Elyse Betters Picaro / ZDNET
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Verizon's new Family Line gives you a single shared mobile number.
You can share the number across as many as five smartphones.
Verizon Family Plus with Family Line will cost you an extra $10 a month.
My wife and I got rid of our landline years ago, relying solely on our individual mobile phones to make and receive calls. One feature I miss about our home phone was the way we could share a single household number and even join in on the same call. Now Verizon is bringing back those halcyon days of old.
Family Line assigns a shared number
Available with a new monthly add-on called Verizon Family Plus, the Family Line feature assigns you a single number to share across up to five smartphones. Every Verizon Family Plus user can call, answer, or join in on the same conversation.
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This means you can speak with a relative, a family friend, or another contact on each phone all at the same time. And instead of debating whether to give someone your own mobile number or your spouse's mobile number, you can simply give them the shared number for either of you to answer a call. Perhaps best of all, parents can use the shared number to help them better stay in touch with their kids.
"Technology is a powerful force for connection, but we know families are seeking a better balance," Verizon Consumer CEO Sowmyanarayan Sampath said in a news release. "The Verizon Family Plus Perk and the Family Line feature are a direct answer to that need. We're empowering parents with an intuitive new tool to set boundaries and give their families a secure, dedicated number for communication, fostering a healthier digital relationship from the start."
Verizon Family and Family Plus features
Verizon Family and Verizon Family Plus each include a host of other options for parents and children alike.
Unlimited location check-ins . With GPS-based location tracking enabled, you can check the whereabouts of other people in your family. You can also receive an alert when your child leaves or reaches a specific place. Plus, the Safe Walk option allows kids to share their location, send SOS alerts to an emergency contact, and mark themselves as safe when they arrive at their destination.
. With GPS-based location tracking enabled, you can check the whereabouts of other people in your family. You can also receive an alert when your child leaves or reaches a specific place. Plus, the Safe Walk option allows kids to share their location, send SOS alerts to an emergency contact, and mark themselves as safe when they arrive at their destination. Parental controls . Here, parents can limit how long their kids can use their phones and block phone calls, texts, apps, and websites.
. Here, parents can limit how long their kids can use their phones and block phone calls, texts, apps, and websites. Driving insights . Has your teenager just started driving? With driving insights, you're able to receive notifications about sudden braking or acceleration and get an alert in the event of a crash.
. Has your teenager just started driving? With driving insights, you're able to receive notifications about sudden braking or acceleration and get an alert in the event of a crash. 24/7 assist . Here, members of your family can ask live agents for help during a medical incident or unsafe walking conditions.
. Here, members of your family can ask live agents for help during a medical incident or unsafe walking conditions. Assistance for aging parents . Those of you with elderly parents can monitor their phones for potential fraud and scams.
. Those of you with elderly parents can monitor their phones for potential fraud and scams. Roadside assistance. Verizon's roadside assistance provides 24/7 help in case you have a flat tire or your car won't start.
The cost
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Verizon Family is free for all subscribers and includes location monitoring and sharing, a location alert for one family member, Safe Walk, call review, and driving insights for one person.
At $14.99 a month on top of your regular subscription cost, Verizon Family Plus offers everything in Verizon Family and adds multiple location alerts, parental controls, call and text review and blocking, driving insights for all family members, roadside assistance, 24/7 assist, and Family Line.
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However, Verizon Family Plus costs just $10 a month for Verizon MyPlan customers with a Verizon Unlimited Welcome, Welcome Unlimited (no longer available for new customers), Unlimited Plus, or Unlimited Ultra subscription. As a Verizon customer, the Family Line is definitely something I'd consider to be able to share the same number with my wife.