Customer Reviews

Panasonic BB-GTA150B Globarange Additional Handset for the BB-GT1540B & BB-GT1500B Telephone Systems (US)

5 star:		(16)
4 star:		(11)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

Ok, so we're not ready to totally cut the cord yet and go fully VoIP. We still want the local POTS phone service in case of (knock on wood, hopefully not) an emergency where we need 911. VoIP does not give you real 911 in your city, you get connected to some call center in who knows where. No thanks.

We were paying AT&T $15/month for unlimited long distance, which was a good deal a few years ago, but now with the cell phones we don't use long distance at home much. Only a few hours, it shouldn't be more than $5/month.

The Globarange is one of the only devices available in the US that lets you use your regular home phone, has an answering machine, and lets you make long distance calls over the Internet with VoIP.

I did not sign up for a JoIP plan other than the pay as you go. It is very reasonable, it's like 1.5 cents/minute in the US for long distance (and free to call other JoIP users; I am trying to get my family to sign up). I have a family member moving overseas this summer and it is only a few cents a minute more for overseas calls to him. If he gets a JoIP phone there, it will be free :)

The phone is easy to set up. You plug it into your router and into your PSTN (regular phone jack). I have mine hooked up to an Apple Airport Extreme base station I am using in "WDS" mode because I don't have a phone and internet jack in the same room. Works fine, no problems.

Voice call quality is excellent over both the VoIP and PSTN modes. The VoIP mode (internet call) connects very quickly. I have a high speed internet connection from Comcast (15mbs down, 1.5-2 mbs up) and have not noticed any quality problems.

The phone itself is easy to use (we came from another Panasonic cordless, the interface is similar). The answering machine works. It is easy to choose either IP or PSTN based calling (orange button or green button).

I would highly recommend this phone system for people who want to benefit from the MUCH cheaper long distance and overseas rates possible with VoIP but do not want to give up their regular phone service for various reasons (911, etc).

I tried the Skype dual mode phones but they are awful. The sound quality is awful, the phones are very slow to respond, and they do not have an answering machine. Skype is a great deal at only $3 for unlimited long distance (ie what they used to call SkypeOut) but the standalone phones are NOT ready for prime time.

I have heard there are issues with Panasonic/JoIP customer service but I have never called them.

The only downside of this device is you are locked into the Panasonic/JoIP branded VOIP service. You cannot use it with any other SIP provider that may have better rates to where you are trying to call. Actually, however, if you are highly technically inclined, do a google search for "globarange and asterisk" and you can manage this issue. Not worth it to me, personally.

Right now in the US there are no alternatives to this device. Overseas, Phillips sells a very well regarded phone line called Gigaset IP that has a dual mode IP + PSTN phone including answering machine that you can use with any VoIP provider you want. But it's very expensive and not available in the US right now.

The Panasonic can be had for $60-70 and the extension handsets are only $30.

I am very happy with this purchase and cannot recommend it highly enough! Get one!

Did not work that well for me: the setup gave issues with the online website. Client service only responded once with promise to have tech expert call back. Never did. Still waiting, after 2 weeks, for answers to online queries and you get parked in 'hold' limbo when you call.

The monthly plans are not good at all and YOU CANNOT REMOVE THEM once you sign up. the only way is client service, but they do not answer the phone nor the mails.

Lastly: the connections have been hit and miss. Tried QoS on router but did not really help. Do not think it is my DSL since I use that with no problems for video conferencing and XBOX Live.
Anyways, nice looking phone, but they are not ready to support it.
This can only get worse now that they are throwing the phones online for bargain prices: spike in bandwidth, overwhelmed support. Bad bad.

I found this phone very good with great features. I didn't have any problem in setting up the phone and using the phone. I bought two, one for here in USA and another for India. I am able to use to it and it cut down my calling costs. The only problem is JOIP customer service. They don't respond to your emails ontime. We have to wait for many days for that.
You can call the customer service but it puts on waiting for long time most of the time but these days the customer service is improved alot.


I am updating this after 4 months of purchase in August, 2008. I don't want to mention all the features of the phone. I mainly bought this phone for IP (Internet phone).It is working excellent. I haven't spent even a single penny on phone calls using the IP phone. As I said, I have set up two phones, one in india and one in usa. I like this IP feature alot.
Also to mention, the speaker phone on this phone is excellent. Good sound quality apart from all other features. I got another one to set up in India again.

It is a good phone both for landline and for JOIP. I didn't have any problem so far using the IP phone. I highly recommend this phone to everyone who wants to use especially for IP. Even if you don't want to or else don't need IP feature you can still buy this phone as it has all features for regular cordless phone with excellent voice quality with speaker phone too.

Right now (March 2009), the IP feature is not working in India. So we cannot call anyone who has the phone in India. I called customer service and they said they are working on it as Indian government has locked their services. Wait for some more time till I update about this situation if anyone wants to use it in India.

update (06/14/2010)
The phone is in excellent working condition even after two years. I was able to use JOIP services in USA but not in India anymore as i said in march 2009. I wish the JOIP team work out this problem. I noticed that the globarange phone is not made anymore (because it doesn't show up on panasonic website)

Installation:
Was a cake walk. All you need to know is how your home internet connection works and if you home modem can accomudate an extra RJ45 connection. Just turn on your phone and make the network connection. On the first connection the phone automatically try to reach the VOIP server and register itself. In a couple of minutes you get an SMS assigning you a JOIP number

JOIP number:
Is a special kind of phone number to call withing JOIP network. You can make a call to a JOIP number only from a JOIP phone or JOIP soft phone. However from a JOIP phone or JOIP soft phone you can call any JOIP number ANYWERE IN THE WORLD FREEEEEEE OF COST.

JOIP to regular phone calling (optional service):
Its a pre-paid service. Along with the SMS notifying your JOIP number you will also get another SMS that assgn you a default password to your JOIP on-line account. Use your JOIP number and password to log-in and charge your account. Now you are free to talk call any POTS number in the world at a nominal charge deducted from your balance. A call to US land line number is costs JUST 1.5 CENTS a minute.

Land line phone:
The nice part is you can also use this phone to make and receive your regular land line calls, In which case your call go through your regular phone service provider. There is no JOIP involded here.

No need for a Land line:
Additionaly if you subscribe to JOIP monthly plan, you will get a regular number with which you can make and receive calls to and from any land line phone. This option eliminate the need for your additional existing land line connection (if you have phone and DSL based internet service from the same provider then you are out of luck). I don't know much about the quality of this service since I'm out of luck.

JOIP softphone:
Once you login to the JOIP web site you can download the JOIP softphone and install it on your laptop and use your laptop as your Panasonic Globerange phone to make free and cheap calls.

Pros:
* Free calling between JOIP lines anywhere in the world where you have internet connection
* high quality and ease of use
* dual mode POTS and VOIP lines support
* expandable with add-on hand sets when purchased
* cheap long-distance withing US
* Cool features such as downloadable ring tones
* JOIP soft phone and Web JOIP for people who do a lot of international/domestic travel

Cons:
* VOIP service provider cannot be changed. JOIP is the only provider as of now.
* Unavailablity of a soft phone for PDAs like Palm or Pocket PC

Many people complain about the JOIP customer service. I am not sure about it as I never had any problem and never had to call them (may be I was lucky).

Amber light was blinking continuously so tried contacting joip customer service. Looks like there is no way I can reach them.
Sent email at support@joip.com, but it bounced back. Called their 1-800 number which is just a recorded message.
I reset the device a couple of times, but still the same amber blinking light.
No other choice except returning it.
very much disappointed.

Pro:
- The quality on the listening side is awesome compared to many 5.8GHz models, especially the Vtech and Uniden models.
- Received good feedbacks from other end that the clarity is really clear
- Globarange - i haven't used that but seems like a good deal - free calls for 3 years
- speakerphone on the handset - trust me. it will be useful when you are put on hold by some customer service agents.

I have had the VTech 2.4 and Uniden 5.8Ghz models but i always had complaints from the other end that they can hardly hear, or there is some kind of disturbance. I had the 5.8Ghz Uniden with base phone and cordless (dual). The cordless has a bad sound quality, but when using the base phone its good.

I also currently use the uniden 900Mhz which is much better than the 5.8Ghz ones when it comes to sound clarity

I got it for a good deal so i would recommend if you get it for < $79.00. But if its more than that, and you don't plan on using the Globarange and IP phone, don't go for this one. Try other panasonic models especially with speaker phones.

I bought two phones. one installed at my house, the other installed oversea.
The phone set is very good, especially at this price. The IP call provided by JOIP is okay so far. Normally the IP call quality is good. but depends on your Internet service, you may experience noise, break up, delay... over IP call while watching online movie at the same time.
If you mainly just call one particular place oversea a lot, you can buy two phones. one installed at your house, the other shipped to and installed oversea. you can get unlimited free call for three years. And using pay as you go plan to call someone else once in a while won't cost you much.
you are going to end up with a better deal than subscribing VOIP services, such as ITalkBB, Vontastic etc. which costs $25 - $30 per month.
This phone can be used anywhere in the world with 110 Voltage provided. If the JOIP plan says no service at such country, it means you can't get that country's local number. But you can get a US phone number instead. Or you may not need a regular phone number at all if you just want to set up as point to point call through JOIP #.

My previous phone was a 10 year old cordless SONY. Before grabbing this Panasonic, I checked out similar phones at Bestbuy, Stables,office Depot, Circuit City, and even Radio shack. Forget the IP option on the phone and you still purchased the best -pots- phone (price considered) period.
Joip (internet) did work flawlessly on connection to my router, but be aware.. if you are after the text messaging features as you would on a cell phone, forget it. Oh yeah.. IE is needed to use the joip site correctly. Not Firefox.
Looking for an excellent - ready for growth - phone? Get it. You will love its great visibility, ease of use and great sound quality.
I ought to know: Microsoft, Cisco and Cablevision tech certified!

Good phone from technical perspective but it was unclear from descriptive on-line literature that the P-to-P internet capability was only for proprietary system contracted out by Panasonic. Since I didn't expect nor desire to be limited to a proprietary system, I did not get what I thought I had ordered. Not sure this is the fault of ignorance and insufficient research on my part or deliberate obfuscation by Panasonic.

The "hybrid" positioning appealed to me and the Globarange delivers it very nicely. The GTA150B handset - I bought four of them -- works as advertised. The Intercom features is nice -- you can use it as a child monitor, listening in on another room, or as an alarm. I do both. Sound quality as a handset and as a handheld speakerphone is very good. There is no interference between the handsets.

I've used the handsets are far as 200 feet away from the base station. Good range!

My chief recommendation to Panasonic is to make the green and orange line buttons work as toggles to answer and hang up calls. When you take a call on the 150B by pressing TEL or IP (the big green and orange buttons), you hang up by pressing OFF. I'd much prefer to toggle using the green and orange buttons.

Going forward, if this service is successful, I hope Panasonic offers DECT-based handsets.

Regarding the JOIP service, I was dismayed when customer service told me I could not bring my AT&T business number with me, even though AT&T agreed to release it. How odd, especially when the competition is advertising this feature on TV. Guess it's too much work for their programmers!

On the other hand, the ability to achieve an assigned number in other area codes has helped me establish better marketing. I often communicate in Silicon Valley and now have a local area code there.

I'm also a little concerned about outgoing caller ID, not certain that my name shows with my number. When I try it, the CID says DELTATHREE. I've programmed my name at JOIP but it doesn't seem to work in the Pay as You Go plan.