AT&T helps keep me connected out here in the woods...
Written: Nov 06 '09 (Updated Nov 07 '09)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Simple phone. Easy to use. Inexpensive.
Cons: Short cord on handset. Display doesn't light. Doesn't have a lot of features.
The Bottom Line: This is a decent phone if you need a simple landline. If you want a lot of features, keep looking and expect to pay more.
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| knotheadusc's Full Review: AT&T Digital Answering System Speakerphone (model ... |
A couple of months ago, my husband Bill and I were buying a whole lot of stuff for our new temporary home. One of the things we purchased while we were waiting for shipments of our stuff was an AT&T Digital Answering System Speakerphone, model 1856. I know a lot of people swear by cell phones exclusively, but I'm just now getting into the cell phone habit and prefer to have a landline just in case.
America's love affair with cell phones definitely became obvious to me when we bought this landline phone. We found it at Target after we had searched the store for about 15 minutes, trying to find where they kept the damn things. If we'd wanted a cell phone, it would have been no problem whatsoever, but landline phones were in short supply. Luckily, it turns out this particular model is a good one... at least so far.
Features
AT&T's Model 1856 is a corded telephone with a built in digital answering machine which allows 19 minutes of recording. The answering machine has a standard greeting, or you can record one yourself. I usually record a greeting for our phones, but decided not to at this time. So few people call us anyway; the ones who do are usually people we don't know that well. This phone has a volume control and a ringer volume control. There's also a speakerphone, so we can use the phone hands free.
This phone does not require batteries and one can make and receive calls during a power failure. Despite all the rain we've been getting in our area lately, we haven't yet had any power failures, but it's nice to know this phone will operate during one. Also, Message Guard technology will prevent loss of messages during a power failure, though you probably will have to reset the clock. Those who want to check their messages when they're away are also in luck. This phone has a random access message retrieval system which allows users to call their voicemail, enter a code, and hear any messages that are left on the machine.
Model 1856 is call waiting and caller ID compatible. The Caller ID can store up to 50 names and numbers. Model 1856 has three one touch memory buttons and nine speed dial buttons. Again, we don't really use this phone that much for anything more than making or receiving the very occasional phone call, so I don't generally use the memory buttons or speed dial feature.
There's also a nice big lighted red power button on the top right of the phone that can be used to turn the answering machine on and off. It has a larger rubbery ring around it that controls the answering machine. The red light makes the phone easy to see when the lighting in the kitchen is dim. There's another red button on the bottom right side of the phone which operates the speaker.
Model 1856 weighs about a pound and a half and has dimensions of 6.25 x 5.0 x 7.5 inches (W x H x D). It can be used on a table top or mounted on a wall. It comes with a very short spiral cord for the handset. The phone has an AC adapter that plugs into the wall for the Caller ID display and a ten foot phone cord. Since the phone doesn't take batteries and has a short cord that must be plugged into an electrical socket, anyone considering buying this phone might want to invest in a longer handset cord. The cord that comes with this phone will not allow you to do much walking and talking! In fact, you'll be lucky to be able to stand up while talking.
My thoughts
I like this phone well enough. The handset has sort of a subtle hourglass shape, which makes it easy and comfortable to hold. I like the fact that the buttons on this phone are big and round, which makes them easy to see and push. I also like the dual toned ringer, which is loud enough that it can be heard throughout our house, yet isn't annoying. The phone has a red indicator light that comes on whenever there's been a new call, which is handy for when we've gone out, so we can check at a glance to see if anyone called.
With a list price of about $30, this phone was relatively inexpensive and works fine for our needs. It looks attractive in our kitchen, too. The one thing about this phone that I don't like so far, besides the extremely short spiral cord on the handset, is the fact that the display for Caller ID doesn't light up. Our kitchen is not very brightly lit, so seeing the Caller ID display can be difficult. Some people have complained that this phone doesn't have a lot of ringer tones, but I don't really care about that. After all, I grew up with phones that actually rang with a bell and had no other features whatsoever! And for $30, I didn't have a whole lot of expectations. As I mentioned before, it's obvious that the landline is starting to become somewhat a relic.
Model 1856 doesn't have a whole lot of bells and whistles, but for our purposes, so far it's doing fine. On the other hand, we don't spend a lot of time on our landline phones anymore, so we don't need a lot of fancy features. If you're tempted to buy this phone, I'd check the Internet before you hit your local Target. I've seen it being offered online at prices less than what we paid locally, even factoring in shipping costs.
Recommended:
Yes
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