Why did I spend over $200 for a cordless phone and base station? For the features! I work in a rental facility (think weddings) and needed a cordless phone so that I could catch calls while I was away from my desk; however, it had to be unobtrusive as to not interfere with any precious memories of those using the facility. This phone has vibrate mode! I’ve not found it on any other cordless phone, although nearly every cell phone out there has it. Beyond that, it is packed with features and fun styling.

I also spent more on the 5.8 GHz system, which is said to have greater range. This building is about 6800 square feet on 3 levels and through some seriously thick concrete. It makes it to nearly every room with easy—even the bathrooms on the lower level with all their ducting and venting.

UPDATE: "The dual-band (5.8 GHz/2.4 GHz) design allows the base unit to transmit with more power in the 5.8 GHz frequency band and with greater efficiency at 2.4 GHz. The phone's true duplex transmission keeps the incoming and outgoing signals from interfering with each other. " This information is important if you have other wireless devises in your home (thanks to the person who pointed out this omission).

WHY A BASE STATION?
Another easy one for me—I wanted to be sure that even if I lost both handsets (yes, I bought a second, more on that later) I could still take calls as well as check the digital answering machine. I can make calls as well but only from the call log or Caller ID (if this feature is activated by your telephone provider). This base station is compact and user friendly. In fact, I’ve yet to have to look at the quick start guide or instructions—it’s that intuitive.

SET UP
Took just a few minutes. Put the battery pack into the handset, pug in the base station power cord and telephone line—that’s it! The handset set with the base comes preprogrammed so there’s nothing for you to do but put it in the base to begin the charging process. I received a full charge within 3 hours. Adding the second handset was as easy as finding the base station number (located through the menu), dialing it into the handset, and charging the handset in it’s own charger (2-1/2 hours and it was completely charged). Next set the date and time (used by the digital recorder) and record a voice message. You have up to 3 mailboxes. In our usage, people can leave a message asking for additional information in box one; request a brochure be mailed by leaving their address in box two; or a personal message for someone attending an event at the Lodge in box 3. Callers are given a simple menu of; “Press one to leave a message…” , Press two….” Etc.

DIGITAL ANSWERING MACHINE
Programming the answering system is easy and you’re instructed by a mechanical voice all along the way. Since it’s digital, there are not tapes to rewind or wear out. Sound quality is reasonable—much like the voicemail on our networked system. Nothing spectacular, but clear enough to understand. You can turn it on/off with one button and set for announce only or answer. If you don’t record a message a standard one is played for you. Recording announcements is easy—press a button and speak. No handset necessary. Your message can be up to 90 seconds long. You can also use it to record a memo up to 4 minutes long for yourself or an office mate. It’s also helpful for screening calls (yes, I do that sometimes…bad me….) We use this at the end of the evening to let the people coming in the next morning know what happened the night before.

You can access the answering system remotely from any telephone. Once connected (by using the correct access code), you can make changes or listen to messages. There’s a voice menu to help as well so you don’t have to remember all the key functions.

BATTERIES/SPARE BATTERY/POWER FAILURE BACKUP
You can purchase a spare handset battery (#2401) separately and keep it charged in the base at all times. Should you lose power, you’ll have the fully charged battery ready for up to 2-1/2 hours (they never explain why this battery pack has just a shorter time, and I never bothered to buy one—instead, I keep an old-fashioned phone on hand that doesn’t require an electrical outlet to work). Regular batteries have a standby time of up to five days—ours have done this many times. Talk time is about 8 hours total. Mixed use gets me about 3 really good, talkative, days. I try to remember to always replace the handset in its cradle, but I do forgot occasionally. There is a battery indicator, which I find indispensable. It graphically lets you know how much power you have left in the handset. Go too long and it shuts off (it gives you a second chance about 15 minutes before it power down by beeping you if you have the feature turned on).

FEATURES…FEATURES…FEATURES!
There are so many, I’ll hit the highlights (and my favorite ones):

Call Log: This keeps track of the last 50 (at the handset) or 99 (at the base). So far I’ve used it to program frequently called numbers. If a number appears repeatedly, I add it to the memory for easier dialing.

SPEAKER PHONE
Handsets and base unit can be used hands-free! Clear, crisp and ever so handy!

LIGHTED KEYPAD
Not only are the digits lighted, the buttons are backlit as well so you can see the outline of them. The phone has a bright blue light that comes on (in a circle at the top—very cool) so you know the phone is active. The LCD lights as well and all buttons are lighted. PERFECT for my use as I’m quite often in the dark.

LIGHTED RINGER
Yep, even muted and the vibrate mode turned off you can tell you're receiving a call. The blue circle around the receiver lights up to alert you and the LCD tells you you have an incoming call.

CLOCK MODE
Once you’ve set the time, you can opt to have the phone display it when the phone is idle. Probably draining on the battery, this is a great feature for me because I hate wearing watches and depend on my computer and cell phone for the time—now I use this phone as well.

SOUND SELECT
Used to change the sound quality on the phone—it helps those who have trouble hearing certain frequencies. My husband, who’s spent too much time on fire trucks, can no longer hear high range (treble) frequencies. He can adjust the phone to enhance those and he gets a great experience with the phone as well. My hearing is normal and I use it without changing the settings—he pressed the Sound Select button 3 times and it’s just right for him, too.

HOLD & TRANSFERRING BETWEEN SETS
Another great feature is being able to put a call on “hold”. After 5 minutes the phone will remind you you’re ignoring someone by ringing again. If you don’t answer it, it will disconnect the line (that could be ugly!). While on hold, you can pick it up from any handset or the base station. You can transfer the call two ways—blind or announced. Blind means you transfer without letting the other unit know you’re doing so—useful if you’re transferring to a unit you’ll be picking up. Announced call is just that. You let the person with the other handset know you’re sending them a call by first using the intercom function to tell them and then transferring.

INTERCOM FUNCTION
One of the biggest sellers in my opinion! You can make intercom calls between the handsets and/or the base. Using the intercom doesn’t interfere with incoming calls—you’re beeped (think call waiting) and the screen will display the incoming call information (if you have caller ID it will give the information, if not you get “Incoming Call”). You can end the intercom call and pick up the incoming call. You can also conference the incoming call (merging the intercom conversation with the telephone conversation).

EXPANDABLE!
You can have up to 5 additional handsets (6 total)! Sure, they’re $69 each (I had a coupon from Office Depot which brought the cost down a bit) but this allows the cleaning person, the administrative assistant, the director, and myself to be able to instantly locate each other to share information with one or all instantly. It also means anyone on the system can catch that incoming call so less calls go to the answering machine—our clientele like talking to human beings, instantly.

SECURITY?
It’s said to have some of the best security features out. Granted, I wouldn’t give personal information like a credit card number out over ANY cordless or cell phone, but non-personal information should be fine. The hope is someone with a baby monitor down the street isn’t listening to our business, and with “frequency hopping technology”, it’s supposed to move the signal around automatically (remember the old phones that had to be constantly moved by the caller—yuck!). I find this action to be transparent—the call quality is fine and I don’t notice any change in the frequency, so I guess it’s working! We also haven’t had anyone tell us it’s bothering their TV or microwave….giggle.

THE USUAL STUFF
Of course you can change the ringer volume, the ringer itself (low, mid & high range for those who need them), and the contrast on the screen. You can also turn on/off the range tone (it lets you know you’ve wandered too far from the base station) and the low battery tone. You can also set the menu language to English, Spanish or French or change from dial pulse to tone (why would someone use dial pulse?). The handset units and the base units each have an indicator to let you know the phone is in use—no accidental pick-ups!

The phone book is simple—names & numbers only. The downside is that each handset must be programmed separately. Bummer. Oh well, this also means that two people can have totally different call lists on their separate handsets. That’s a good thing! Entry is made by using the keypad and the tap-3-times-for-“c” method. Not the fastest, and you have to be careful or it won’t have moved to the next letter if you’re impatient. To dial from the phone book do a search or use the up and down arrows to locate the number you want and “phone” or “speaker”.

ACCESSORIES
It comes with a cheesy belt clip—it works, but it’s really hard plastic and not something I use often. I slip the phone into my pocket anyway so I can feel the vibration. You can also hook any 2.5 mm headset into the jack on the left side of the handset—another way for me to discreetly talk to a fellow employee via the intercom feature or answer a call without disturbing others.

TOUGH STUFF
I've dropped the handset MANY times and yes it's showing scratches and marks from all the dropping, but it hasn't suffered any internal injuries--just cosmetic damage.

FINAL THOUGHTS
What can I say? If I decide to purchase a home unit it will be this one. It’s proven itself in this commercial application beautifully. The range is beyond belief; call quality is excellent; features abound; and it can be expanded as we add staff. It’s a perfect choice for me….gotta go, my pocket is vibrating!


Recommended: Yes