Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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16 of 16 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Best DECT 6.0 phone on the market, January 28, 2008
I purchased this phone and 3 additional S45 handsets approx 2 months ago and every phone has performed flawlessly. Before buying the system I read reviews of numerous phones, went to stores to hold the handsets of many of the phones, and reviewed the literature on the manufacturers' websites. In the end, I bought this phone with the belief that it would probably have issues, but I could always return it to Amazon if it did. Needless to say, the only complaint is from my wife who initially complained that the phones were so robust that it was difficult to figure them out -- while this may seem true, think of these phones as a close relation to a cell phone.
Regarding the complaints I have read; let me address the following ones:
1. ISSUE: It is impossible to switch from 1 call to another with call waiting -- you have to hang up on the existing caller. SOLUTION: Simple, depress the "Flash" button on the lower left corner of the phone and easily switch between 1 caller and another. Additionally, this phone has the ability to take an incoming call and immediately conference it in with your existing call -- a great feature if your usage is SOHO.
2. ISSUE: When using with a DSL line the quality of the call is sub par. SOLUTION: Any phone that is used with a DSL line is suppose to be used in conjunction with a DSL phone line filter -- these should be used with every phone jack which is utilized throughout a home.
3. ISSUE: Cannot mute a caller, rather the mute operation places the person on hold. SOLUTION: This is a true shortcoming of a phone, but not a problem for me. Whenever I need to mute a call it is usually because I am multitasking and when multitasking I always wear a headset, so I just mute the headset and viola, nobody can hear me but I can hear them.
4. ISSUE: A standard headset does not work on the phone. SOLUTION: I do not know what the problem is since I read the manual and a Plantronics headset is approved for use with the phone. While the approved headset is not easily found here, I have 3 different type Plantronics headsets and all work flawlessly. One recommendation, though, the sound quality of this phone is better than anything you have probably ever used (this goes for outgoing voice too), as such, you need to purchase a headset that has a microphone with adjustable volume and use the lowest setting. Otherwise, the person on the other end may complain that your voice is gargled.
5. ISSUE: The phone is light and cheap feeling. SOLUTION: I do not know about you, but I do not want to carry around a 5 lb. metal phone just because it feels substantial. When I am on the move in my home I like to clip the phone to me and the lighter the better. With reference to feeling cheap, the phone is well made, has solid keys and a color screen -- ergo, I do no see anything "cheap" about it.
6. ISSUE: The buttons often miss or skip numbers. SOLUTION: If you are used to a cheap phone, then you will have this problem -- a cheap phone has keys that can be depressed with barely touching the pad. A well made phone, on the other hand, requires you to fully depress the key pad. Does this mean you cannot type numbers as quickly ... the answer is "yes" if you insight on wanting to only brush your hand against the key pad rather than fully depressing the key.
7. ISSUE: "This has to be the most frustrating phone ever when it comes to messages. You are forced to listen to the female voice say the date and time (Which is visible right on the screen, so no need to say it), and then to skip to the next message you HAVE to hear all of it again. It would have been much better to be able to skip the voice over or make it an option to turn it off." SOLUTION: This sounds like a user voicemail issue as the phone does not speak, maybe some other Siemens does. It does, however, allow you to set the "1" key to speed dial your home voicemail -- just like your cell number. And you can program in pauses, so when depressing and holding the "1" key or checking voicemails from the blinking voicemail indicator, you need only press one button.
8. ISSUE: The message light does not work. SOLUTION: The phones have a message light and it works -- I have used the phone in our house and recommended it to a friend in another state who uses another carrier (between the 2 of us we have 7 phones and all work). Make certain your carrier provides the service as some do not and some carrier is some areas offer this as an option.
9. ISSUE: The built in clock is inaccurate. SOLTUION: I have none as this is true. For some unknown reason Siemens decided not to allow the phone to obtain time stamp information from the incoming calls, so the phone loses time -- about 1 minute every 5 to 7 days. Does this annoy me enough to not buy the phone: "No"? My $2,500 computer does not automatically update its clock from the internet, though it is more accurate. Needless to say, I would not junk my computer due to the clock issue; besides, when was the last time you relied solely on your home phone to tell time???
In short, this phone has more capabilities than I can list here. It does take some time to figure it all out, but once you have you will wonder how you ever lived with another phone. Lastly, the audio quality of the phone rivals anything you have every used before.
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10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Best Phone Ever, July 2, 2007
First of all, I don't understand the person that gave this 1 star. I have tried and returned every other phone I ever bought. But this phone is engineered beautifully. The sound quality on both receive and send is crystal clear. DECT is fantastic because it doesn't interfere with any other wireless frequencies. This is a total full function phone and is even VoIP capable(with an additional module) if you want that. It's expandable with other handsets(I'm about to order one of those). The reception at long distances from the base is also excellent. Now, if you like big huge buttons and heavy phones, this phone is not for you. But if you like modern, stylish, full featured phones with excellent sound quality, etc, then get this. Btw I don't work for Siemens, nor am I affiliated with them in any way, I just like this phone better than anything I've tried, and believe me I've done a lot of research on phones. I've done much more research than I should have had to do because there are so many awful, cheap phones out there. This is a great phone.
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16 of 18 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Beware if your telephony is provided via a digital cable operator!, June 12, 2007
I bought this unit, plus two extension units and was plagued by digital stuttering, both listening to people at the other end, and what they were hearing when I spoke. It ranged from annoying millisecond dropouts to several second dropouts of all audio. At the time, we were staying with friends during our house remodel, and this unit was connected to their Comcast digital cable modem telephone port. I thought the phones were the problem, so I sent them back to Amazon for replacement. Then my friends bought the same units and had the same problem. They sent them back and got the Panasonic version of the DECT 6 phones. Lo and behold, the Panasonic had the same problem. A knowledgeable acquaintance advised that there was likely some sort of packet-switching interference between the digital signal of DECT 6, and the digital telephony of cable operator provided systems. Sure enough, when we got back into our house (with an analog phone line), these units performed flawlessly over long distances with crystal clarity. I Googled the heck out of the Web (and Siemens site) for mention of this likely incompatibility, but amazingly found nothing. The phones look great and work great. Only complaints: the handsets are a little light in terms of weight, and there is no mute function when on speakerphone. There is a hold function which plays beeps or music or something for people at the other end, but it you are on a conference call and just listening in, and you don't want to be heard, this is not the phone for you. The other people on the call will hear annoying low fidelity music!
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