For wanting callers to default to calling my landline first.

[slowrun]

I prefer receiving calls on my landline. There is much better confidentiality. Sound quality is better. I can hear the ringer better. We also have a good quality answering machine. I also have a pen and paper handy, can write dates down and check diaries.

When I take my mobile out, I could be anywhere. I could be running or paying for something in a shop. So I cannot always give full attention to the call. I'm ok with a quick question and of course in an emergency I'm happy to be reached by my mobile.

However! if I give my mobile number out people seem to default to that. Hence I don't often but then end up ringing up to chase appointments if I'm going to be away from home.

AIBU? How do other people manage this?

It’s not a matter of ‘discretion’ - you’re expecting people to be mind readers and to follow your preferences. It wholly unreasonable. There are plenty of adjustments you can make to your mobile settings to achieve pretty much your desired outcome, if you bother to look into it...that’s far more productive than complaining that people can’t read your mind.

It's no more work, Its. I don't get loads of calls on my mobile so don't constantly get interrupted whilst out. I'm not disturbed whilst on holiday. It makes me more proactive regards chasing any appointments (if I know I might be out/away when people ring) which has meant I've been able to arrange them sooner than if I'd waited for someone to contact me. When I'm at home I'm not hunting for my phone when it rings as I just pick up one of the landline calls. I'm not struggling to hear it as sound quality is fantastic. Pens and paper are nearby so it is easy to make a note of anything important without flicking between screens. Answer machine is clear and reliable. All in all it's very relaxed to organise things the way I do.

Loving the ageism, sneery tones and incredulity on this thread Those posters must live in cities with excellent signals.

I use my landline and mobile equally. I am not welded to my phone at home and can't hear it if it is in another room, but I can hear the landline everywhere.

There is nothing wrong with being old fashioned

It’s not a matter of ‘discretion’ - you’re expecting people to be mind readers and to follow your preferences. It wholly unreasonable.

Its doesn't require mind reading. It's the way things used to work when mobile phones first came out. I don't think a service provider allowing me to state preferences and following them is unreasonable. It's what I do for other people. If everyone is happy things run more smoothly. The caller just has a note in the contact details concerning which number is best to ring.

I’m surprised people have such awful sound quality on their mobiles, mine is fine. Also I live semi rurally and travel around a lot for various reasons and have only lived in one place with poor phone signal (which was actually a city).

Try your phone in the Lake District, Soy. Texts can take an age to come through. Signal can make calls difficult.

But anyway my conclusion is to carry on the way I am doing until further notice. I don't think I am actually missing out on much. Regarding appointment slots, yes, I have to chase and give notice of holidays & when I am unavailable to contact for an extended period of time but that has worked to my advantage too.

LJ, same here. we have 6 landlines on the home number around the house and that is the best way to get through to me at home whereas the mobile will not be on or with me.

Anyway today's news is BT is going to squeeze even more money out of most of us sadly... they have given up on being cheapest and are going to maximise revenue instead.

There are plenty of mobile blackspots in my area and where MIL lives SoyDora. We both live in very hilly rural areas. Quite frankly I'm surprised that you are surprised.

It isn't necessarily people who need to move into the 21st century, but service providers and telephone companies. The UK is lagging behind many countries in this respect.

I’m surprised people have such awful sound quality on their mobiles, mine is fine

Mine's ok for what it is. A mobile device. It can never match the clarity of a landline, which is what I'm more used to. Perhaps people who have always operated almost solely on mobile don't appreciate the marked difference, or don't mind it. I find there is a very slight delay in mobile conversations which can make them rather stilted, cutting in and talking over each other. Maybe it's unnoticeable to those who don't often use landlines. I don't really have the choice given that I have little to no mobile reception at home, and I've never had a conversation on my mobile last longer than 2 minutes, usually because if a call manages to get through in my home, it soon drops out anyway, and if out and about I'd tell them I'd call them back when I got home. Where there's no point trying to use a mobile.

Good point about not knowing about call clarity Pomegranate.

We have a corded landline phone and 2 cordless phones. The sound quality and call clarity on the corded phone is far superior to the cordless and mobiles we have in the house.

I had a look at the start of the thread to try and work out what the actual requirement is. Apparently you want to give both numbers but only want the mobile one to be used if it's urgent.

You could get a VOIP number for free, and give that out. It is then technically possible to answer either on landline or using an app on your phone. All phones will ring, both landline and mobile, and if there's no answer, the VOIP provider voicemail will cut in. A link to the high-quality VOIP voicemail message will be sent to you in an email. and you can listen to it on whatever device you choose. Maybe mobile if out, may computer with high quality speakers if at home.

As I have fibre to the home for internet, I got rid of my landline, and migrated my landline number that I've had for 30 years to VOIP. Now I only take calls on my mobile, though I listen to voicemails on the hifi speakers attached to my computer. If I wanted to still use traditional landline phones, I could plug them into an cheap adaptor box that connects to my internet.

I've just realised that this doesn't solve the problem, as you want the caller to decide whether a call is important or not and effectively notify you of whether you need to answer when you are out by virtue of their choice of number.

The solution up-thread is the best for this: give out only the landline number, then in the answering message for that give you mobile number saying only if it's urgent.

It's unreasonable to think you're so important to non-family callers that they are going to read through notes and choose between two numbers depending on how urgent they think the call is.

The sound quality and call clarity on the corded phone is far superior to the cordless and mobiles we have in the house

Precisely. My mobile is invaluable to me while I'm out of the house. It's so useful for time sensitive calls and texts. Like "Will you be home in time for us to go to the pub?" And similar such emergencies. Things involving a question and an answer.

But for an extended conversation with a relative or friend, my mobile would never be my first choice. It's inferior quality voice reproduction, so why would I choose that?

A VOIP call comes over the internet, I think the limiting factor on quality will be the phone the caller is using, i.e. their landline or mobile quality. The quality you hear is the same as a landline, if you're caller is using a landline, I think. (Have not conducted side-by-side tests, but have noticed VOIP quality is very good.)

I give out my landline number by default and that's what is used to contact me, except for close family. I don't like the expectation that we are all constantly available and instantly contactable.

We have a couple of elderly relatives that we talk to regularly and need the clarity of the corded landline so they can hear us.

Also, I turn the volume off on my mobile at night, and if there was an emergency we can be contacted easily via the landline.

I'm not elderly and prefer landline - we have a lot of thick stone walls and reception is awful at home.
But if people ring on my mobile and I'm at home I ask them to ring back on the landline.

The quality you hear is the same as a landline, if you're caller is using a landline, I think. (Have not conducted side-by-side tests, but have noticed VOIP quality is very good.)

I'm not sure if that's a response to me, and I appreciate that some folks are really techie and love all this faffing about and gadgetry and I'm not knocking that. But my landline is absolutely fine, and if it wasn't I'd have to use my mobile.

Until the BT engineer fixed it.

And fibre is a distant dream round these parts.

also prefer landline. if I am out I am by definition doing something else - driving, shopping, having fun,on a train. all places where a mobile shouting session ( it always is) is illegal or annoying. In my experience no one ever returns voicemails on mobiles so I dont bother leaving a message.

I work from home though, and landline calls are better quality and cheaper.

so London to say that landlines are old fashioned....

YANBU if it’s how you prefer things but I much prefer my mobile to be used. I’ve told everyone to call my mobile if they want to speak to me. I don’t even answer the landline it’s usually automated sales calls (and yes I did sign up for the TPS) and maybe remember to check it every few weeks to see if there’s a message

btw I speak to people on mobiles in cities and call quality is always crap - drop outs, cut off at least once. the only reliable ones are the few who have talk and text phones like mine, the bricks are useless for voice.

they are useful in emergencies but are pretty rubbish otherwise.

My mobile message is, "Hi, sorry I can't answer the phone right now. Please don't leave a message as I never pick them up. You can either text me or leave a message on my landline. If you know me, you'll know the number". Got rid of all the sales crap that Orange/ee donated me by selling my mobile number (I never, ever gave my mobile number out but still the spam calls arrived).

I much prefer a landline for day to day stuff. My mobile is used primarily for apps and internet, and for emergency calls.