Australians would prefer a landline over a mobile – survey says

Did you know that Australians are spending too much time on their mobiles and tablets? Well yes, in fact just the other day while I was waiting for my first ride on the Sydney Metro, I noticed just about every other human on the platform was looking at their phones. 

A YouGov research study commissioned by Vtech Telecommunications suggests one in three Australians admit they spend way too much time staring at a screen. The main culprits are millennials at 47 per cent, compared with Gen X who are hypnotised 37 per cent of the time while baby-boomers only spend 22 per cent surfing the web. 

But what about this gem, one quarter of Aussies say having a home phone means they are more likely to switch off their mobile devices.

Mark Franklin, Managing Director of VTech Telecommunications Australia said: “It’s certainly not a surprise that we’re spending too much time on our devices,” says. “What was interesting was the number of respondents that said having a home phone could enable them to switch off – and still be contactable.”

More details from the survey reveal more than a quarter of us are actually reducing the amount of time we spend online. Those pesky Millennials are either liars or I’m not giving them enough credit because allegedly 39 per cent of them are cutting back as well.

So much so one quarter of Millennials say they would switch off completely at night if they could, wait for it,  “find a way to be contactable in emergencies.”

“The smartphone has been around for more than 25 years and it’s safe to say the novelty is well and truly wearing off,” says Franklin. “All the benefits that mobile devices offered us – for example, the ability to be connected at all times and to have real-time updates on social media – are now also demonstrating their downsides.

“Australians are increasingly aware that being online constantly can have a detrimental effect on our wellbeing so we’re looking for ways to switch off. However, stepping away from being constantly contactable is proving hard and we’re increasingly seeing the home phone as a stepping-stone to digital detox.”

So, are we bringing back the landline? The survey says that Australians find this form of communication easier for elderly friends and family to use (43 per cent), being contactable in an emergency (31 per cent) and a more reliable connection than a mobile phone (28 per cent)

This survey miraculously coincides with Vtech launching a rand of location-free phones.  

“Our new VTech location-free phones are perfect for any situation where the voice service access point is located in the home where having a handset may not be convenient, such as the garage or laundry, as is often the case after connecting to the NBN,”says Franklin. “The range also features the popular VTech technology our customers know and love, and compatibility with a range of VTech accessories for home security monitoring such as an SOS button for use in an emergency.”

VTech location-free phones

Features	BASIC	CARELINE	EXECUTIVE
Answering Machine	Y	Y	Y
Slow playback on answering machine		Y	Y
Handsfree speakerphone	Y	Y	Y
Call Block	Y
Call Guard		Y	Y
Caller ID announce		Y	Y
Hearing aid compatible	Y	Y	Y
SOS call function		Y	Y
Compatible lifestyle accessories		Y	Y
Talking Digits		Y	Y
Volume Booster	Y	Y	Y
VSmart Home Monitoring		Y	Y

VTech phones are available at stockists including Harvey Norman and JB HiFi (for the 2-handset Basic, Careline and Executive models), and Big W (for the 3-handset Basic, and Executive models).