Appropriate Technology - POTS (Plain Old Telephone Service)

I grew up in the 1980s.

I remember when I saw my first mobile phone.  It was the size of a large purse, weighed several pounds, had a battery pack itself the size of a modern tablet, and large light up keys.  It cost over two thousand dollars and service was priced per minute.

When I first had 24/7 management responsbilities, I used a numeric pager.  Later I forwarded E-mail to an alphanumeric pager.  I had my flirtations with the first generation Blackberry and with Pacific Bell Mobile, the first PCS cell phones.

But there is one telecommunications technology that predates them all, and is still very valuable today.

POTS = Plain Old Telephone Service.  Copper line.  

Advantages:

- works without power

- easy to troubleshoot

- transmits your physical address correctly when you call 911

- only service that guarantees Reverse 911 functionality, i.e. you don't have to sign up to get Reverse 911 calls, you just get them

- less likely to overload during major events or disasters

- ease of use for those born before 1990

Disadvantages:

- no messaging

- caller ID requires a powered phone and/or a separate device

- "STAR codes" are needed to either allow caller ID to go out *82 or block them *67

- relatively expensive compared to VOIP or mobile phones

- billing information is tied to physical address of installation

One esoteric detail of POTS is what we call the REN, or Ring Equivalence Number.  The wired phones draw power from the line itself, which can cause quality issues if you have too many phones plugged in.

I like cordless phones.  But they rely on power.

If you still have a POTS line, make sure you have an ordinary wired phone plugged in, and test it every once in a while.

If you don't have a POTS line, and have decided to have VOIP or 'Internet Phone' instead, do your homework on how this interacts with 911, Reverse 911 (which you must now sign up for!) and how it works if you or your Internet provider lose power.

Sometimes Appropriate Technology is about what is simple and works.  POTS met this definition in the 1980s and still does today.