Siemens 2420 Gigaset 2.4 GHz Complete Cordless Communication System

by Siemens

Product Details

Product Manual [11.01mb PDF]

• Product Dimensions: 9.8 x 7.2 x 4.2 inches ; 1.8 pounds
• Shipping Weight: 6 pounds
• Shipping: Currently, item can be shipped only within the U.S. and to APO/FPO addresses. For APO/FPO shipments, please check with the manufacturer regarding warranty and support issues.
• ASIN: B00004R7R1
• Item model number: SC242001CCS
• Average Customer Review: 2.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (143 customer reviews)
• Discontinued by manufacturer: Yes
• Date first available at Amazon.com: September 4, 1999

Product Description

Amazon.com Review

The Siemens Gigaset 2420 offers a full-featured multiuser phone system for growing offices and hip households. The base package includes a two-line desk phone that serves as the master station for the system, as well as one 2.4 GHz cordless handset (model 2400) with its own charger base. Expanding this system is simply a matter of purchasing additional cordless handsets (up to a total of eight) and registering them with the desk station.

With its stylish, understated look, the Gigaset 2420 will be a sharp addition to any office. The desk station features an uncluttered control panel that uses bright red lights to alert you to line use, caller ID callers, voice messages, and access to voice mail services provided by your phone company. Siemens makes the most of the two- line LCD display, consistently dishing up very informative menus and call information. There are only four speed-dial buttons, but the system includes a built-in scrollable phone directory that you can easily scroll through to move caller ID entries into the directory. Transferring calls couldn't be easier; pressing the "Int" button displays a menu of extensions, complete with names.

The cordless handsets are small and light, and incorporate a surprising amount of local functionality. The handset's control panel is very consistent with the desk station; in addition, some of the functions are wisely implemented through two double-position buttons that control soft menus on the LCD display. This gives remote users a look and feel similar to mobile phones, including the flexibility to customize ringer volume and pitch for both external lines and the intercom.

The 2420 system can support two external calls, as well as an internal conversation between two handsets, for a total of four active handsets at any given time. The cordless handsets store their own local phone directories, and you can send directory entries to other handsets or to the desk station. For the wandering user, the cordless units also provide an audible out- of-range warning.

During our tests, we found the Gigaset 2420 package intuitive and its handset comfortable. The system was easy to set up. We simply plugged in the phone line, installed the batteries in the cordless extensions (they accept either ni-cad or NiMH), charged them, and registered the cordless handsets with the base by following a quick, well-documented procedure. The standard ni-cad batteries (included) provide about four hours of talk time, and the optional NiMH batteries provide about twice that. We recommend returning the handsets to their chargers at least every evening.

The standard belt clip and headset jack made the cordless units perfect for our users on the go. One of the 2420's strengths--its small handset--was our only frustration. We found both the desk handset and the cordless extensions difficult to cradle on our shoulder. Old habits often die hard.

We highly recommend the Siemens Gigaset 2420 system for growing offices and households with kinetic teenagers. This affordable package allows for quick expansion without running any additional phone wires and gives all of the users full control over the system's operation. -- Stephen W. Plain

Pros:

• Clear sound
• Easy installation and setup
• Major system functions available from the handset

Cons:

• Handsets difficult to cradle on your shoulder
• Limited range compared to less expensive 900 MHz DSS models

Amazon.com Product Description

Winner of the prestigious MVP award from PC Computingmagazine, the Siemens Gigaset 2420 2.4 GHz cordless phone with digitalanswering system and caller ID is a full-featured professionalcommunications system. The 2420 allows you to work anywhere in yourhome or office but still remain completely accessible for importantcalls from outside or within. The system's 2.4 GHz frequency andhigh-speed digital voice encoding provide reception that is superiorto that of other cordless technologies. Frequency-hopping spreadspectrum technology also ensures privacy.

Supporting up to twooutside phone lines, this system allows you to place up to eightcordless handsets (Siemens model 2400) throughout your home or office,all operating off the corded desk station and a standard phonejack. The desk station and up to four of the eight cordless handsetsmay be used simultaneously.

The desk station design includes adigital 26-minute-memory answering machine and a digitalspeakerphone. The answering machine is fully accessible from the deskstation and from any handset or touch-tone phone. It records messagesfor both lines and offers customizable greetings. The digitalspeakerphone allows high-clarity, hands-free operation for conferencecalls.

The Siemens Gigaset 2420 performs all the functions you'llrequire in a phone system for a small office or busy home. Allhandsets have LCD screens that handle caller ID and callwaiting. Other features include speed dialing and redial, callrestrictions, handset paging, a room monitor feature, a smartfax/modem port, and a 120-entry call directory. This system comes withthe desk station, one cordless handset, a handset charger, batteries,a belt clip, and a user's manual. Siemens offers a one-year warrantyon the Gigaset 2420.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

164 of 169 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Corrections to previous reviews, March 15, 2000

By 

Steve Mueller "Software Developer" (Hollister, CA United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Siemens 2420 Gigaset 2.4 GHz Complete Cordless Communication System (Office Product)

Overall, this seems to be an excellent system.

First, let me correct a few inaccuracies in the other reviews.

Mr. Mehlman states that you can't repeat or skip messages in the answering system remotely. The manual clearly states that you can. He also claims that you can't play back messages from the cordless handsets, but the manual also says that is possible.

Mr. Szymonik and Mr. Doumet both claim that you can't transfer phone directories between the base and handsets, but I have done just that.

What don't I like? First, there are no voicemail boxes in the answering system. Each line can answer separately, but you can't have boxes for different people on the same phone line.

Second, while you can control the ringing frequency and volume for calls placed to different lines and the intercom, you can't change the ringing pattern. I would like one long ring for Line #1, two short rings for Line #2, and three shorter rings for the Intercom, for example.

Third, the desk unit handset is so sleek and rounded that it's difficult to hold between your ear and shoulder.

Fourth, the phone's user interface isn't intuitive at times or even consistent. For example, to add a new entry to the directory or send the directory, you hit the Dir button, then have to select a name, then scroll through the action list to find the appropriate action. Selecting a name should not be required for global actions.

As another example, to page another intercom station from the handset, the menu shows the extension number and part of the name, but to send a directory to another station, you must enter the number without seeing the names.

However, except for the lack of voicemail boxes, these are fairly minor issues, and should not detract from the review.

61 of 62 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars 4 1/2, really, but the mailboxes..., March 31, 2000

By 

S. Unger (New York, NY) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Siemens 2420 Gigaset 2.4 GHz Complete Cordless Communication System (Office Product)

First of all, I also feel obligated to correct some inaccuracies in others' reviews. I didn't like reading these reviews that give the system a bad rating because of supposed shortcomings when the shortcomings aren't there!

Yes, you can transfer directories (have done so), and yes, you can access your messages from the cordless handset (including to repeat and skip messages) - hit INT 9, it's on page 58 of the manual and it works. Transferring calls between base and cordless is also not that complicated! Plus, the manual has quite an extensive index, so finding whatever it is you're having trouble with is a snap (like that thing on page 58). As for the ringing, you can change the pattern on the cordless handet even though they term it as pitch, going through the choices will change the actual ringing pattern. True, oddly, this can't be done on the desk station. I've turned mine completely off, since I know where it is, and rely on the cordless handset's ring to inform me which line is ringing.

The one significant drawback I did discover was that when calling in to check for new messages, both lines are treated as one, in other words, if I would like to call in and check for new messages left only on "Line 1" I am given any new messages - for Line 1 or Line 2. This may or may not be important to others but it seems that mailboxes would have been a smart and easy design feature to include. This is not so important to me but really should be part of an answering system like this.

Overall, though, there are so many easy-to-use features, the system is powerful, flexible, sounds great, looks great, and while the base handset feels a little light, the base and cordless units feel great, buttons and such. If the mailboxes are important to you or your business, you're out of luck, but aside from this flaw, I feel the system is 5 stars.

66 of 68 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Pretty Face, Poor Implementation, September 26, 2000

By 

D. Maynard (Rhode Island, USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Siemens 2420 Gigaset 2.4 GHz Complete Cordless Communication System (Office Product)

I own 2 of these phones and 6 handsets - bought them all at once for my home/home office. It is definitely the sleekest looking phone out there. However, for paying top dollar, it has some serious design flaws. To cut to the chase:

Pros:
- Beautiful design.
- Handsets are light and easy to handle.
- Range seems very good and voice quality is very good.
- Adding handsets is easy and convenient - no jack required.

Cons:
- Cannot pick up a call from a handset after the answering machine has picked up (no call interrupt).
- Cannot use other-brand external phones to join a call in progress.
- When power is lost or unplugged, base phone loses time and date requiring reprogramming. VERY annoying and I cannot believe they overlooked this. The phone has a backup battery for crying out loud.
- Answering machine does not recognize hang-ups resulting in lots of blank messages.
- Transferring a call from one handset to another is a MAJOR pain requiring a bunch of keypresses. VERY poorly designed and non-intuitive.
- Too easy to accidentally delete a new phone message if you press delete a bit too late.
- Handsets are small and light, but not ergonomic or well designed for fitting to your hand.
- I had two handsets die within about 4 months. Questionable quality.
- Simple things like changing the volume on a handset during a call is very awkward and requires scrolling through a series of menus, so you can't change the volume without taking the phone away from your ear for about 10 seconds. Poor design.
- Virtually everything is menu driven and requires a series of button presses and scrolling through menu items. Awkward.
- Too many features are password protected on the base requiring entering a PIN every time. Is this really necessary?

There's more minor flaws and annoyances, but for the price I would expect a MUCH more user friendly design. Whoever designed these phones was probably a "tecchie" - scrolling through screenfuls of menu options is ok for software, but not for cordless phones. Many often used features should be incorporated into buttons rather than menu items (like the handset volume).

The number one thing that annoys me is trying to transfer a call to another handset. If I pick up a call one one handset, my daughter can't simply yell from another room, "I got it", then simply press talk on her handset. No - it's a series of button presses, etc. and about 75% of the time it doesn't seem to work or the call gets lost. Totally totally annoying and an inexcusable design flaw in my opinion.

Overall, for the money you can do much better. If I was able to get my money back I would in a heartbeat. I'm stuck with a $1000+ phone system which is a real letdown overall.

At least it looks nice.....