Customer Reviews

Panasonic KX-TS4200B 4-Line Integrated Phone System Expandable up to 16 Stations with Speakerphone, Black

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(5)

 

 

We have five of these phones in our office and all work very well. We switched back to copper lines after a disasterous venture into VOIP phones. We ordered the Panasonic phones as replacements.

They do have a slight lag time between picking up the handset and dialing the numbers as the reviewer below points out - but it's a making a mountain out of a molehill.

We even have an on hold music/message system connected to our Panasonic phones which works very well. I would have preferred to just plug in a radio or CD player but for the price of the phones I cannot really complain too much.

The phones are not absolutely perfect but they are very easy to use and suit our small office perfectly.

I just got the phone a couple days ago, and it's a nice looking phone with pretty easy to use features. The handset is solid and the keypad is comfortable. I like the lighted buttons in particular. The caller ID actually works unlike my last Panasonic phone that only stored the missed calls and didn't display the number after I picked up. The display is easy to read and using the 4 lines is very easy and intuitive.

Unfortunately I think I may have to return the unit. The problem the other reviewer mentioned about the delay in dialing is indeed irritating, but not a deal killer for me. The problem I have is that the Panasonic KX-TCA60 headset I had worked fine for my other panasonic phone, but the mic didn't work on this one. Tech Support pointed out that it's not on the list of compatible headsets for this phone. So I bought another headset that is listed as compatible. (both have standard 2.5mm jacks and are both Panasonic brand) The new headset works, but only with a mid level hissing whistle sound whenever in use. I tested the new headset on another phone and there was no problem.

I work on the phone all day and need to type and move quickly on 3 computer screens all at once. I HAVE to use a headset. And I don't want to go crazy with a hiss in my ear all day.

Also, using the speakerphone didn't work all that well. We had to sit close to it and talk into it for the caller to hear us.

The last thing I'll try before sending it back is to put a backup battery in it. The display constantly shows "Low Batt" since there was no 9 volt included and I haven't gotten one yet. Maybe, something in the circuit needs that battery even when plugged in to work properly. Yet another little irritation.

Further Updated 4/23/11
Further to the comments below. In our own AT&T 1070 vs. the Panasonic KX-TS4200B bake-off, we ultimately went with the AT&T 1070. But for intercom speaker/line quality issues, both phones have this problem, which since the intercom works using radio frequencies, is typically caused by outside interference. So in addition to my earlier comments below, 2 recommendations for isolating the cause:
1. Make sure your cell phone is typically not placed on your desk right beside the phone
2. Check out this link to track down interference problems - especially making sure your power adapter is plugged into the wall and not into a power board:
[...]
Latest Review - March 2011 - an update

We wound up recently purchasing these phones, after blasting them 4 years ago (See below)

Panasonic has now,fixed much of their famous delayed response problem. There is no longer a lag in getting a dial tone, but as others on this site have noted, there is a slight delay after you press any number key, in getting a tonal response. Some on this board couldn't stand it. Others, like ourselves this time, have decided to live with it. If you are a deliberate dialer, no problem.

But now we have, or had, a different problem, and possible solution. We had to abandon our older, as well as our recently purchased AT&T 4-line phones, as we, like others were experiencing garbled words on intercom conversations - but only with the speaker phone. Handset and earphones both work fine on intercom. So then we purchased these Panasonic phones again, and found to a lesser degree the same problem. No point in calling either the AT&T or Panasonic techs on this one. They will just advise you to try a hard reset of the phones, which won't help, or if so, probably only temporarily.

Here is the fix that we think may have alleviated the problem. The solution, we think, no matter which phone you buy, is to try configuring non-adjacent extension numbers, which are presumably working on just different frequencies and possibly interfering with each other, farther apart. For example, rather than setting up Ext 11, 12, 13 and 14, try 12, 16, 20 and 24. Can't guarantee it will help, but try it.

Of course if you are not an intercom user, or even if you are and don't mind connecting by intercom with either the handset or the earphone, either the AT&T or Panasonic are great phones. But I do believe, with AT&T, there is a higher risk of the intercom speaker system eventually failing - just based on our own 974/1070 experience, plus the reviews on this board. AT&T needs more robust electronics here.


Earlier Review - 2007
Panasonic has a design flaw in this unit, which is unfortunate, as it is the best looking 4-line corded phone on the market and is otherwise an excellent phone. The problem is that once the hook is released (or you switch from from one line to another) when you then immediately get a dial tone, it takes approximately an additional 1.5 seconds for an audible tone to be heard from any number keys you press. You an easily press anywhere from 4 to 6 keys during this lag period, during which time you hear nothing. Then it catches up and starts dialing, although still at a slower rate than which you originally pressed the keys. Our our four lines, on the first three we kept our original, trusty FIOS lines, and on the 4th line we put a VOIP line. Same problem all lines. We had another jack where we had plugged in a new Panasonic 2-line phone (KG-TX6700) and the phone worked normally to key presses. We plugged the 4200B into the same jack, but the same delay as before occurred. We bought a second 4200B - same problem. We believe the problem probably exists on the 4100 and 4300 phones as well.

We went out a then bought our less preferred AT&T 4-line phone (Model 974) and it worked like a charm. The Panasonic problem exists on at least two types of phone networks - Verizon's FIOS (fiber optic) phone lines, as well as on Verizon's VOIP service trademarked as Verizon Voicewing. I am not sure if the problem exists on the old copper line networks, but if you try this phone, be sure to test it.

The other thing to test is how you use this phone. If you typically pick up the phone and don't dial until the phone is at your ear (i.e. as opposed to dialing immediately with the speaker phone), then you might not see this as a problem, as it takes about 1.5 seconds to get the phone off the hook and up to your ear, and by that time, the dial tones will respond immediately. However, even then, if you switch back and forth quickly between lines to get a quick dial tone - then you will have the problem.

Otherwise, great phone, but re the above - buyer beware.

And....I thought I did my homework...unfortunately not enough. In November of 2010 I purchased quantity 2 Panasonic KX-TS4200B 4 line phones based on "opinion blogs" on the internet....bad idea?! no? yes? By February 2011, the speaker on one of the phones was defective. Panasonic returned a "refurbished" one. By April 2011, the speaker on that phone was defective. Again, Panasonic returned another "refurbished" phone. By August of 2011, the speaker on that phone became defective. It took 6 weeks to get a return label. After returning this defective phone for the 3rd time, I received a response from Panasonic that it would cost me $85.00 to "fix" the phone. Meanwhile, the speaker on my other Panasonic phone began to work intermittenly!! As a consumer, would you purchase any Panasonic product, let alone this low quality, poorly engineered, inadaquately manufactured phone??? It is the wild west out there and Panasonic has joined the roving band of gangs to steal the buck.

We have been using KX-TS4200Bs in our office for over two years now sharing two phone lines.

We use it with ATT messaging service and it works quite well notifying you on the bottom line of LED display (with a blinking line number) when voice messages are recorded.
However, there is no other light indicator visible from all angles indicating a saved message.
The KX-TS4300B includes its own digital voice recording capability if you would rather not use your phone company's message service.
We have one, but have not used the local voice recording capability.

Very reliable phone system - works with plain old telephone (POT) lines without the need of a PBX or extension numbers.
Even though phone lines may be shared, when one phone is in use, the others don't pick up the same line so you have a private call.

The mic input works extremely well with the Panasonic wired head sets we have used. Very clear.
The volume control is excellent. It has convenient buttons for hold and conferencing multiple parties across all lines.
The speaker phone works very well as well.

Note that there is a delay in dialing when you first pickup the phone, as is mentioned by others, but it is something one can get used to over time.
The delay can help avoid misdialing numbers. The buttons on the phone are large so you can easily dial. It also has at least 16 presets to save numbers you commonly dial.
There are four line buttons you may select. It automatically picks a preferred line to pick up and dial out on if available. You can select a different line to pick up or dial out on.

This has a 4 line LED display one of which displays the two digit extension number assigned to the phone.
If you pick up a call you can transfer it to another phone if you know its extension.
You can select which lines will ring each phone.

Includes callerID and a phonebook to dial repeatedly used numbers.

One of the best feature of the phone is its headset/mic input and the headset button that allows you to easily switch between handset, speakerphone, and the headset.

If you don't need PBX capability, these phones are an excellent choice in my opinion.

Note that I have never had to call Panasonic for customer support.
I have a general opinion that this is one area they are lacking.
However, this system is a do it yourself system that you can figure out after reviewing the manual and gain experience using the phone.
There is little to program (extension number) so you shouldn't need to contact customer service.

If you get one of their PBX systems, be prepared to pay someone to install and program it.

I bought 3 of these for our office a couple weeks ago. Mine had a speakerphone that worked fine for 2 days, started breaking up on the 3rd day, and stopped working completely thereafter. Since I'm the only one that uses speakerphone I decided to swap out with one of the other 2 phones. Turned out the other two were also dead.

I contacted Panasonic to see if there was some kind of setting to change and they confirmed that the phones were defective. Otherwise I liked the phones but defective speakerphones in 3 out of 3 is not a sign of quality.

Great product, even better costumer service. Nobody does Customer Service better than this company. I had questions regarding my order and I got an immediate response, extremely professional and caring. You can't go wrong with them......

This works as advertised. It gets the job done well.

The first one came in with a bad mic that chopped up conversations.

Amazon's typically spectacular customer service took care of that. I had a replacement the day after I reported the problem.

I've only been using my Panasonic KX-TS42088 for about 3 weeks, but I'm perfectly satisfied with it. The pause when pressing the numbers is really not a problem - it might slow down the dialing by a nanosecond, but no more. Sound quality is good, features are great. Works just fine in my 4-person office.

I purchased two of these phones. The speaker feature doesn't work on both of them. Unfortunately, we found out too little too late and could not return it. It is horrible not to be able to use the speaker. Prior to this phone, we had two lines phones that worked great. I would rate this phone a zero if I could.