Customer Reviews

Cisco SPA942 4-Line IP Phone with 2-Port Switch

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

We purchased a half-dozen of these for my startup because they're supported by Vocalocity (our VOIP provider), had the features we want, and the price was right. It's a solid, few-frills, get-the-job-done VOIP phone. Excellent sound quality, and it's attractive on the desk, too.

My only complaint is that the phone uses icons (a picture of a hand for "hold", a piece of paper with a folded corner for "setup") instead of words. At first blush, it's not always intuitive what those icons mean. I understand why Cisco did this (reduced localization costs for a product that can sell in the global market). I almost never read the documentation that comes with electronics, so the first time I needed to place a call on hold, I spent 60 seconds staring at it looking for the "hold" button, dumbfounded that it didn't have one.

This phone had everything i was looking for:
* backlit display (so you can read it when it's dark or dim in the room)
* 4 lines with independant number assignment
* choice of a single ringtone for a single line (home/personal)
* supports sip/sip2 (works with asterisk)

I actually searched for 2 or 3 months for the right phone, but no one mentioned anything about the details that were critical to me (such as backlit display), and i actually BOUGHT the wrong type of sip phone 3 times before finding this one, which had what i needed. This phone is great for the budget-oriented small office.

Now, the bad things (or 'not so good' things):
* Power supply sold separately (see the area that say 'customers who bought this also bought...' to find the power supply for this phone)
* The speaker phone is too damned quiet!
* I had to buy another (MUCH longer) handset cord so that i could lean back in my chair while on the phone
* The number 8 button gets stuck on the phone for my desk, but it is fine on the other phone for the other desk
* DOES NOT COME WITH A SETUP MANUAL!!! It comes with a short "features" guide (2 pages), but NOTHING about how to set it up with your server. To do so, click the "settings" button, then choose "network", then scroll down to the ip address. Type that ip addrss into your browser to get to the embedded web server front end to setup the phone. The user name is "user" (it took me an HOUR to guess it; for routers, etc, it's usually 'admin', or something like that), and the password is the password that you assigned to the phone (if any).

Despite its shortcomings, it's still a great phone. I hate the speakerphone, though....

Excellent phone, great sound quality, the best IP Phone on the market. Have had it for two years without any problems whatsoever. The phone is well built to withstand daily use and is very customizable to match any needs. Cisco provides regular firmware updates which is an added plus.

My only complaint is that the phone does not log incoming calls when in the do-not-disturb mode, unlike the grandstream phones that do so.

This is a good phone, it works well. I did need technical support to set it up though from my service provider, the set-up guides appear to be written by engineers for engineers.

Overall this was a great phone with everything that I needed. The only problem is that it comes without a power adapter and that is very annoying since you have to wait another few days to use the phone once you realize there is no power adapter in the package!

I am really a fan of Linksys product. their interface is very good. The phone just works great and I can manage 4 phone lines with this product. Set up is not that hard at all.

There is minor problem with phone. The quality of the speaker phone is not loud enough. If you compare it with that of regular home phone, the speaker is better. If you compare it with speak phone in most of high quality office phone, it is not that good.

It works great in all respecr except as a speakerphone. If you need a speakerphone which may be shared by more than one person, this is not a phone for you.

The phone has two network connections that are not secure, so the slightest movement can dislodge them causing the phone to lose its connection. Phone cord connections are not new and, in fact, the connection to the handset is quite secure, as you expect with phones who have handset and phone line connections. It is absurd and stupid to have these connections so insecure that important calls can be disrupted so easily. I might have rated it too high overall, but most of the electronic features of the instrument have worked OK, so I did not give it the lowest rating. Don't buy if you can find something without this problem.