is one thing.  You can absolutely shop in the market and find the lowest possible price.  I can think of three places to shop, each with an up and downside. I would think that what you really mean is the best price for the service.  Just like shopping for a car you have to decide what you need vs what is nice to have. Decide what features you need.  Do you need long distance?  Do you need caller id?  Do you need to call technophobic friends and family? Find out what you have available to you through associations.  Often schools, work or a club you belong to have deals for service discounts.  Look at your insurance plan or AAA membership for the crazy discounts. Decide what kinds of service will meet your needs. Buy the cheapest service. DO NOT ENTER A CONTRACT.  Even if the price is slightly lower.  At least not at first.  If you try out your service and love it, enter the contract if and only if the total price measured over length of the contract is less.  With cell phones especially, it is absolutely possible to save money buying month to month vs a 2 year contract.  Even when you buy equipment for full price up front. Ask for the bare minimum service from your local phone company. Because phone companies are often regulated monopolies, they might have a bare minimum level of service they are required to offer by the municipality.  They probably don't advertise it or push it, but it might exist if you call and ask.  You basically get a dial tone. http://www.fcc.gov/guides/local-local-toll-and-long-distance-calling Price is dictated by a government board, so you don't have to worry about shopping for deals Not the cheapest possible solution This is popular plan the youth oriented market, but more and more people of all demographics are using their cellphones only.  There are downsides (911, etc) and shopping for the best cell phone plan can be a full time job, but it does offer a way to save money by simply not having home phone service. Might be possible to score organizational discounts through work or groups you belong to Cellphones require batteries, and can go dead (not good for emergencies) Voice over Internet Protocol uses your existing Internet connection.  You can buy a cheap regular phone and plug it into the VOIP box and use it like any other phone.  VOIP can either be very inexpensive for all the features you get, or just plain inexpensive.  There are providers who sell a monthly service, yearly service or no service plan at all. (You buy a device and get service as long as you own the device.)  Taxes to the government are always due, so nothing is ever free. Sometimes the provider is just computer software, so a minimalist would like that. Emergency services are more reliable than cellular (if you follow extra steps to set them up) Can be confusing to buy.  Some require contracts, some special devices, some require a bit of technical know how to setup.  Be sure to evaluate the total cost of ownership when comparing prices

 <=SEP=> "How low you can reduce your costs does depend on your calling pattern.  How many minutes per month you call locally; call long distance; call internationally; and how many minutes you receive calls for.  If all these figures are low, you can be better off with a pay-per-minute service, if any of the outbound figures are high then you could consider a flat-rate ""unlimited"" service.  So that's the first step, determine your needs: don't pay for what you don't need. For example, I barely use a ""landline"" voip phone any more.  But it is still useful for incoming calls, and for 911 service.  So I use a prepaid pay-per-minute VOIP company, that has a flat rate (< $2/mo) for the incoming number, an add-on fee for the 911 service (80c/mo), and per-minute costs for outgoing calls (1c/min or less to US, Canada, western Europe).  I use my own Obitalk box (under $50 to buy).  There is a bit of setup and learning needed, but the end result means my ""landline"" bill is usually under $4/mo (no other taxes or fees). Companies in this BYOD (bring your own device) space in the US/Canada include (in alphabetic order), Anveo, Callcentric, Callwithus, Futurenine, Localphone, Voip.ms and many others.  A good discussion forum to learn more about them is the VOIP forum at DSLreports (although it can be a bit technical).  There is also a reviews section at that site. If your usage is higher (you make lots of calls to a variety of numbers), most of these companies, and others, have flat-rate bundles, probably similar to what you have now.  Comparing them depends on your usage pattern, so again that's the first thing to consider, then you know what to shop for.  If you need features like voicemail or voicemail transcription, be sure to look at whether you need an expensive bundle with it in, or whether you're better off paying for that seperately. If your outbound calls are to a limited number of numbers, such as relatives far away or internationally, consider getting a similar VOIP system for those relatives.  Most VOIP companies have free ""on network"" calls between their customers, regardless of the country they are in.  So your most common, and most lengthy calls, could be free. The Obitalk boxes (ATA's: analog telephone adapters) have an advantage here, if you install them in yours and relatives houses.  As well as allowing you to use any of the ""bring your own device"" VOIP companies like those listed above, they have their own Obitalk network allowing free calls between their boxes, and also to/from their iOS and Android apps.  There are other ATA's from other companies (Cisco have well-known models), and other ways to make free calls between them, so Obitalk isn't the only option.  I mentioned above I pay for the incoming number.  Not every supplier has incoming numbers available in every area, you need to check this.  Some can port-in (transfer in) your existing number, if you are attached to it, but not all can, so again check. You can also get incoming numbers in other areas or countries, that ring on your home line (without forwarding costs).  This means you can have a number near a cluster of relatives, who can call you with a local call.  Doesn't directly save you money (each number has a monthly fee) but could save you having to call them back!"

 <=SEP=> Try to use VOIP service provider or web enabled conference calling services in your home phone. Now a days communication technologies have seen a boost as well as integration of different formats and platforms which easily reduces phone bills of a user.  Service such as UberConference, Skype, Webinar etc enables audio/video as well as web conferencing feature for their user.  Service tiers such as free plans, basic plans and business plans allow user to use these conference calling services per their need. Have a look at any such service and use it as an alternative of your home phone line.