Source: snapvoip.blogspot.com
You may be used to pickup your phone at anytime and be able to hear dial tone. That is to some people is a God given right!
I still have an old phone (one that does not require power connection, other than being connected to the POTS, Plain Old Telephone Service, line) for calling someone during a power outage. It sits proudly among all these expensive phones, including VoIP. I do have Battery Backups for my Phones, My Modems(DSL) and Network Gear. But sometimes it happens that everything works in my house but the DSL service. So I have to use my regular phone service.
Why did I write about this? Because I realized that it might be a problem to most people with new phone services. It could be DSL with VoIP, Cable Service with VoIP, Skype, or Vonage like service. But they might not work as they used to, when you had a POTS line only, during a power outage.
But instead of me telling you how to cope, let me direct you to CalPhoneInfo.com’s article on the same subject. Although the site is created to support Californians, most of the information is universally adoptable.
Here is little description of CalPhoneInfo;
CalPhoneInfo is a consumer education initiative created by the PUC to help our state’s consumers understand the changing competitive market of telecommunications services and provide assistance with filing complaints on phone matters.
The consumer education initiative is the brainchild of a California Public Utilities Commission proceeding that evaluated what consumer protections and rights were sensible in the changing phone market. Out of that proceeding came a new CPUC general order specifying the utility regulations (General Order 168) and a new emphasis on consumer education and enforcement.
