Do your children know how to use an ordinary landline telephone?

[TheTecknician]

I still have a landline but I rarely use it. I guess they're mainly for business use these days and public telephones seem to be on the way out. I've been thinking if your average youngster would know how to use a push button (or even a rotary) dial telephone in an emergency. Are they familiar with the 999 facility ? Do things like this get taught in school ? Mobile telecommunications are here to stay but the landlines, I hope, will always be an important back-up system.

I mean, it’s massively simpler than using a smart phone so I’d imagine mine could in theory (8 years old) although we don’t have one so he couldn’t in reality.

Have taught him how to do an emergency call on a mobile phone but should do a refresher, thanks for the reminder!

But the chances of being in an emergency and the only phone available being a rotary phone are practically zero. And outside of an emergency I’m not sure why it matters 😄

We still use the landline and also use dumb Nokia phones simply because we like it that way. A couple of weeks ago a young man asked to use my phone but, as the keypad was locked, he didn't know what to do so I had to show him. Unlocking the key pad is really simple and the phone actually gives you instructions but he didn't notice them.

True, but the OP was asking hypothetically.

Our 16 and 21 year olds know exactly how to use it. We still have one and it gets used sometimes.

Mine saw a rotary dial in a museum and couldnt operate it. They didnt know to twist it right round as it were or the dialing tone thing.

We dont have a house phone but they could operate push buttons if we did.

Where would you come across rotary dial? They aren’t used now. It’s a bit like worrying they wouldn’t know how to put harness on a horse for a cart…

To be fair to them why would they need to know how to use it? It's obsolete technology.

Yes

I will never be without a landline voluntarily. In a national disaster, all mobiles were down, the only phones that worked were landlines. That kinda puts you off relying solely on mobiles. (It's also why I don't want society to go entirely cashless, because the phonelines were down, eftpos was down, and if you didn't have cash you were screwed).

Good point about rotary phones, I don't know if the kids would know how to use one, I assume if sufficiently motivated they'd be able to figure it out! Just to bake some noodles, at one point in my childhood, I had a phone which had a handle you cranked, and asked the telephonist on the party line to connect you to the number you wanted to contact. And my phone number was 8. (No, I'm not 100, I'm in my fifties, lol).

Yes, although we don't really use it now. It's no different to a mobile really, press the numbers, press green, talk press red. It was useful when they were old enough to be left at he for short periods but not old enough to have their own mobiles, we had ours and grandparents numbers saved on speed dial with a list pinned to the wall next to the phone. I use them at work, so does DH, we have the sort of jobs where you need to call people but not often enough to justify work mobiles (neither WFH).

My teens probably don’t even realise we still have one 🤣.

You can still get rotary dial phones but they're modern-made crap and stop working after a couple of months. We had one for a while and were very disappointed when it stopped working. We then read more reviews, which we should have done at the start, and everyone said the same, that they're rubbish. Shame, as it looked good.

@UnDruidlyWords that’s almost exactly like the one we had when I was a kid. Ours was a little heavier - pure Bakelite - but very similar design!

m.youtube.com/watch?v=1OADXNGnJok&pp=ygURS2lkcyB0b3RhcnkgcGhvbmU%3D

The first time DD picked one up in a phone box (maybe the only remaining phone box in the UK !) she looked at me amazed and said "It's making a noise!" Then she called me from a school trip and didn't know how to end the call, it didn't occur to her to just put it down. Both about 10 years ago now though.

Exactly. OP asked and I knew the answer, mine couldnt.

It was Churchills old house, you coukd use the phone to hear different verbal accounts. It was very interesting.

We had a Bakelite one too, but these new ones were light plastic and felt cheap.

That's a really funny vid! I wonder what they'd make of this crank phone, I used a similar one a few times around the age of eight. You put the trumpet to your ear, turned the handle on the right and the other end made a loud 'Wow wow wow' wailing sound.

I did actually use the landline the other day, the masts were being worked on and there was no mobile signal, and WiFi calling wasn't always working, I was glad I had the landline still even though I don't usually use it or even give the number out.

I would hate to be without a landline in an emergency and use it for the vast majority of my calls. I've always regarded my mobile phone as being for when I'm out of the house and very rarely give the number to anyone. Although I live in south London, I'm in a mobile signal black spot and mobiles don't work unless they're connected to the wifi. We've still got two rotary dial phones as well as cordless ones connected to the landline, and use them all regularly.

I made sure my daughter knew her phone number at a very early age and how to dial 999 from the cordless and rotary phones. I was really shocked when she had her sixth birthday party that two of her friends, whose mothers were really late picking them up, didn't know their parents' numbers z

Mobile signal in our house is appalling. We still use the landline to make calls, quality of sound is far superior.

@CarlaH we just use wifi calling, can hear absolutely fine.

We don't have one, nor do I have one at work, everything is through teams in on the laptop.

Strange when you think about it. I am sure they could figure it out.

This thing of beauty was my first ever "cell phone" as they called them back in 1993.

£1.80 a minute to make a call. Bargain!!!

Actually, taking on 18+ adults in the workplace, it isn't just landlines. We are literally having to teach them how to speak on a phone. Any phone. Apparently they think all business should be carried out via text message. I have honestly had to sit new employees down and write them scripts...
"Good morning, this is the XYZ Team, Alex Smith speaking. How can I help you?"

And don't even get me started on teaching that that ctn, dl, gtfoh, bc, str8 (and all such things) are not, in fact, English, and do not belong in business correspondence. Or your application form for the job!