Is Skype a good replacement for a landline?

[Self Made]

I'm wondering if I should replace my landline with Skype. For $60 a year I can get a package with a phone number, voicemail, etc.

I haven't used Skype much, but a phone call the other day was problematic. The problems could be due to the cheap old microphone I'm using, however. I had to turn up the volume, I think I missed some chunks of the other party's conversation, and they reported imperfect sound quality. I'd get a better microphone if I were going to use it more. I'd prefer a microphone on my desk to a headset, and I'd probably get a Skype phone later if I used it instead of my landline.

Questions:
- is the quality good enough that you'd recommend it as a replacement for a landline?
- what microphone should I get? Is an inexpensive Logitech like this good enough? Or a more expensive one like this?

[Josem]

in case of emergency, i wouldn't want to rely on skype to get an ambulance to my house

[Freakin]

Skype is computer software right? You can't just buy a skype device and plug a normal phone into it like vonage?

Do they make wifi skype phones? That might be an option.

[im_not_1337]

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in case of emergency, i wouldn't want to rely on skype to get an ambulance to my house

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QFT. I probably wouldn't recommend skype as your sole or primary option. However, if you really got your stuff together, i bet you could use it as your primary if you had a cell phone or two as a backup with a cell phone plan that only allows like 30 mins/year or something in case of emergency.

[LeapFrog]

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Skype is computer software right? You can't just buy a skype device and plug a normal phone into it like vonage?

Do they make wifi skype phones? That might be an option.

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You can buy a telbox usb adaptor for like $25-30 (IIRC). I have had both vonage and skype and vonage seemed to have slightly higher voice quality (this was like 2 yrs ago on the vonage side) but overall skype is decent.

Generally, skype is reliable (recent outage not withstanding) and the price is right. I would recommend having a backup cellphone, plus, skype explicitly states that it cannot be used for 911.

OP, my experience has been that speaking from phone+adapter-->skpye results in much clearer call quality then microphone+speakers. Call quality in general is quite good though and I would consider it a replacement with the above caveat. Occasional robotic voice and other weirdness can occur although this has become rare.

[pepper123]

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I would recommend having a backup cellphone, plus, skype explicitly states that it cannot be used for 911.

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One thing most people don't know is that you don't need a land-line phone plan for 911 service.

Any landline that is hooked up to the phone grid is REQUIRED to let you call 911 even if you're not a subscriber.

If all you're worried about is 911 then you can cancel your phone service and still have access to 911 without relying on Skype (something I would never do)