Have you ever found yourself working on a tough problem and you really need to call someone who you know has the answer, but the nearest phone is 20 ft away or worse yet the two-way radio is out in your truck. I found myself in this situation way to many times. I work for a computer service company and the machines I work on usually are in a computer room and the phones and not within reach. Our manager back in the office was tasked with finding a solution to this communication problem.

He seemed to find the perfect solution for us and I think it would work for just about any company that does similar field service work. Can you imagine being up a pole working on a cable line and you need help, you can't just get down and run to your truck and call on the radio for help. The solution my boss came up with was, this new mobile phone from Nextel and I tell you it has been a god sent.

The phone is actually a Motorola i1000 plus, but it is only available from Nextel . This phone has a lot of great features which I will get to later, but the best feature by far is the two-way radio feature or Direct Connect as it is called by Nextel.

Direct Connect
This is a unique feature to the Motorola i-series phones. This feature allows two-way communications between two or more phones on a network. The limitation is only two can be connected at one time, no three way calling. This is accomplished by pre-programing the phone numbers of all the phones on the network into each phone, and once this is done, it is simple as selecting the two-way mode and using the arrow to select the persons name and push the talk button on the side of the phone. The phone sends an alert to the person you are calling and the respond by pushing their button on the side and speak into the phone. If this sounds a lot like a toy you used to play with when you were a kid, you would be correct, it is just like a walkie-talkie except this phone uses digital technology, so there is not much limitation on distance between phones.

Digital Cellular
This is another great feature of the Motorola i 1000plus phone. The phone along with Nextels service, has Nationwide calling capabilities. I can call from Dallas/Ft Worth area and call my office in Oklahoma City, and the clarity is the same as if I was at the office. The Nationwide capability also works with Direct Connect feature, as long as there is Nextel phone service in the area you are in all the features of the will work.

When we were testing the phones before the company decided to go with Nextel, we had one of our technicians attending a service school in Dallas, Texas. He brought one of the other i series phones(i 550) and he tested the distance and clarity of the phone and service. Both passed with flying colors.

With all the testing done, the only thing left was to choosing which model phones to purchase. The managers and sales force and the owner all got the i 1000 and the service technicians and our dispatcher got the i 700.

There is only one negative thing I can say about the i 1000 plus, the stand by battery life. It doesn't seem to be long enough, I'm am having to recharge it every morning when I get into work.

Details and Spec's
The i 1000 plus is a small compact flip phone, that means that the cover flips up to reveal all the buttons and also the ear piece is built in to the cover, the cover also acts a protection against accidentally pushing buttons when not using the phone. The cover also has a clear plastic opening so you can see the LCD screen, which has all the functions and icons on it.
List of features
Two-way calling
Voice mail
Text Messaging/numeric paging
Web capable
Call waiting
Call forwarding
3-way calling
Vibration alert
Speaker phone

On screen Icons
Vibration setting
private/group speaker
call forwarded
Signal strength
Voice mail alert
batter strength
Text and page alert

The phone comes with a simple carrying case that clips to your belt and it comes with a instruction book and a video tape. Between the video tape and the book it was fairly easy to figure out how all the features work.

Optional accessories available for the phone a leather carrying case, a cigarette lighter adapter and a hands free kit for your car.

In conclusion, I am so happy with the Nextel phone and service, I would recommend it to everyone.



Recommended: Yes

Amount Paid (US$): Free w/serv.