Too many deficiencies, returned
The reviews for this phone system were generally good so we took the plunge. However, when it arrived I kept bumping into odd design choices, poor performance and obsolete, missing or poorly implemented features
Here's a short list:
1. The intercom feature is difficult to use and quite inflexible. Whereas in other makers' phones you can set the name of each extension, in this system it's "Remote 1, Remote 2...". Then if you want to intercom to "Remote 7" you have to scroll through the entire list to get to it. Further, the intercom does not have a "hands-free" mode, but instead forces your callee to hear a strange ring tone and physically answer the phone. Very weak!
2. The menu system is mystifyingly complex, right down to which buttons you use to scroll through choices. Instead of using the circular cursor wheel (that would have been intuitive) it forces you to use one of the soft keys (CID), and you can only scroll down. Again, very weak.
3. The answering machine failed to hear the voice of the caller, recording instead a series of beeps. No voice. The unit I got was defective.
4. When in a call the volume in the earpieces was quite low and overly distorted. Nothing like the HD voice quality of today's cell phones.
5. The phones feel quite light and cheap, and don't sit well in the charger, often falling out with the lightest touch. Poor design.
In short this is a system that is awkward to use, limiting and annoying. I've switched over to the Motorola ML1000 -- what a difference, all good. I'm never going back to AT&T, they've lost their edge.