texst to a landline

Post by micky
When someone unknowingly sends a text to a landline, does he get some
indication back that the text did not reach the destination, because it
can't receive texts?

Here in the UK, text messages *can* be delivered to landlines, either to
text-capable phones using an extension of the caller-ID delivery
mechanism, or via a robot voice ... don't you have similar over there?

micky

2025-01-03 14:31:44 UTC

In comp.mobile.android, on Fri, 3 Jan 2025 13:38:34 +0000, Andy Burns

Post by micky
When someone unknowingly sends a text to a landline, does he get some
indication back that the text did not reach the destination, because it
can't receive texts?

I don't know. I don't think so. For several years I have beeen the
contact person for the people who plow (plough?) our streets when it
snows. I saw the contract yesterday and it has my landline first, and
my cell number. I'm still living in the 1950's and I envisioned them
calling me on the phone, but now I see they send texts. I got one on
the cell a year ago and another yesterday. I've never gotten any
message from them on my landline, so I wonder if they tried and realized
it wasn't accepting texts and they switched to the other number. --- A
couple weeks ago they came out and salted the roads(not straight salt
but some better concoction) and then it didn't snow at all, but they
charged us 2000 dollars. Because of details in our favor in the
contract, we are refusing to pay. I'm trying to prevent a second
mix-up.

I googled your question and so-called AI says "Yes, US landlines can
accept text messages, but they are not designed to do so by default:

How it works
To receive texts, you need to set up your landline with a text to
landline service. When you send a text to a landline, the service
records your message in a female voice and calls the recipient's phone.
If the recipient answers, they can choose to accept the message. If the
call goes to voicemail, the recording is delivered there."

I use Verizon landline but it's VOIP. VErizon is a very big company
here.

Hmmm. This came up just a couple nights ago also. I'm been sick and
wanted my food delivered. I set that up during the pandemic, and it
worked, but now it's changed and wants to send me a code and it only has
my landline, so I get no code. I can't change the phone number, because
they want to send a text to the original number telling me I'm changing
it. LOL Maybe if I can set up text to landline, I won't have to open
a new account.

OTOH, heres a message from last April:
https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/forum/all/how-can-i-receive-a-text-on-a-landline/0bd1f02d-904e-4585-9a50-1d7b3091e4f6
I'm trying to log in into my account. I had this phone number linked to
my account back in the 2017 or 2018 when I first made it and I could
receive a call. Now I don't know why they removed this option. I just
want to log in back to my account to reset my PIN because I'm receiving
an error message.

Microsoft answers "Landlines are not eligible for verification codes.
The landline is also a landline phone, which can only make and receive
calls, and does not have the function of sending and receiving text
messages." So you seem to know more than they do!

One VErizon page which doesn't say if it's talking about true landline
or voip / FIOS landline says it can be set up and will cost me 25 cents
for each text I get, and I w9ll probably get spam The page also has no
date . How can a responsible company print date dependent information
and not give the date ? I don't know but i see it often .

Trying to find how to allow texts to a Verizion FIOS line has been
suprisingly unsuccessful.

Frank Slootweg

2025-01-03 18:23:22 UTC

Post by micky
In comp.mobile.android, on Fri, 3 Jan 2025 13:38:34 +0000, Andy Burns

Post by micky
When someone unknowingly sends a text to a landline, does he get some
indication back that the text did not reach the destination, because it
can't receive texts?

Sigh! As you have a landline, why don't *you* try/test it, instead of
asking here for an impossible to give answer (because it depends on your
and their telco and setups).

If it works for you, it will also work for them, because in that test
your landline telco and their setup is the deciding factor.

If it does not work for you, it doesn't mean it doesn't work for them,
so it's undecided and the only things you can do is ask them to test it
or remove your landline number from their contact list. In most cases,
the 'customer', i.e. you, should be able to do that themselves, but that
depends on how customer-friendly their IT is.

[...]

Newyana2

2025-01-03 20:48:25 UTC

Post by micky
Trying to find how to allow texts to a Verizion FIOS line has been
suprisingly unsuccessful.

There's no such thing. Think it through. Where could the text display
even if it did come through? If the sender converts it to voice then
that's a recorded audio message, not a text. You can't convert it
to voice on your end because you can't receive it in the first place.

I've occasionally come across websites that offer an audio
recording for 2FA. The robot voice calls and recites a code. But
even with that, as I recall, they refused to provide the service
once I had an account set up, so I could no longer use my
account! Apparently they thought I was just kidding about not
having a cellphone.

Most people live on their cellphones, so it's highly unlikely that
anyone is going to take the trouble to set up a text-to-speech
conversion just for you. I've found this repeatedly. I fill out a form
giving my home phone, but somehow they record it as my cellphone...
It's got to a point where many people refuse to even understand
the concept of a landline.

Andy Burns

2025-01-03 20:52:02 UTC

Post by micky
Trying to find how to allow texts to a Verizion FIOS line has been
suprisingly unsuccessful.

There's no such thing. Think it through. Where could the text display
even if it did come through?

Aren't DECT phone common over there? Many of them have SMS capability
when on a PSTN/POTS line.

Jörg Lorenz

2025-01-03 21:24:41 UTC

Post by micky
Trying to find how to allow texts to a Verizion FIOS line has been
suprisingly unsuccessful.

There's no such thing. Think it through. Where could the text display
even if it did come through?

Aren't DECT phone common over there? Many of them have SMS capability
when on a PSTN/POTS line.

In Europe IP-Telephone Services are standard. POTS/PSTN does not exist
anymore. This dates back to 2017 in the case of Switzerland.

--
"Roma locuta, causa finita." (Augustinus)

Chris Green

2025-01-04 10:21:02 UTC

Post by micky
Trying to find how to allow texts to a Verizion FIOS line has been
suprisingly unsuccessful.

There's no such thing. Think it through. Where could the text display
even if it did come through?

Aren't DECT phone common over there? Many of them have SMS capability
when on a PSTN/POTS line.

In Europe IP-Telephone Services are standard. POTS/PSTN does not exist
anymore. This dates back to 2017 in the case of Switzerland.

There are still **some** POTS lines in the UK, but they are being
phased out.

--
Chris Green
·

Andy Burns

2025-01-04 12:55:42 UTC

Post by Andy Burns
Aren't DECT phone common over there? Many of them have SMS capability
when on a PSTN/POTS line.

In Europe IP-Telephone Services are standard. POTS/PSTN does not exist
anymore. This dates back to 2017 in the case of Switzerland.

I think you are overstating the facts, I'm sure most European countries
are in the process of migrating to VoIP, as far as I can tell only
Germany, the Netherlands and Sweden claim to have completed this, and
even then, does "completed" mean absolutely 100%, I doubt it ...

Carlos E.R.

2025-01-04 14:06:26 UTC

Aren't DECT phone common over there? Many of them have SMS capability
when on a PSTN/POTS line.

In Europe IP-Telephone Services are standard. POTS/PSTN does not exist
anymore. This dates back to 2017 in the case of Switzerland.

In Spain Telefónica claims to have done it. Users that have not been
switched to fibre have radio now.

I don't know about other companies, but for example the old ONO,
currently Vodafone, installed fibre to the block, coaxial to the home,
then copper pair to the room. I don't know what exact technology.

--
Cheers, Carlos.

Jörg Lorenz

2025-01-04 16:33:47 UTC

Post by Andy Burns
Aren't DECT phone common over there? Many of them have SMS capability
when on a PSTN/POTS line.

In Europe IP-Telephone Services are standard. POTS/PSTN does not exist
anymore. This dates back to 2017 in the case of Switzerland.

Nonsense. Switzerland ended POTS/PSTN 2017.

Scandinavia and Switzerland are at least 5 year rather 10 ahead of
Germany which is massively underdeveloped compared to Switzerland and
Scandinavia. Worse so in mobile telecommunication.

--
"Roma locuta, causa finita." (Augustinus)

Chris

2025-01-05 00:48:42 UTC

Post by Andy Burns
Aren't DECT phone common over there? Many of them have SMS capability
when on a PSTN/POTS line.

In Europe IP-Telephone Services are standard. POTS/PSTN does not exist
anymore. This dates back to 2017 in the case of Switzerland.

Nonsense. Switzerland ended POTS/PSTN 2017.
Scandinavia and Switzerland are at least 5 year rather 10 ahead of
Germany which is massively underdeveloped compared to Switzerland and
Scandinavia. Worse so in mobile telecommunication.

The UK only *started* phasing out POTS at the end of 2023...

Theo

2025-01-05 22:56:13 UTC

Post by Andy Burns
Aren't DECT phone common over there? Many of them have SMS capability
when on a PSTN/POTS line.

In Europe IP-Telephone Services are standard. POTS/PSTN does not exist
anymore. This dates back to 2017 in the case of Switzerland.

Nonsense. Switzerland ended POTS/PSTN 2017.
Scandinavia and Switzerland are at least 5 year rather 10 ahead of
Germany which is massively underdeveloped compared to Switzerland and
Scandinavia. Worse so in mobile telecommunication.

The UK only *started* phasing out POTS at the end of 2023...

2020, although it was only for new connections initially - ie you could
order VDSL broadband without a phone line, and got a VOIP service instead.
Forced replacement of POTS with VOIP only started to roll out in 2021.

( https://www.ispreview.co.uk/index.php/tag/voip for the timeline)

Theo

Frank Slootweg

2025-01-04 19:41:27 UTC

Post by Andy Burns
Aren't DECT phone common over there? Many of them have SMS capability
when on a PSTN/POTS line.

In Europe IP-Telephone Services are standard. POTS/PSTN does not exist
anymore. This dates back to 2017 in the case of Switzerland.

And even if it's IP telephony, the user end, i.e. the 'last mile' can
still be POTS, i.e. local copper wire and *analog* telephones. For
example my neighbour (in The Netherlands) still has that and she doesn't
want to change and she doesn't have to change.

OTOH, AFAIK her base-station/handset combination is DECT, so the very
last bit is partly digital, but not IP. Confusing, isn't it!? :-)

Andy Burns

2025-01-04 20:01:07 UTC

Post by Frank Slootweg
the 'last mile' can
still be POTS, i.e. local copper wire andanalog telephones. For
example my neighbour (in The Netherlands) still has that and she doesn't
want to change and she doesn't have to change.

BT here are going to have an option for non-broadband users to continue
with a "POTS-like" service for a few years beyond the supposed PSTN
retirement date.

There has been concern over phone lines stopping working during power
cuts, has your PTT made provision for that?

Frank Slootweg

2025-01-04 20:43:00 UTC

BT here are going to have an option for non-broadband users to continue
with a "POTS-like" service for a few years beyond the supposed PSTN
retirement date.

Our relatives in Australia had a complete - quite bulky - NBN
(National Broadband Network) fibre broadband setup, complete with
battery backup power, just for their landline. Never mind that the phone
was DECT, so it would be dead anyway if the power failed. (Now they've
moved and are mobile phone only.)

Post by Andy Burns
There has been concern over phone lines stopping working during power
cuts, has your PTT made provision for that?

"power cuts"!? What are those!? Just kidding. Our grid has been very,
very reliable, but now with the energy transition that has/will become
worse, because there's too much power (both supply and demand), but too
little grid.

But to answer your question, I have no idea how that will be
addressed. Currently probably one of the two (mobile/landline) will be
up when the other is down, but in severe cases, both might be down.

In our case, during a power cut, we also don't have water, because the
pump which has to pump the water up in our appartment building runs on
power and has no battery backup.

Carlos E.R.

2025-01-04 21:56:46 UTC

Post by Frank Slootweg

Post by Andy Burns
Aren't DECT phone common over there? Many of them have SMS capability
when on a PSTN/POTS line.

In Europe IP-Telephone Services are standard. POTS/PSTN does not exist
anymore. This dates back to 2017 in the case of Switzerland.

Depends on the country. Here, those people that did not want to change,
have been forced to change, or service would be simply stopped. On
Telefónica, which I think it is still the major provider, it is fibre or
radio for the landline. Copper, no way.

Same thing for those providers that simply rented the service from
Telefónica.

Post by Frank Slootweg
OTOH, AFAIK her base-station/handset combination is DECT, so the very
last bit is partly digital, but not IP. Confusing, isn't it!? :-)

--
Cheers, Carlos.

Frank Slootweg

2025-01-05 11:00:48 UTC

[...]

Post by Frank Slootweg
And even if it's IP telephony, the user end, i.e. the 'last mile' can
still be POTS, i.e. local copper wire and *analog* telephones. For
example my neighbour (in The Netherlands) still has that and she doesn't
want to change and she doesn't have to change.

As I mentioned in another response, in Australia my relatives were
indeed forced to a fibre NBN (broadband) setup with battery backup
just for their landline.

AFAIK, we're not yet at this stage in The Netherlands. Anyway, as I
said, only the last part is copper and theoretically it could stay that
way. I.e. like my HFC (Hybrid Fiber Coaxial) Internet/TV connection:
Nearly all of it is fiber, but the last part is coaxial cable.

[...]

Newyana2

2025-01-04 01:06:23 UTC

Post by micky
Trying to find how to allow texts to a Verizion FIOS line has been
suprisingly unsuccessful.

There's no such thing. Think it through. Where could the text display
even if it did come through?

Aren't DECT phone common over there? Many of them have SMS capability
when on a PSTN/POTS line.

I don't know what DECT or POTS mean. We have landlines
that can be direct phone wires or VOIP. Either way, the
phones are the same. There's room for maybe 12 letter in
the Caller ID display and no facility to receive a text.
They can receive an audio message, but then, who's going
to go to the trouble to sned an audio message when most of
the people they know have texting?

Carlos E.R.

2025-01-04 01:47:01 UTC

Post by micky
Trying to find how to allow texts to a Verizion FIOS line has been
suprisingly unsuccessful.

There's no such thing. Think it through. Where could the text display
even if it did come through?

Aren't DECT phone common over there? Many of them have SMS capability
when on a PSTN/POTS line.

I don't know what DECT or POTS mean.

Digital Enhanced Cordless Telecommunications (DECT) is a cordless
telephony standard maintained by ETSI. It originated in Europe, where it
is the common standard, replacing earlier standards, such as CT1 and
CT2. Since the DECT-2020 standard onwards, it also includes IoT
communication.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DECT

Plain Old Telephone Service (POTS), or Plain Ordinary Telephone
System[1], is a retronym for voice-grade telephone service that employs
analog signal transmission over copper loops. The term POTS originally
stood for Post Office Telephone Service, as early telephone lines in
many regions were operated directly by local Post Offices. For instance,
in New Zealand, the telephone system remained under Post Office control
until the 1980s.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plain_old_telephone_service

The public switched telephone network (PSTN) is the aggregate of the
world's telephone networks that are operated by national, regional, or
local telephony operators. It provides infrastructure and services for
public telephony. The PSTN consists of telephone lines, fiber-optic
cables, microwave transmission links, cellular networks, communications
satellites, and undersea telephone cables interconnected by switching
centers, such as central offices, network tandems, and international
gateways, which allow telephone users to communicate with each other.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Public_switched_telephone_network

--
Cheers, Carlos.

Andy Burns

2025-01-04 09:42:21 UTC

Aren't DECT phone common over there? Many of them have SMS capability
when on a PSTN/POTS line.

I don't know what DECT

I suspected they hadn't really caught-on over there, they're digital
cordless (mostly home) phones, so they tend to have a lot of mobile-like
features, such as a graphical display. Though mostly people associate
texting only with mobiles.

or POTS mean.

I specifically said POTS because I believed you used that term (plain
old telephone service) rather than PSTN, oh well.

We have landlines
that can be direct phone wires or VOIP. Either way, the
phones are the same.

Same here.

There's room for maybe 12 letter in
the Caller ID display and no facility to receive a text.
They can receive an audio message, but then, who's going
to go to the trouble to sned an audio message when most of
the people they know have texting?

Newyana2

2025-01-04 13:20:48 UTC

I don't know what DECT

Yes, that's unfamiliar. I didn't know there was such a thing.
In Carlos's description he says it serves the IoT. Here that's only
possible via ethernet or wifi. So I guess I'm glad my dryer can't
jump online through my phone line.

Though I'm still not completely clear about this. My landline
has cordless extensions and a limited graphical display. It has
caller ID and I can choose to program in numbers to be blocked.
However, it does not have wireless connection to any network.
It's still a landline -- what you apparently call POTS. The only
change is updated hardware.

DECT sounds like it's truly wireless, connecting via towers
like cellphones? Or via wifi as wireless VOIP? Or maybe via
telephone pole receivers that you can see out the windy? :)

or POTS mean.

I specifically said POTS because I believed you used that term (plain
old telephone service) rather than PSTN, oh well.

Probably true, but this sounds like engineer or historian talk.
We used to talk about telephones. Now we talk about landlines
or cellular. No one has ever needed technical acronyms. But I
was unaware that there were fundamentally different systems
operating elsewhere.

Andy Burns

2025-01-04 13:39:11 UTC

Post by Newyana2
In Carlos's description he says it serves the IoT. Here that's only
possible via ethernet or wifi. So I guess I'm glad my dryer can't
jump online through my phone line.

I think the IoT aspect is new, mine doesn't have it, the DECT
base-station does have bluetooth to link to a mobile phone (which was
rubbish quality last time I tried).

Carlos E.R.

2025-01-04 14:12:18 UTC

I don't know what DECT

I suspected they hadn't really caught-on over there, they're digital
cordless (mostly home) phones, so they tend to have a lot of mobile-
like features, such as a graphical display. Though mostly people
associate texting only with mobiles.

Yes, that's unfamiliar. I didn't know there was such a thing.
In Carlos's description he says it serves the IoT. Here that's only
possible via ethernet or wifi. So I guess I'm glad my dryer can't
jump online through my phone line.
Though I'm still not completely clear about this. My landline
has cordless extensions and a limited graphical display. It has
caller ID and I can choose to program in numbers to be blocked.
However, it does not have wireless connection to any network.
It's still a landline -- what you apparently call POTS. The only
change is updated hardware.
DECT sounds like it's truly wireless, connecting via towers
like cellphones? Or via wifi as wireless VOIP? Or maybe via
telephone pole receivers that you can see out the windy? :)

No. DECT phones connect by radio to a base at your home, which is
connected to the copper pair.

You can see a photo of the base station on the wikipedia article.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DECT

--
Cheers, Carlos.

Newyana2

2025-01-04 16:24:21 UTC

Post by Carlos E.R.
No. DECT phones connect by radio to a base at your home, which is
connected to the copper pair.
You can see a photo of the base station on the wikipedia article.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DECT

Ah. We have almost that. Multiple phones talk to each other.
But one must be wired directly.

Theo

2025-01-04 15:22:37 UTC

I don't know what DECT

Yes, that's unfamiliar. I didn't know there was such a thing.
In Carlos's description he says it serves the IoT. Here that's only
possible via ethernet or wifi. So I guess I'm glad my dryer can't
jump online through my phone line.
Though I'm still not completely clear about this. My landline
has cordless extensions and a limited graphical display. It has
caller ID and I can choose to program in numbers to be blocked.
However, it does not have wireless connection to any network.
It's still a landline -- what you apparently call POTS. The only
change is updated hardware.

I think you might be using DECT without realising it. eg from a search on
Amazon.com for 'cordless phone', #4 is an AT&T branded DECT base and handset:

https://www.amazon.com/AT-BL102-2-2-Handset-Answering-Unsurpassed/dp/B086QB7WZ1

and similar are at #6, #9, #11, #12. Most of the others are Panasonic or
V-Tech, many of which have DECT in the title too.

What model of cordless landline phone do you have?

Theo

Newyana2

2025-01-04 16:32:52 UTC

Post by Theo
I think you might be using DECT without realising it. eg from a search on
https://www.amazon.com/AT-BL102-2-2-Handset-Answering-Unsurpassed/dp/B086QB7WZ1
and similar are at #6, #9, #11, #12. Most of the others are Panasonic or
V-Tech, many of which have DECT in the title too.
What model of cordless landline phone do you have?

Panasonic. But note that the phone in the picture has an
antenna. Mine is wired directly to the phone line, which
goes to the VOIP device but used to go to a modem and
before that wen't to public telephone lines. The extensions
are wireless, but not the base station/answering machine.

I've never seen a fully wireless landline. But maybe it's not
really different. Using radio waves to get to the phone line is
not fundamentally changing the technology. The phone in the
picture has the same basic display and functions. The only
difference seems to be that it doesn't need to be direct-wired.

If DECT eventually goes to the landline
then it would seem that the lack of landline texting in the
US may be more due to simple lack of support rather than
technical issues. Not that I mind. I have no interest in
receiving 100 characters of misspelled trivia, scrolling
across my tiny phone screen like news headlines. As it
stands, I'm glad that people can't text me.

Theo

2025-01-05 17:08:43 UTC

DECT handsets are cordless, as the name suggests. They talk via radio to
the base station, hence the antenna. The base is corded, either to the
classic copper phone line or to a VOIP converter box (maybe in the ISP's
router).

It's also possible to get bases which do VOIP directly, ie plug into an
ethernet network - they're doing DECT between the handset and the base and
converting it directly to VOIP rather than going via a copper phone line.
Some routers also include this DECT-VOIP gateway, ie you pair your DECT
handset with the router and then the outbound phone call is all VOIP.

DECT range can be up to 400m from a single base, so is useful for people
with a large property without needing to install boosters everywhere.

Post by Newyana2
If DECT eventually goes to the landline
then it would seem that the lack of landline texting in the
US may be more due to simple lack of support rather than
technical issues. Not that I mind. I have no interest in
receiving 100 characters of misspelled trivia, scrolling
across my tiny phone screen like news headlines. As it
stands, I'm glad that people can't text me.

My Gigaset handset with VOIP base will actually scroll the news headlines
and weather on its tiny screen, fetched from some Gigaset server. It's not
the most useful feature :-)

Landline SMS can be useful when you don't have mobile signal locally but
need to receive verification SMS from various companies. Although the
takeup of wifi calling on mobiles has made that less relevant.

Theo

Frank Slootweg

2025-01-05 18:54:46 UTC

Theo <theom+***@chiark.greenend.org.uk> wrote:
[...]

Post by Theo
DECT handsets are cordless, as the name suggests. They talk via radio to
the base station, hence the antenna. The base is corded, either to the
classic copper phone line or to a VOIP converter box (maybe in the ISP's
router).

Just a minor, but important, comment: (Some/most/all?) DECT handsets
and base stations use *internal* antennas. So if you don't see an
antenna, that doesn't mean it can't be a DECT device, but also not that
it is a DECT device, because it *could* - but is not likely to - use
other cordless technology.

[...]

The Real Bev

2025-01-05 20:25:34 UTC

I've never been able to receive text messages on my Ooma VOIP number,
but I thought it might be interesting to try to send one. My question:
How does one do that? Email to the phone number? Nope. "Messages"
tried but failed.

Anything?

--
Cheers, Bev
"Not everyone can be above average so why
shouldn't we be the ones to suck?"
--Anonymous School Board Member

Newyana2

2025-01-05 20:32:50 UTC

Post by The Real Bev
I've never been able to receive text messages on my Ooma VOIP number,
How does one do that? Email to the phone number? Nope. "Messages"
tried but failed.
Anything?

You can. These should be up to date:

AT&T: ***@txt.att.net
Qwest: ***@qwestmp.com
T-Mobile: ***@tmomail.net
Verizon: ***@vtext.com
Sprint: ***@messaging.sprintpcs.com or ***@pm.sprint.com
Virgin Mobile: ***@vmobl.com
Nextel: ***@messaging.nextel.com
Alltel: ***@message.alltel.com
Metro PCS: ***@mymetropcs.com
Powertel: ***@ptel.com
Boost Mobile: ***@myboostmobile.com
Suncom: ***@tms.suncom.com
Tracfone: ***@mmst5.tracfone.com
U.S. Cellular: ***@email.uscc.net

You just send an email to their phone number. The trick is
that you need to know their provider. The other catch is that
they'll have to send an email to respond to you. Confusing.
Probably most people wouldn't know how to handle it.

So it's like ***@vtext.com Hopefully the recipient
knows it's a joke and knows that you can't receive a text
in return. I don't know how they see the sender identified.

The Real Bev

2025-01-05 21:42:11 UTC

Post by The Real Bev
I've never been able to receive text messages on my Ooma VOIP number,
How does one do that? Email to the phone number? Nope. "Messages"
tried but failed.
Anything?

Sorry, I wasn't clear. I wanted to try sending a text message from my
cell TO my Ooma VOIP number. I'll try emailing ###@ooma.com and see
what happens.
Thanks, this is useful information.

Post by Newyana2
You just send an email to their phone number. The trick is
that you need to know their provider. The other catch is that
they'll have to send an email to respond to you. Confusing.
Probably most people wouldn't know how to handle it.
knows it's a joke and knows that you can't receive a text
in return. I don't know how they see the sender identified.

I've emailed to my grandspawn ###@att.net with my computer. It shows
'sent from' my email address, and she's replied to me.

--
Cheers, Bev
666øF -- the oven temperature for roast beast.

Theo

2025-01-05 22:35:59 UTC

Post by The Real Bev

Post by The Real Bev
I've never been able to receive text messages on my Ooma VOIP number,
How does one do that? Email to the phone number? Nope. "Messages"
tried but failed.
Anything?

Sorry, I wasn't clear. I wanted to try sending a text message from my
what happens.

Can't you just use your cell to SMS your Ooma number +1 (xxx) xxx-xxxx like
any other cellphone number?

Post by The Real Bev
Thanks, this is useful information.

To send from your Ooma number, it's possible they also provide a web page or
mobile app that allows sending SMS with their system. Although maybe you
need to be on their business package, I don't know.

Theo

Jörg Lorenz

2025-01-03 21:17:53 UTC

Post by Newyana2
There's no such thing. Think it through. Where could the text display
even if it did come through?

I would suggest to check the screen.

--
"Roma locuta, causa finita." (Augustinus)

Carlos E.R.

2025-01-03 21:37:44 UTC

Post by micky
Trying to find how to allow texts to a Verizion FIOS line has been
suprisingly unsuccessful.

Yes, there is such a thing.

The telephone exchange converts the text to machine voice, and then
phones you.

This service depends on the company and the country, and possibly on
contracting the service. It is not universal.

I tried it long ago here (Spain) and quickly disabled it.
I think messages were delivered only at a more or less
fixed hour.

Then, if the landline is actually a true VoIp intelligent phone, it may
also receive texts. There is a display. I don't know if this is done,
but I think it is feasible.

A true VoIp phone is connected to an ethernet cable or to a WiFi, not to
a copper pair. It is a small computer, not a traditional landline dumb
phone.

--
Cheers, Carlos.

Andy Burns

2025-01-04 09:31:49 UTC

Post by Carlos E.R.
The telephone exchange converts the text to machine voice, and then
phones you.
This service depends on the company and the country, and possibly on
contracting the service. It is not universal.
   I tried it long ago here (Spain) and quickly disabled it.
   I think messages were delivered only at a more or less
   fixed hour.

Here, it will phone you any time of day with the voice messages, there
is an IVR number you can call to set a curfew for voice delivery, or
just turn it off altogether.

Jörg Lorenz

2025-01-04 11:19:47 UTC

Here, it will phone you any time of day with the voice messages, there
is an IVR number you can call to set a curfew for voice delivery, or
just turn it off altogether.

In the IP world such things are done in the personal webaccount.

--
"Roma locuta, causa finita." (Augustinus)

Andy Burns

2025-01-04 12:46:34 UTC

Post by Andy Burns
Here, it will phone you any time of day with the voice messages, there
is an IVR number you can call to set a curfew for voice delivery, or
just turn it off altogether.

In the IP world such things are done in the personal webaccount.

Here, the SMS doesn't seem to make it as far as my VoIP provider, it
seems to get intercepted by BT/Openreach and delivered by voice to my
VoIP provider. I haven't had any online account with BT for about 2
decades.

Chris

2025-01-03 22:34:46 UTC

Post by micky
Trying to find how to allow texts to a Verizion FIOS line has been
suprisingly unsuccessful.

There's no such thing.

There certainly is.

Post by Newyana2
Think it through. Where could the text display
even if it did come through? If the sender converts it to voice then
that's a recorded audio message, not a text. You can't convert it
to voice on your end because you can't receive it in the first place.

Text to speech is trivially easy to accomplish computationally. I had
freeware PC programme in the 90s which did it very well.

In the UK receiving txt messages via landline is (was? I've not had one for
ages) commonplace: texts are delivered as an automated voice message.

Newyana2

2025-01-04 01:07:24 UTC

Post by Newyana2
There's no such thing.

There certainly is.

I'm talking about the US.

Carlos E.R.

2025-01-04 01:48:42 UTC

There's no such thing.

There certainly is.

I'm talking about the US.

Is that in the third world, a disadvantaged country? (SCNR)

--
Cheers, Carlos.

Jörg Lorenz

2025-01-04 08:08:08 UTC

There's no such thing.

There certainly is.

I'm talking about the US.

Is that in the third world, a disadvantaged country? (SCNR)

No doubt about that. *SCNR* either.

--
"Roma locuta, causa finita." (Augustinus)

Newyana2

2025-01-04 13:37:59 UTC

There's no such thing.

There certainly is.

I'm talking about the US.

Is that in the third world, a disadvantaged country? (SCNR)

It's Rome to you, buddy boy. :) We're the seat of
worldwide culture, while everyone else is in what we
call the boondocks. Spongebob Squarepants?
American. Cocoa Puffs? American. Taylor Swift?
American. I rest my case. If they ever invent hot
fudge sundae flavored Pepsi, that, too, will be American.

What have you people got? Shakespeare. History.
Literacy. The Renaissance. Big woop. If you're so smart,
why did Spongebob and Lucky Charms originate in the US?

Jörg Lorenz

2025-01-04 16:36:31 UTC

There's no such thing.

There certainly is.

I'm talking about the US.

Is that in the third world, a disadvantaged country? (SCNR)

It's Rome to you, buddy boy. :) We're the seat of
worldwide culture, while everyone else is in what we
call the boondocks. Spongebob Squarepants?
American. Cocoa Puffs? American. Taylor Swift?
American. I rest my case. If they ever invent hot
fudge sundae flavored Pepsi, that, too, will be American.
What have you people got? Shakespeare. History.
Literacy. The Renaissance. Big woop. If you're so smart,
why did Spongebob and Lucky Charms originate in the US?

Idiot.

--
"Roma locuta, causa finita." (Augustinus)

Jörg Lorenz

2025-01-04 08:07:11 UTC

Post by Newyana2
There's no such thing.

There certainly is.

I'm talking about the US.

As far as state of the art telecom services are concerned, they are one
or two decades behind Europe. Not only with fixed line services.

--
"Roma locuta, causa finita." (Augustinus)

Carlos E.R.

2025-01-04 11:47:19 UTC

Post by Newyana2
There's no such thing.

There certainly is.

I'm talking about the US.

As far as state of the art telecom services are concerned, they are one
or two decades behind Europe. Not only with fixed line services.

Which is weird, considering that they built very good PSTN hardware,
state of the art, which was installed both sides of the pond. I'm
thinking of the Lucent aka AT&T 5ESSS, for instance, witch which I worked.

Of course, they charged per feature, so the operators would not activate
all the features.

--
Cheers, Carlos.

Newyana2

2025-01-04 13:52:13 UTC

There's no such thing.

There certainly is.

I'm talking about the US.

As far as state of the art telecom services are concerned, they are one
or two decades behind Europe. Not only with fixed line services.

Which is weird, considering that they built very good PSTN hardware,
state of the art, which was installed both sides of the pond. I'm
thinking of the Lucent aka AT&T 5ESSS, for instance, witch which I worked.
Of course, they charged per feature, so the operators would not activate
all the features.

I'm not a history expert, but I think there are probably two
main factors. One is that corporations have great power here.
Patents, monopoly and scam marketing are rampant limitations.
I get flyers from Verizon for their fiberoptic service that have
maybe 500 words of disclaimers on them that I can't even read
with my glasses on. It's absurd. That text lists the endless
number of restrictions and gotchas that apply to their advertised
sale price. And it doesn't even detail all of them. Which means it's
not possible to actually find out the price of the service!

Cellphones are similar. A few years ago I went around to each
of 4 companies to find out what their rates were. All started at
$39.99. Not one of them could tell me what the actual cost would
be after they added in mickey mouse fees. A woman who was in
one store to pay her bill was nice enough to show me hers. It was
about $80 -- twice the advertised rate.

We were forced to rent telephones until they broke up Bell
Telephone. Long distance calls only became affordable much
later. To this day I wouldn't call Europe. I have no idea what
it would cost.

The other difference in the US is that it's largely rural. I have
a brother with no home cellphone access and who only recently
got Internet via cable. That's common. It's expensive to run
the wires. Companies don't want to maintain old wires and they
don't want to put up towers in sparsely populated areas.

Frank Slootweg

2025-01-04 20:19:32 UTC

Newyana2 <***@invalid.nospam> wrote:
[...]

Post by Newyana2
We were forced to rent telephones until they broke up Bell
Telephone. Long distance calls only became affordable much
later. To this day I wouldn't call Europe. I have no idea what
it would cost.

Well, you could install Skype on your computer (or smartphone ("Yeah,
*right*!")) and call European landlines for a few cents per minute (if
that 'much') and mobile numbers for a bit more.

And, as Carlos mentioned, you can tell beforehand whether a number is
a landline number or a mobile number.

If you can give me an example target country, I can lookup the rates
for you (or you could do it yourself).

BTW, Skype is owned by Microsoft, the company we all, and you
especially, love so much.

[...]

Chris

2025-01-05 00:39:30 UTC

Post by Frank Slootweg
[...]

Well, you could install Skype on your computer (or smartphone ("Yeah,
*right*!")) and call European landlines for a few cents per minute (if
that 'much') and mobile numbers for a bit more.

Or simply use whatsapp. Large swathes of the European population use
whatsapp and calls only require data; i.e. free using home wifi.

Post by Frank Slootweg
And, as Carlos mentioned, you can tell beforehand whether a number is
a landline number or a mobile number.

You need to know the rules, however, as each country is different. In
France, for example, mobiles start 06/07 and landlines start 01/02/03/04/05
depending on the region.

Post by Frank Slootweg
If you can give me an example target country, I can lookup the rates
for you (or you could do it yourself).
BTW, Skype is owned by Microsoft, the company we all, and you
especially, love so much.
[...]

Carlos E.R.

2025-01-05 02:50:45 UTC

...

Post by Frank Slootweg
And, as Carlos mentioned, you can tell beforehand whether a number is
a landline number or a mobile number.

You need to know the rules, however, as each country is different. In
France, for example, mobiles start 06/07 and landlines start 01/02/03/04/05
depending on the region.

There are websites that say.

--
Cheers, Carlos.

Frank Slootweg

2025-01-05 13:00:58 UTC

Post by Frank Slootweg
[...]

Well, you could install Skype on your computer (or smartphone ("Yeah,
*right*!")) and call European landlines for a few cents per minute (if
that 'much') and mobile numbers for a bit more.

Or simply use whatsapp. Large swathes of the European population use
whatsapp and calls only require data; i.e. free using home wifi.

Yes, but that applies to normal people in non third-world countries.
That doesn't apply here! :-) Expecting the caller to accept to use Skype
is already a big ask and probably a too big one.

But yes, we use WhatsApp with our relatives in Australia, all the
time.

[...]

Chris

2025-01-04 08:35:43 UTC

Post by Newyana2
There's no such thing.

There certainly is.

I'm talking about the US.

So what? Doesn't change the facts.

Newyana2

2025-01-04 13:25:37 UTC

Post by Newyana2
There's no such thing.

There certainly is.

I'm talking about the US.

So what? Doesn't change the facts.

Yes, it does. I also didn't know that the systems were
different, but what Andy described does not exist in the US.
We have basic telephone lines, first installed by Al Bell.
And we now have cellphones, which require transmission
towers. About 1/3 of the US still doesn't even have cell
access.

I'm not sure, but I think Micky is in the US. Is so then
he cannot receive texts over his landline He can only
receive audio.

Andy Burns

2025-01-04 14:01:04 UTC

Post by Newyana2
what Andy described does not exist in the US.
We have basic telephone lines, first installed by Al Bell.
And we now have cellphones

Until recently DECT phones plug into basic phone lines.

Since the introduction of VoIP, the DECT base may connect to an analogue
adapter, or the adapter may be built-in to the ISP router, or the base
may connect to your router via ethernet.

Newyana2

2025-01-04 16:38:13 UTC

Post by Newyana2
what Andy described does not exist in the US.
We have basic telephone lines, first installed by Al Bell.
And we now have cellphones

Until recently DECT phones plug into basic phone lines.
Since the introduction of VoIP, the DECT base may connect to an analogue
adapter, or the adapter may be built-in to the ISP router, or the base
may connect to your router via ethernet.

The more we talk about this, the more it seems that DECT
merely refers to having a wired base station with wireless
extensions. That's common in the US. So maybe texting
to landlines is really a separate issue. In general it seems
silly, anyway. Most people now use cellphones, and landline
displays are very poorly suited to texting. There would be no
reason to add the functionality.

Carlos E.R.

2025-01-04 22:02:08 UTC

Post by Newyana2
what Andy described does not exist in the US.
We have basic telephone lines, first installed by Al Bell.
And we now have cellphones

Until recently DECT phones plug into basic phone lines.
Since the introduction of VoIP, the DECT base may connect to an
analogue adapter, or the adapter may be built-in to the ISP router, or
the base may connect to your router via ethernet.

The more we talk about this, the more it seems that DECT
merely refers to having a wired base station with wireless
extensions. That's common in the US.

Yes, but the US use typically a different non standard method, each
brand its own. Some might actually use DECT.

--
Cheers, Carlos.

Jörg Lorenz

2025-01-04 16:42:02 UTC

Post by Newyana2
what Andy described does not exist in the US.
We have basic telephone lines, first installed by Al Bell.
And we now have cellphones

Until recently DECT phones plug into basic phone lines.

DECT has absolutely nothing to do with the backend of the telefon-system
in a house. It is simply a radio standard.

Post by Andy Burns
Since the introduction of VoIP, the DECT base may connect to an analogue
adapter, or the adapter may be built-in to the ISP router, or the base
may connect to your router via ethernet.

Exclusively internet routers are used.

DECT
Digital enhanced cordless telecommunications

Digital Enhanced Cordless Telecommunications (DECT) is a cordless
telephony standard maintained by ETSI. It originated in Europe, where it
is the common standard, replacing earlier standards, such as CT1 and
CT2.[1] Since the DECT-2020 standard onwards, it also includes IoT
communication.

Beyond Europe, it has been adopted by Australia and most countries in
Asia and South America. North American adoption was delayed by United
States radio-frequency regulations. This forced development of a
variation of DECT called DECT 6.0, using a slightly different frequency
range, which makes these units incompatible with systems intended for
use in other areas, even from the same manufacturer. DECT has almost
completely replaced other standards in most countries where it is used,
with the exception of North America.

DECT was originally intended for fast roaming between networked base
stations, and the first DECT product was Net3 wireless LAN.

--
"Roma locuta, causa finita." (Augustinus)

Andy Burns

2025-01-04 17:40:51 UTC

Post by Andy Burns
Until recently DECT phones plug into basic phone lines.

DECT has absolutely nothing to do with the backend of the telefon-system
in a house. It is simply a radio standard.

Nevertheless, it is common for DECT phones to plug into analogue phone
lines. Why is everything seen as an opportunity for an argument with you?

Jörg Lorenz

2025-01-05 09:28:03 UTC

Post by Andy Burns
Until recently DECT phones plug into basic phone lines.

DECT has absolutely nothing to do with the backend of the telefon-system
in a house. It is simply a radio standard.

Nevertheless, it is common for DECT phones to plug into analogue phone
lines.

Exactly so. The DECT-Standard is much older than IP-telephony. It is
just a radio standard. The handsets DECT-communicate with the base which
itself can be part of an analogue or a digital system.

--
"Roma locuta, causa finita." (Augustinus)

Frank Slootweg

2025-01-04 20:24:03 UTC

Post by Newyana2
what Andy described does not exist in the US.
We have basic telephone lines, first installed by Al Bell.
And we now have cellphones

Until recently DECT phones plug into basic phone lines.

DECT has absolutely nothing to do with the backend of the telefon-system
in a house. It is simply a radio standard.

Exactly! Like Bluetooth has nothing to do with wireless headphones!
... Oops! Whats' wrong with this picture!?

[Another false absolute deleted.]

AJL

2025-01-04 16:40:44 UTC

We [US] have basic telephone lines, first installed by Al Bell. And
we now have cellphones, which require transmission towers. About 1/3
of the US still doesn't even have cell access.

There's a 3rd wired option at my [US] house. My 5 year old Samsung
Galaxy S10+ has WiFi Calling which uses my home wired cable system and
switches automatically to cell when I leave. No need for a POTS system
anymore which of course I got rid of...

Chris

2025-01-04 18:32:13 UTC

Post by Newyana2
There's no such thing.

There certainly is.

I'm talking about the US.

So what? Doesn't change the facts.

Yes, it does. I also didn't know that the systems were
different, but what Andy described does not exist in the US.
We have basic telephone lines, first installed by Al Bell.

So do we, but installed by the GPO many moons ago. However, BT Openreach
are in the process of moving everyone to FTTC/FTTP and VOIP.

Post by Newyana2
And we now have cellphones, which require transmission
towers.

What is this new fangled thing you're talking about!? lol

Post by Newyana2
About 1/3 of the US still doesn't even have cell
access.

Do you mean geographically or by population? I suspect the former.

Post by Newyana2
I'm not sure, but I think Micky is in the US. Is so then
he cannot receive texts over his landline He can only
receive audio.

As I (and others) have pointed out the system mentioned is an audio call,
not text. He (and you) could receive txt messages via your landlines *if*
your telcos implemented something similar.

Newyana2

2025-01-04 20:47:05 UTC

Post by Newyana2
About 1/3 of the US still doesn't even have cell
access.

Do you mean geographically or by population? I suspect the former.

Geographically, yes. There are large areas with sparse population
and the telcos are not required to reach them.

Post by Newyana2
I'm not sure, but I think Micky is in the US. Is so then
he cannot receive texts over his landline He can only
receive audio.

As I (and others) have pointed out the system mentioned is an audio call,
not text. He (and you) could receive txt messages via your landlines *if*
your telcos implemented something similar.

Yes, but as far as I know there's no such option. Though
it could be handy for situations where companies insist on
a 2FA code. Many are happy to send it via email, but at
one point I was considering opening an investment account
and I couldn't sign up without a cellphone. They won't send
codes via audio. I suspect that they just want the cellphone
number and to get people using apps, so that they can track
their customers and perhaps sell personal data.

Chris

2025-01-05 00:19:50 UTC

Post by Newyana2
About 1/3 of the US still doesn't even have cell
access.

Do you mean geographically or by population? I suspect the former.

Geographically, yes. There are large areas with sparse population
and the telcos are not required to reach them.

Post by Newyana2
I'm not sure, but I think Micky is in the US. Is so then
he cannot receive texts over his landline He can only
receive audio.

As I (and others) have pointed out the system mentioned is an audio call,
not text. He (and you) could receive txt messages via your landlines *if*
your telcos implemented something similar.

It's more likely that they simply don't want to cater to people without
cell phones. Not a worthwhile demographic.

Chris Green

2025-01-05 09:12:52 UTC

Post by Newyana2
About 1/3 of the US still doesn't even have cell
access.

Do you mean geographically or by population? I suspect the former.

Geographically, yes. There are large areas with sparse population
and the telcos are not required to reach them.

Post by Newyana2
I'm not sure, but I think Micky is in the US. Is so then
he cannot receive texts over his landline He can only
receive audio.

As I (and others) have pointed out the system mentioned is an audio call,
not text. He (and you) could receive txt messages via your landlines *if*
your telcos implemented something similar.

That's what I do in the UK. I have an 07xxx number (i.e. a number
that looks like a mobile number in the UK) which is actually
a VOIP number and I have the VOIP provider route SMS messages to my
E-Mail. So 2FA authorisation numbers arrive in my E-Mail and, since I
use my computer rather than my phone for most things, that's very
handy. Simply copy/paste to where It needs to go.

--
Chris Green
·

Jörg Lorenz

2025-01-05 09:31:21 UTC

Post by Newyana2
Yes, but as far as I know there's no such option. Though
it could be handy for situations where companies insist on
a 2FA code. Many are happy to send it via email, but at
one point I was considering opening an investment account
and I couldn't sign up without a cellphone. They won't send
codes via audio. I suspect that they just want the cellphone
number and to get people using apps, so that they can track
their customers and perhaps sell personal data.

My goodness! Again one of your conspiracy theories!

--
"Roma locuta, causa finita." (Augustinus)

Chris Green

2025-01-04 10:25:48 UTC

Post by Chris
In the UK receiving txt messages via landline is (was? I've not had one for
ages) commonplace: texts are delivered as an automated voice message.

Yes, still true, it depends on the way the SMS gets sent to you
though. We have DECT phones on a landline which isn't yet VOIP.
The DECT handsets can receive and display SMS but, as I said,
depending on the sender and intermediate systems, we sometimes get an
actual text and other times a computer generated voice reading the
message.

--
Chris Green
·

Chris

2025-01-05 00:14:50 UTC

Post by Chris Green

Post by Chris
In the UK receiving txt messages via landline is (was? I've not had one for
ages) commonplace: texts are delivered as an automated voice message.

Thanks for confirming. I suspect with the move to VOIP receiving texts will
be transparent in what used to be landlines.

Carlos E.R.

2025-01-05 02:54:58 UTC

Post by Chris Green

Post by Chris
In the UK receiving txt messages via landline is (was? I've not had one for
ages) commonplace: texts are delivered as an automated voice message.

Thanks for confirming. I suspect with the move to VOIP receiving texts will
be transparent in what used to be landlines.

Depends. In Spain the change to VoIP is hidden. The telco pretends it is
still POTS, and charges for all the POTS services. For example, callid
has a price per month. The price structure is that of POTS. And they
keep a secret how to configure a true VoIP phone (connected with
ethernet or wifi, not copper pair), and do not offer the new services
that VoIP allow.

--
Cheers, Carlos.

Chris

2025-01-05 23:34:59 UTC

Post by Chris Green

Post by Chris
In the UK receiving txt messages via landline is (was? I've not had one for
ages) commonplace: texts are delivered as an automated voice message.

Thanks for confirming. I suspect with the move to VOIP receiving texts will
be transparent in what used to be landlines.

That's unfortunate. Fortunately here in the UK, with a bit of planning, we
can port our landline number away from our usual provider to another VOIP
provider. Most people won't, however.

My current broadband contract is up this year and the POTS will be
discontinued so will have to get this done.

Andy Burns

2025-01-06 08:23:56 UTC

Post by Carlos E.R.
In Spain the change to VoIP is hidden. The telco pretends it is

still POTS, and charges for all the POTS services.

That's unfortunate. Fortunately here in the UK, with a bit of planning, we
can port our landline number away from our usual provider to another VOIP
provider. Most people won't, however.
My current broadband contract is up this year and the POTS will be
discontinued so will have to get this done.

The spanish solution sounds rather like fibre to the cabinet, with voice
cards fitted to the cabinet?

Carlos E.R.

2025-01-06 13:35:17 UTC

Post by Carlos E.R.
In Spain the change to VoIP is hidden. The telco pretends it is

still POTS, and charges for all the POTS services.

That's unfortunate. Fortunately here in the UK, with a bit of
planning, we
can port our landline number away from our usual provider to another VOIP
provider. Most people won't, however.
My current broadband contract is up this year and the POTS will be
discontinued so will have to get this done.

The spanish solution sounds rather like fibre to the cabinet, with voice
cards fitted to the cabinet?

It is fibre to the sitting room, to the router, or to a little box
before it called "ONT". Either the ONT or the router have copper pair
out, thus it is VoIP to the router, POTS out of it.

--
Cheers, Carlos.

Andy Burns

2025-01-06 13:43:38 UTC

Post by Andy Burns
The spanish solution sounds rather like fibre to the cabinet, with
voice cards fitted to the cabinet?

It is fibre to the sitting room, to the router, or to a little box
before it called "ONT". Either the ONT or the router have copper pair
out, thus it is VoIP to the router, POTS out of it.

Is your sitting room a mile long then :-) or was it someone else who
mentioned "last mile"?

Carlos E.R.

2025-01-06 14:10:49 UTC

Post by Andy Burns
The spanish solution sounds rather like fibre to the cabinet, with
voice cards fitted to the cabinet?

It is fibre to the sitting room, to the router, or to a little box
before it called "ONT". Either the ONT or the router have copper pair
out, thus it is VoIP to the router, POTS out of it.

Is your sitting room a mile long then :-) or was it someone else who
mentioned "last mile"?

Somebody else.

Here Telefónica delivers fibre to to the sitting room router. If that is
not feasible, it is radio.

However, Vodafone does not, they do fibre to the block, then coax to the
home (two coax, I think, one for internet and tv, another for phone.
Unsure). They may use other technologies too.

--
Cheers, Carlos.

Frank Slootweg

2025-01-06 16:22:17 UTC

Post by Andy Burns
The spanish solution sounds rather like fibre to the cabinet, with
voice cards fitted to the cabinet?

It is fibre to the sitting room, to the router, or to a little box
before it called "ONT". Either the ONT or the router have copper pair
out, thus it is VoIP to the router, POTS out of it.

Is your sitting room a mile long then :-) or was it someone else who
mentioned "last mile"?

The "last mile" was me, but in a slightly different context, i.e. the
VOIP-to-POTS was not in the sitting room, but somewhere upto a 'mile'
away.

OTOH, I also mentioned an Aussie setup similar to what Carlos
described, so being in Oz, their sitting room might well be a mile long.
:-)

Newyana2

2025-01-06 15:55:36 UTC

Post by Carlos E.R.
Depends. In Spain the change to VoIP is hidden. The telco pretends it is
still POTS, and charges for all the POTS services. For example, callid
has a price per month. The price structure is that of POTS. And they
keep a secret how to configure a true VoIP phone (connected with
ethernet or wifi, not copper pair), and do not offer the new services
that VoIP allow.

I'm struck by how differently it works in different countries.
In the US I had to give up real landline because they were
charging a very high price. They didn't want to maintain the
wires anymore. So I got a modem and account through my
ISP. They charged $30+/month, trying to double or triple it
occasionally, hoping that I wouldn't notice. So it was basically
VOIP but it was sold as a different service. I now have Vonage.
$16/month. There's a small device to make it work over
ethernet.

So my ISP could have given me the VOIP for a tiny fee, because
it really was VOIP in the first place. But they pretended that they
were giving me a separate phone line. And I fell for it! It took some
courage to just dump their phone and get straight VOIP.

The woman I live with still has a phone line through the ISP,
but it might cost more if she dumped it! The prices mean nothing.
Their official prices are very high, then they claim that whatever
we pay is a special deal. They could charge us more for Internet
than for Internet and phone if they want to. And that often happens.
Companies want all the business in the houses they serve.

Frank Slootweg

2025-01-04 20:11:51 UTC

Chris <***@gmail.com> wrote:
[...]

Post by Chris
Text to speech is trivially easy to accomplish computationally. I had
freeware PC programme in the 90s which did it very well.
In the UK receiving txt messages via landline is (was? I've not had one for
ages) commonplace: texts are delivered as an automated voice message.

$DRIFT ON

I don't know if it's common in other places, but in Australia, I also
had it the other way around, speech-to-text: Someone left me 'voicemal',
but that (human) voice was converted to text and that text was sent by
SMS. Of course the text sometimes contained translation errors, but in
general was quite understandable and I didn't need to call my voicemail
(which wasn't enabled).

$ DRIFT OFF

Frank Slootweg

2025-01-03 19:02:34 UTC

Post by micky
When someone unknowingly sends a text to a landline, does he get some
indication back that the text did not reach the destination, because it
can't receive texts?

For my setup in The Netherlands (Vodafone mobile, Ziggo VOIP landline
(via cable Internet) it does not work. Landline phone doesn't ring, SMS
on the smartphone silently fails, but is charged by Vodafone :-).

But this of course depends on the telcos and setups at either end, so
I think one can not give a definite answer for a particular country (let
alone worldwide), unless *all* telcos and setups in that country provide
this functionality, which is unlikely, especially in 'civilized'
countries where there are umpteen of telcos and setups.

Andy Burns

2025-01-03 19:17:46 UTC

Post by Frank Slootweg

Post by Andy Burns
Here in the UK, text messages *can* be delivered to landlines, either to
text-capable phones using an extension of the caller-ID delivery
mechanism, or via a robot voice ...

I recently converted my PSTN+VDSL service to VDSL-only, which frees up
the PSTN number and can either be dropped, or ported to a VoIP provider.

I sent a text from my mobile (O2/Telefonica) to my VoIP landline,
previously it would arrive as text, because I have a gigaset DECT which
is CLI/SMS compatible, but today it arrived using the fallback robot
voice method.

Trying to send a text from the DECT to mobile did nothing, except return
an error after several minutes.

Not sure if there's a method for SMSoVoIP? Given that T.38 exists for
FAXoVoIP, I presume there's a standard somewhere?

Jörg Lorenz

2025-01-03 14:26:38 UTC

Post by micky
When someone unknowingly sends a text to a landline, does he get some
indication back that the text did not reach the destination, because it
can't receive texts?

Here fixed lines get SMS. For about 20years now?

--
"Roma locuta, causa finita." (Augustinus)

The Real Bev

2025-01-05 20:05:49 UTC

Post by micky
When someone unknowingly sends a text to a landline, does he get some
indication back that the text did not reach the destination, because it
can't receive texts?

Here fixed lines get SMS. For about 20years now?

Ooma VOIP doesn't. When that, my t-mobile prepaid phone and my
google-voice phone were rejected I had to have the stupid site send the
code to my daughter, who phoned me. I can only see this security
theater getting worse.

jUST SEND ME A DAMN EMAIL!

--
Cheers, Bev
"Not everyone can be above average so why
shouldn't we be the ones to suck?"
--Anonymous School Board Member

Newyana2

2025-01-03 20:38:59 UTC

Post by micky
When someone unknowingly sends a text to a landline, does he get some
indication back that the text did not reach the destination, because it
can't receive texts?

That used to be the case. I use a landline and rarely use my cellphone,
so I don't give out that number. But cellphone addicts assume all phones
are cellphones. Until maybe 2 years ago, they would get a message that
they were trying to text a landline. Then they'd call me. Now they get no
message. They just tell me later that they've been texting me and I
have to rail at them for being an idiot.

I don't know why the change. It can't go through, so why pretend
that it did? It's possible that these people are just not paying attention,
but it's happened to me with multiple people, so I think they're just
getting no feedback.

Carlos E.R.

2025-01-03 21:41:57 UTC

Post by micky
When someone unknowingly sends a text to a landline, does he get some
indication back that the text did not reach the destination, because it
can't receive texts?

In countries like mine, you can know by looking at the first digit if a
phone number is landline or mobile. But not in the north american continent.

--
Cheers, Carlos.

Chris

2025-01-03 22:37:21 UTC

Post by micky
When someone unknowingly sends a text to a landline, does he get some
indication back that the text did not reach the destination, because it
can't receive texts?

In countries like mine, you can know by looking at the first digit if a
phone number is landline or mobile. But not in the north american continent.

Same in the UK. Numbers starting 01/02/03 are landlines and those starting
07 are mobile or other "special" numbers like pagers.

Jörg Lorenz

2025-01-04 08:10:55 UTC

Post by Carlos E.R.
In countries like mine, you can know by looking at the first digit if a
phone number is landline or mobile. But not in the north american continent.

Same in the UK. Numbers starting 01/02/03 are landlines and those starting
07 are mobile or other "special" numbers like pagers.

That is the rule all over Europe. The first three digits allow a
judgement which operator is used. Unfortunately the number portability
is diluting that more and more.

--
"Roma locuta, causa finita." (Augustinus)

Newyana2

2025-01-04 01:11:49 UTC

Post by Carlos E.R.
In countries like mine, you can know by looking at the first digit if a
phone number is landline or mobile. But not in the north american continent.

That's a good idea. Phone numbers mean almost nothing in
the US anymore. Anyone can get any area code, which is the
first 3 numbers. At this point I no longer pick up for "local"
calls because they're probably not local. If it doesn't show
the name of someone I know then I let the answering
machine get it. Unfortunately, most people with cellphones
have not registered for Caller ID, and I don't store numbers in
my phone. It's not worth the trouble to have speed dialing.
So I only recognize a small number of callers.

Carlos E.R.

2025-01-04 01:51:53 UTC