Cingular Go Phone: Dect 6.0 Duel Hs Premier Review

I purchased this phone because I became tired of the terrible reception that 5.8GHz phones have provided. I live in a small single-story condo (800sq ft). Many times the 5.8GHz models wouldn't even work around the corner in the hallway. I have your normal drywall on wood stud construction, so nothing seriously blocking the signal. I bought a new Uniden 5.8GHz setup (since it was advertised to have extended range) and the reception was only slightly better. There was no way to take the phone into a bedroom or outside for a private conversation. 5.8GHz just doesn't penetrate drywall, wood and other building materials the same way lower frequencies do. 2.4GHz provides acceptable range but you are competing with everything else in that spectrum, including your microwave oven and wifi, the neighbor's baby monitor, etc. 900MHz phones work very well, and the digital models are quite secure, but you can't find them anymore. I found these DECT phones and they run in the 'unlicensed personal communications' 1.9GHz spectrum. There are far fewer signals in this band to crowd and interfere with your phone's signal, and they are to be used only for voice per the FCC-so there aren't other services like wireless networks or pagers in the same band. Since it's a lower frequency, the signal cuts though walls much better. This is the same technology that is used in commercial $500 cordless headsets that are used in call centers and offices.

With that, this phone has great clarity and signal. I have have conversations on the other side of my condo and they have the same voice fidelity as they do 10ft from the base. I would give it five stars, but there are a few little issues that bother me. First of all, although it says so on the box and in the description, there is NO ANSWERING MACHINE WITH THIS PHONE. I don't know why it would be described as having a Digital Answering System when all it does is integrate with your landline provider's voicemail system. If you have voicemail and it supports Message Waiting Indicator, the phone will blink to alert you to a waiting voicemail message. This works well, but I really wanted an answering machine since it allows me to screen my calls and allows for a few more seconds to pick up the phone as opposed to dropping everything and running to an available handset. I would return it simply because of this, but the price was right and the call quality has sold me on this phone, anyway. There is no 'hotkey' method of assigning phonebook entries, such as holding down the '1' key to dial your voicemail like a cell phone. You can add it to the address book, but it is nearly as many key presses to find it in the address book as it is just to dial the voicemail (*123 on Vonage).

Why oh why did they assign the normal cell-phone style pick-up key to the speakerphone? If you want to answer the phone and speak on the handset, you press the middle round button, not the button you would expect to press. This made calling my father-in-law entertaining when he was house-sitting for us. Speaking of which, the speakerphone is acceptable quality and there are some pleasant ringtones in there to choose from. If you place the remote charging base or the base station in a bedroom, be sure to put something in front of it or put a piece of tape over the eye-searing blue charging indicator on the base. It lights up the whole room. If you have a message waiting, it blinks and you may as well have a police cruiser parked outside your window.

I would recommend this phone since as a phone, it works very well. The little things are simply annoyances and don't affect the usability of the phone, itself.

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Product Description:
PRODUCT FEATURES:Google free one touch directory assistanceTrue digital soundDECT 6.0 technologyHandset speakerphoneHearing aid compatibleVIP ringtonesSelectable ringtonesDial back function/redialDigital clock with alarmDigital room monitoringCall waiting caller IDMelody ringtonesHandset volume controlLine in use indicatorFlash functionEnhanced visual ringerAutomatic date and time set