I have had one for the last 6 years and I got mine mainly because of how I work and being so unreachable. When I first went to work on the river all they had out there was watercom and that was very expensive.. SUPER expensive.. A 10 minute call was about $50... Cell phones have just about put them out of business now but I need one to check in at home when we are in a area where we have recpetion., to let Rie know how, when and where I am coming home and they are so handy because you can stay in touch with the boat when you are on your way to catch it.. I am suppose to have text messaging, voice mail and all that extra stuff but I had them shut off everything but the phone part. I am not interested in text messages and voice mail, as voice mail was a problem, picking up before my phone ever actually rang and I would have it in my hand and have a missed call appear on it.. Grrrrr! They are a handy "tool" but not something I use as a chat line. To me it is a TOOl and tool only!