Customer Reviews

Philips DECT/VOIP Additional Handset for VOIP841 Series

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(5)

 

 

Good audio quality, good range, and it has the headphone jack and a pocket clip (which I need, because I often walk around while talking on the phone). It would be nice if the directions had explained how to add this line to the base station. Apparently, you have to hold the page button down on the base for five full seconds until the lights start blinking, then press the button on the handset to register it. I had to actually call Phillips to find this out.

The main reason I am giving it only four stars is the fact that you can't conference with these two phones (that I can figure out, anyway). With my previous two cordless phones, I would switch when the battery got low. I would just press "Talk" on the second phone, press "Off" on the low-battery phone, and continue my conversation. These phones don't seem to allow that. If you are on a call and press "Talk" on the other phone, it just beeps annoyingly at you. Perhaps the directions...well...perhaps Phillips can help me with this, but at the moment, that takes it down to 4 stars.

UPDATE: Let's take it down to 3 stars. Whenever I power down the base unit, the phones reset all of their settings (time, dialing preferences, etc.). It is extremely annoying to dial a number, press talk, and have the phone stop and ask you whether you want to dial through your land line or through Skype (when you already told it to use your land line by default).

Also, reviewing and calling recent numbers (incoming or outgoing) is pathetically slow. In my previous cordless, it was two fast button presses to call someone back (first button to bring up the incoming call list, second button to dial). In this phone, it takes up to 4 button presses, with up to 2 seconds pause between presses. I can't figure out how to change my stars, but this one is definitely down to 3.

The manual sent with my handset mentions that a PIN # needs to be entered before registering with the base unit. This was not the case. I guess and assume since its default PIN is 0000 it doesnt need to be entered unless you go into the settings and change the number (which is a good idea for added security).

So after pressing "reg" on the handset, I than pressed the buttion on the base unit. Two lights lit-up for a bit than went off. I than released the button on the base unit and the handset was than registered.

Other than that, this is a great additional handset. Each handset you register even indicates by a number on the screen which one it is. So they are easy to keep track of.

Extra handset allows you to transfer a call to a specific handset, make 3way calls, make intercom calls between 2 handsets and you can be on Skype and a landline call at the same time!

I've come a long way before deciding on this phone. I'm glad that I did more research and read online reviews instead of simply buy the one offered on Skype's website. I had read Charle's review prior to buying the phone and read his instructions instead of the manual that it came with. We have three floors in our house so I'm very happy that VOIP phone came in a "system" that I can add additional handset. If anyone has broadband Internet connection, I don't see any reason to have a landline in addition to our mobile phones. It saves a lot of money down the road, provides Skype service w/o the computer, and we can consolidate all the numbers that we call and the numbers are all available in each handset! I wonder if anyone has tried to buy two bases, and have up to 8 handsets in the house, but have both bases logged in the same Skype account?

The clarity for dialing both SkypeOut landline numbers and Skype to Skype is superb, and sometimes better than regular landline phones. We don't have landlines so I cannot attest to the clarity of this phone used as a landline phone.

Folks have complained that they could not get the remote unit to link up with the base unit. I was very frustrated with that, too. The quick start guide states just press "register" and enter a code. The detailed guide, however, mentions to press register on the phone and then press the intercom button on the base unit until the two lights go out. And what they really meant was press AND HOLD that button. Do that, and the phone links to the base just fine.
Very pleased with readability of the screen. Another nice feature is that all the contacts entered into my Skype account via computer shows up automatically on the phone.

I've now added three handsets to the basic Philips DECT/VOIP unit so I have a total of four phones on the system. I've used it for about a month connected to Skype as well as a land line. It worked perfectly on both. Since my family has cell phones, my original intent was to eliminate the land line completely. For the past two weeks I've had the land line disconnected from the Philips Unit and all calls arriving on the land line have been forwarded to my Skype-In number so all calls come through Skype. All outgoing calls have been going through Skype-Out. I've eliminatged the land line for a saving of just over $800 per year. Philips has done a great job matching the phone and features with Skype. Since my wife has had some very long conversations using these phones, I would say the battery life for these units is very good and comparable to any DECT system.

I'm very happy with the system and for the $800 savings I'm willing to live with a couple of minor issues. First, caller ID gives me only the number and not a name. Second, no 911 emergency service but I have that on my cell phones so not a serious problem.

I also have a Linksys WIP320 which I use on a business account with Skype-In. The Linksys product is a stand-alone phone so the system cannot be expanded. Since it has a wireless connection to the router, the battery life is very short so it must be plugged into the power supply at all times. It occasionally drops the link to the router and needs to be reset. All in all, the Linksys is OK but no where near as reliable or as versatile as the Philips system.

I'm sure the next generation system will be better but this is an excellent home phone system.

I needed a decent skype phone that will not need my PC to be on and which will support also a landline - since having SKYPE phone, landline phone and 4 mobile phones in my home I found to be slightly too much...

I have been using this product for couple of days and so far have been very satisfied. As opposed to some products I have already tried (SMC WIFI phone offered on skype.com), this software (even though it looks the same) works much faster on PHILIPS phone. The phone is very easy to set up and has a noticeable loudspeaker - very nice for conference calls.
I have also bought an additional handset and the set up was very easy. the base station supports up to 4 handsets which can call each other internally. It supports only ONE skype account login - which is "cloned" over various handsets - which I find slightly unfortunate because it would be really cool to allow 1 skype account per handset at time and not 1 account per base. Apart from that this product really rocks! Highly recommended!

an advice for european customers - the charging adapter supports only 120V (and not 120V-220V like many other devices) - therefore the price difference between the US and EU is not very convenient as you need to buy the electricity converters (my case).

This product is worth the money. I have been using it now for about 3 months and decided to write a short review. I am using the phone with Skype and love it. It has saved me $100s of dollars already calling the UK from he USA. When talking to friends sometimes they say I am talking to loud so I know the mic on the phone is very good. My only complaint is the speaker phone. I wish the volume level could be increased as even when set to the high level of 5 you must be in a completely quiet room to hear.

It's great that you don't need the pc on to call and receive calls.
No more headset and mic and turning on the pc and using 750 watts of power just to talk! My electric bill has decreased some already!


Overall I like this phone and it was money well spent. It is actually saving me money.

I just went to the base press the button for few seconds, after that went to the handset press reg and few seconds later I was calling to order a Pizza ;-)

My son is in Okinawa and Skype is the only way to go! This phone allows us to have one on each floor of our home and is so convenient to use. Save us money, time and effort. Sound quality is excellent and the features are easy to understand and use.

Complete waste of $80. Drops most calls after a few minutes. You can't imagine how frustrating that is to have to call someone back 7 times in an hour.

I have tried everything and wasted hours trying to get this phone to work: flashing the firmware, configuring the network settings to static IP, disconnecting/reconnecting the handset, configuring the router to forward all traffic to the phone, etc etc. I even called philips tech support with no luck.

Waste of money/time.