Telephone is essential. It is used with doctors to setup appointments. It is used by your landlord to reach out to you. It is used by Social Security, and DPA to reach out to you regarding your benefits. Telephone can be considered as an essential utility in these modern times. Even if you were homeless, you likely can afford a telephone line to where you can get voicemail, and return calls when your phone is fully charged. Keep in mind, you qualify for Lifeline.
For one, do not acquire a POTS? phone line for your home. These lines are sometimes more expensive than a cellular line, and doesn’t offer any benefit except for if you needed a fax line. In most cases, you do not need a fax line. As for VOIP? lines, I would only acquire one if it is much cheaper than a voice line, and you have a limited cellular plan. In which case, you would want to consider a VOIP solution for your home phone service. Some VOIP providers will support SIP? which you can choose your own SIP phone, or use an ATA? where you would plug your phone into the ATA. My preference is cellular. Even if you need an unlimited plan, you can get one for cheap if you are willing to pay annually. If not, you will be paying more for a month to month plan.
I do not recommend buying your phone from the carrier. Your carrier will have likely installed bloatware on your phone, and lock the phone to their network. These are all hurdles you have to deal with when dealing with your carrier. And if you decide to change carriers, you may end up buying a new phone. This is an environmental waste, and a financial burden on you – the consumer. Instead, I would recommend buying the phone directly from the manufacturer. For phones, I would recommend the Pixel from Google (Android) or Motorola, or the consumer version of the iPhone (Apple iOS). If you choose Apple, pick the non-locked version which is a flaw in the regular iPhone, and will require that you pay slightly more. Still, it is something to consider. Neither one of these phones are cheap, but they are solutions that allows you to choose your carrier, and change carriers. It is also from the manufacturer, and likely to last for at least a few years. Also, both of these phones support dual SIM, so you can have your personal line, and work line on one phone.
As mentioned, Lifeline is available to you. Every state have different requirements to the carrier, and every carrier will be different. This is a complete mess when it comes to benefits. I would recommend that you buy your own LTE capable phone, and choose a Lifeline carrier that will meet your needs. If you get an iPhone, you must find a carrier that supports eSIM?. If you are using an Android phone, I know most newer phones supports Dual SIM which means you can have 2 lines at the same time. In most cases, SIM 1 will be a SIM card, and SIM 2 is an eSIM. If your carriers doesn’t offer eSIM, then you would have to go with Android phones.
What I Do
What I do is a bit overkill. I have a cellular phone which is my iPhone 14. This is my cellular line, and the number most people call me on. I also have Ooma for the home phone service. I don’t need home phone service, but I have it nonetheless. I have two HD3 handsets with one in the living room, and the other next to where I sleep. A mistake on my part, my laser printer does not support faxing, and the fax line is incoming only. Once I can afford to buy a new SIP phone, I will cancel Ooma.