[Hidden-tech] Telephone solution for kids?

[John Snyder]

Howdy! 

Quick telephony question for the hive:

I have an iPhone (AT&T) and MacBook Pro, neither of which I'm inclined, nor always free, to share with my boys, aged, 12 and 8.

I would like to outfit my apartment with a landline or other dedicated phone for the boys to be able to call 911 and local and, say, two long-distance numbers.

AT&T offers a residential One Rate® 10¢ Nationwide Direct Plan at $3/month, 10¢/minute, and various fees (which isn't unreasonable on the surface, I suppose).

Is there a better deal or arrangement? My goal is to mount something to the wall and know that the kids aren't going to 1) lose it, 2) play games on it, 3) fight over it, or 4) cost me more than the minimum to know they can reach emergency services, their mother, grandmother, and the odd friend. (When I'm flopping around on the floor in medical distress I'll be wishing my loving sons had the finest NASA-enabled uplink money could buy, but until then I'm pinching pennies.)

Also, and I could just test this but it's easier to ask you: I don't pay for landline service at the moment. Were I to plug a phone into a wired jack anyway, would it by default find 911?

Thanks,
John
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John Snyder
Advance The Story
30 Church St., Shelburne, MA 01370
Tel. 413-325-6348
Be yourself, be your best, then put it in writing
www.AdvanceTheStory.com

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