Voiply Debuts Reimagined Kids Landline as Alternative to Smartphones

VoIP provider brings back the family landline with a screen-free, app-free phone for kids, featuring approved contact-calling, Do Not Disturb hours, and 9-1-1 services.

Pittsburgh, PA (PRUnderground) September 29th, 2026

Voiply, a national VoIP provider serving more than 50,000 customers across the United States and Canada, now offers Voiply Kids, with a screen-free home phone built for children. The plan pairs classic landline-style handsets with modern parental controls, giving families a way to keep kids connected by voice while delaying the first smartphone. The offering arrives as parents across the country rethink kids’ access to internet-connected devices.

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has called harmful screen use among children and adolescents a “public health concern,” linking early exposure to screens to developmental and cognitive risks and poorer language outcomes. Studies aligning with this stance are stacking up, including one published in the Journal of Human Development and Capabilities. It found that receiving a first smartphone before age 13 was associated with poorer mental health outcomes in early adulthood, including lower self-worth and weaker emotional regulation. A separate study from Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, conducted with researchers at the University of California, Berkeley and Columbia University, linked smartphone ownership in early adolescence to higher risks of depression, obesity, and insufficient sleep.

As the body of cautionary findings on smartphones grows, Voiply Kids home VOIP phone service feels especially timely. The service runs over a family’s home internet connection and offers three handset choices: two corded models styled after the wall phones of past decades that plug into the home router and one cordless model that connects through Wi-Fi. Parents manage an approved contact list from an online dashboard, so only the numbers they add can call in or out, and calls from unapproved numbers are blocked. Do Not Disturb hours keep the phone silent during bedtime, school, or homework time, while 911 remains available at all times. Setup usually takes less than 10 minutes, with no technician visit required.

“Parents keep telling us the same thing,” said Felix Yanko, President and Co-Founder of Voiply. “They want their kids to be able to connect with grandparents or set up a playdate with their friend down the street without using a screen. Voiply Kids brings back the family phone call and keeps parents in full control of who can reach their child.”

The launch lands in the middle of a broader landline revival among families. National reporting documents parents in communities across the country buying landline-style phones for their children, organizing neighborhood calling circles, and signing pledges to hold off on smartphones until at least the end of eighth grade. Voiply Kids gives those families a middle path. Children gain independence and practice social skills, calling friends and relatives on their own, without the distractions of social media or texting.

Each child’s line starts with a brand-new number that stays separate and private. Voiply Kids builds on the same automation that powers Voiply’s plug-and-play home phone service, which activates the moment the hardware plugs into a home router.

“A phone that just makes calls sounds simple, and that is the point,” Yanko added. “Kids get to practice real conversation, and parents get peace of mind.”

Voiply Kids is available now throughout the United States and Canada. It joins Voiply’s lineup of services for residential phones, business phones, 5G internet, and AI assistants. To learn more, visit www.Voiply.com.