Home telephone systems are similar to those used in office and business establishment settings. However, they're devoid of the overly complicated workings needed to connect an entire office. Most are cell phone-based and some don't even use telephones but computers.
Landlines
Known by many names like fixed-line, main line and homephone, landlines are wired in that they rely on wires or fiber optic cables to function. They've decreased in popularity over the years with new technologies making other phone systems more easily available and most importantly, portable and wireless. Nevertheless, landlines continue to be used in both homes and offices for a number of reasons.
The phones can be traced since they're wired so if an emergency call is placed, responders can quickly locate the address of the caller. The cables used offer more reliability so signals are clearer as well.
What's more important, however, is increased security. With so many unwanted intrusions on privacy being discussed and debated, landlines still offer far better security than their cellphone and VoIP counterparts. Intercepting calls requires physical access to the telephone wire, not exactly the most discreet procedure.
A variation of the landline is the cordless phone which uses a radio link (radio waves) to replace the wired handset. It offer a greater range but nowhere in the league of cell phones.
Cell phones
Cell phones, or mobile phones and cellular phones, are what we're accustomed to using today. They use no wire or cable but rely on radio waves. Unlike landlines, cell phones have a much greater range since radio waves are propagated over the earth's atmosphere. Of course, going out of range of a service provider's network will cause callers to hit a dead signal. Still, considering how small these devices are, they're very powerful.
Today, cell phones don't cater only to facilitating voice calls; they can send text messages, images, audio and video files, documents created on word processors, and spreadsheets made using specific software. Called smartphones, they're akin to mini computers.
VoIP
Voice over Internet Protocol uses the internet to send and receive data. Used mostly for videoconferencing, it has probably become one of the most popular ways to communicate. A computer with a headset and a microphone are needed for two parties to communicate although a computer with VoIP software can call cell phones that have the same software installed.
Using DSL broadband or cable service, VoIP connections convert analog signals into digital signals.
VoIP is cheap especially if one has to communicate with someone from overseas. Calling a cell phone from a computer does carry additional charge but not as high as ordinary cell and landline service. While calling, users can multitask by sending documents, images, videos and other data and get billed only according to their internet plans.
VoIP technology still has some way to go before it completely takes over both landlines and cell phones. There's the reliability factor where slow, congested or broken internet connections mean disrupted or nil communication. The same applies to power outages where VoIP connections can't work as computers rely on a power source to function. The biggest drawback, however, has to do with security as internet technology is susceptible to viruses and malware, phishing, identity theft and spamming.
