When we talk about a cellular "family plan," we mean a bundle of several individual phone lines for each person in a typical household. The plan usually includes features like high-speed data or a streaming video service that each family member can share. Now, Verizon has updated an add-on for its phone plans that's meant to bring the family closer together.
The Verizon Family Plus perk, which offers features such as location check-ins and content filters, now includes Family Line, where up to five people can share a single phone number. It's like a household landline phone, but it will ring your family's smartphones so anyone can hop into the call.
The Verizon Family Plus Perk is available now and costs $10 a month (normally $15 a month) on top of the base price of a Verizon myPlan unlimited phone plan.
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What's the appeal of a shared phone line? Before cell phones, a household would pay the phone company for a single phone number for the home. When a call came in, it would ring on as many wired phones as you had set up in the house. If two people picked up phones in different rooms, they'd both be on the same call with whomever called in. (If you're of an age that's only known cell phones and thinking that sounds crazy, consider that some communities had farm lines, or rural party lines, where several households would share a single phone line.)
Landlines are still in use, but cellular networks dominate. A 2023 survey by the US Centers for Disease Control revealed that only about 24% of adults still hold onto landlines. Although having your own mobile phone is more convenient, communication can be disrupted during emergencies or other network outages.
Family Line works as a voice over IP service in the Verizon Family app, with a single new phone number made available to the other members of the family group.
When a call to that shared number is made, each member gets a notification and can join in -- there's no messing about trying to add people to a multiparty conference call like in the default Phone apps in iOS and Android. If you initiate a Family Line call, everyone on the account is notified on their devices that the call is happening.
Unlike a landline, up to three calls on the line can happen at once, and members can switch between them if they want. Family Line also tracks call history and includes a shared voicemail mailbox. This could be particularly helpful for situations like when two parents would like to be reached by a doctor's office to schedule appointments for the family, or for creating a quick group audio call with another relative.
Despite the feature being an updated version of a landline, Rob Pegoraro at CNET's sister site PCMag confirmed that it's not possible to port an existing landline number for use as the Family Line number. So if you're replacing one with the other, all your contacts will need to update their address books.
Other features of the Verizon Family Plus perk include monitoring the locations of children or elder members, monitoring and filtering online activity to thwart scams, detecting when a member has been driving with sudden braking or accelerations, roadside assistance and a 24/7 service for family members over age 18 that "can provide assistance to your loved ones in medical or unsafe outdoor walk situations."
