Customer Reviews

Panasonic KX-TS4300B 4-Line Integrated Corded Phone System Expandable up to 16 Stations with Speakerphone, Black

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

 

 

Follow-up: After exchanging this phone twice for refurbished ones, they all have the same speakerphone problem, and Panasonic has essentially said "tough luck...not our problem". To hell with Panasonic.


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For $140, I expected a better phone...two key problems -

- Even though I subscribe to caller ID, when someone is calling and I'm on the line already, the other line doesn't go to the answering machine. It just rings and rings until the person gives up.

- The speaker phone doesn't work right after just 4 months...giving out, making horrible noises. They tell me to reboot the phone, which helps temporarily, but then the problem returns.

On a positive note, their customer service is exceptionally responsive and helpful. Very uncommon these days where it's usually hard to reach a human being, and even harder to get a problem resolved satisfactorily.

This review was originally for the TS4200B which we actually purchased, but since we suspect the same problem exists throughout the 4100, 4200 and 4300 series, the 4200B review for the 2 units we actually purchased, appears as follows:

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.

The phone is simple and has volume control for the ringer as well as the receiver. We are enjoying it. The only thing I was surprised that it did NOT have was MOH music on hold as did the KX tg4500 did?

We have used this phone in our office now for a couple years. While I agree the speaker phone is semi-annoying and there is a problem with people hitting voice mail when you're on the line, I have had no other problems. We have multiple phones hooked up on multiple extensions and the phone works great. Unless you want to get a big phone system, I'm not sure you can do too much better here...

I received the phone in a timely manner however, the phone requires some attention and focus in setting up the lines for maximum use. If you are a novice or at a moderate level with respect to setting up phones, it could take a minimum of 45 minutes to program the phone. I suggest that you run a few call test cycles because the programming is not as straight forward as it should be for customers. I use my phone with a wireless Plantronics ear piece which is convenient and yet this add-on was easier to install that the programming. Otherwiae, the phone works well and is effective for my small business activities.

I would not recommend this product under ANY circumstance.

They did not work out of the box.
Customer Support is poor.
Warranty is useless.

The wrong phone rings at random when receiving incoming calls. Then another random phone will pick up for voice mail. Works about 80% of the time.

My first thought was that it had to be a config error, but it works about 80% of the time. After 5 months we just learned to live with the "Quirky" system. Unfortunately the 20% of voice mails that are important seem to be the ones that are misdirected.

Now the Voice mail system allows users to leave messages but playback is unrecognizable as speech. When we playback messages we get a series of hums beeps and random tones that are totally unusable.

Warranty is still valid but the units must be shipped back to manufacturer.

This phone is a Bad Choice

The new 4-line desk phone -- the mic did not work right out of the box -- when I wrote back with this status and asked for a replacement unit all I got was an email reply suggesting that I return it with no answer to whether it could be replaced. I am now returning the unit.

This Telephone is an Excellent Quality Phone
Sound is great. i do not Notice any Lag or anything else. Keypad is Good and LCD Screen is Very Good and the Menu is Intuitive.

The Only Moronic and infuriating thing about this phone is that You Cannot Do Off Hook Dialing.
Meaning that You cannot Pre-Dial a Number and then Hit the Talk Button to get a Dial Tone.
You MUST first get the Dial Tone in order to Dial in a Telephone Number. This is annoying if you type in a wrong number.

Why Oh Why would an engineer include the many mostly useless features of this otherwise excellent phone and leave out this important feature that exists in my cheaper cordless Panasonic Phones?

If this feature is important then do not buy it.

We don't have a bunch of stuff to compare these phones to but we would not buy them again.
We will continue to use them but considering they are Panasonic, I thought they would work better.