During Thursday’s AT&T Wireless service outage, multiple cities’ emergency services suggested using a landline if you need to call 911.

You might have thought: What landline?

Only about a quarter of American households have a landline phone. Last year, about three-quarters of calls to 911 were made from a cellphone, according to the Federal Communications Commission.

But mobile phone service doesn’t always work. (Landlines also fail sometimes.) For safety in emergencies like outages of electrical power or cell service, should we have a landline to call for help?

After talking to experts, my conclusion is probably not — at least for most of us. But it’s worth making a backup plan in case you need help, or just to call the burger place when cellphones fail.

I have advice below on how to call and text during cell outages. Moments like Thursday’s wireless service outage also show that our fast-changing technology habits are a challenge to the capabilities of 911 services. Here’s what you need to know. How to call and text when you don’t have cellphone service:

If you have WiFi at home or work, you can typically route phone calls and texts that way. And if your WiFi is turned on, emergency services know where you are even if the call doesn’t go through.

To turn on WiFi calling for an iPhone, go the Settings app and tap “Cellular.” Look for “WiFi Calling” and turn it on. On Android phones, try tapping the Phone app. From the three vertical dots in the upper right corner, select Settings. Select “Calls” and then “WiFi Calling.” Turn the setting on if it isn’t already.

Use your phone’s SOS service: If your cellphone service isn’t working, check if you have the “SOS” icon in the upper right corner of your phone. You can still dial 911. And with some newer iPhones, there’s an option to route emergency requests over a satellite connection.

Have a backup cell provider in your home or a neighbor’s: Brian Fontes, CEO of National Emergency Number Association, an organization that represents 911 agencies, said he’s planning to chat with a group of neighbors about which cellphone providers they have. That way, if one person has Verizon and that provider has an outage, she knows to reach out to a neighbor with T-Mobile.

Pinpointing your location improves

Not long ago, just about every call to 911 came from a landline phone number that was associated with your address. Emergency services knew where you were even if you couldn’t speak.

Now it’s more complicated. Emergency services have to try to pinpoint where you are if you’re dialing 911 from a boat in the Gulf of Mexico, or if you’re on the 14th floor of an office building and not the second. Emergency responders get automated 911 calls from Apple Watch devices and crash-detection services in cars. In some places, you can text 911.

Most of the time, 911 centers know where you are. But sometimes they don’t.