> I do need reliability, but I don't need to call all numbers- only the ones > that interest me.
Well, if calling 111 never interests you, than that's your business. > "Oh, won't someone please think of the children". Children will fall Oh *please* - the child was obviously only *one* example. > I could call 111 on my mobile if my VOIP fails. The bottom line is: you're not relying on VoIP because you can't. *If* you have alternative means of communiation, that that's fine. > ...and a regular phone line is private how? A regular phone line is a *lot* more private than the internet. It also falls under solid privacy legislation and your telco can't sell the information collected from your phone calls. This is not the case where you make your calls via a blackbox piece of software and one other indvidual. > Practically there is no difference between using a VOIP phone and a POTS > phone. Only the underlying mechanism differs. There are big differences *because* of the different mechanism. POTS has completely standalone equipment with suitable emergency power supplies which have proven their worth in civil emergencies. The internet has little of this, and only if you pay big bucks for it. Sure, VoIP is a very interesting emerging technology, but it's not yet something one can rely on. I'd use it too, as an optional extra though. Recently I read that there are still big problems with VoIP standardisation because of the problem of how to make it work in/for emergencies. ADSL was carefully designed not to interfere with POTS, and it's not seen as a reliable communication channel (that's why they call it best effort). Volker -- Volker Kuhlmann is possibly list0570 with the domain in header http://volker.dnsalias.net/ Please do not CC list postings to me.
