AT&T 84100 DECT 6.0 Corded/Cordless Phone, Black/Silver, 1 Base and 1 Handset

I am on conf calls all day and when my Uniden Multi-handset phone system started going downhill, I bought this system based on the feedback. I purchased extra handsets and the all-important cordless headset which is really why I purchased this system.Setup and Installation was a piece of cake. The system has a decent balance of features and ease of use. I've been using it for about two weeks and am on conf calls thoughout the day (several hours per day).What I like:+ Backlight on cordless handset: This makes it very easy to use the handset in darkness. If I had any feedback in this area, it would be to add a motion detection that turns on the backlit when the phone is picked up (as the light doesn't come on until I press a key). The red backlight and bright white LCD screen are very easy to read when lit.+ Small sleet handset easy slips into my pocket. This makes it easier to walk around the house with the the phone. My old Uniden phone had a optional belt clip which I liked a little better as it also doubled as a shoulder rest.+ Battery life, Range and Quality. I have zero complaints here. My old Uniden phones drained batteries so fast as the phones aged so perhaps that will happen here but for now, it's great battery life. The range allows my to walk about a very large house across three floors and out back with no sign of static or reduction in quality. Both the handset and headset share excellent range, voice quality and battery life. This is one of the most important factors for me+ Off-Hook Dialing. For whatever reason, I prefer to predial then press phone like a cell and this phone supports that.+ Shared Directory. This was an annoyane of previous phones. With this phone, I can enter a name/number into the directory and it is available for all handsets. And for me, who dials into conference bridges alot, the ability to program a pause after a number and before a passcode means I can access my standard conf calls without having to type in or remember passcodes.+ Comfortable cordless headset. It is very comfortable and has excellent speaker and mic voice quality. I wear it for hours with no issue. It snaps into a few different head clamps (over the head, behind the head). I use the traditional over the head one as that is what I am used to. I only wish it had an easier to find mute button....I am getting used to it but it does take me a few seconds to locate it and press it. To remind me I am on mute, there is a beep (only audible to me of course) every 15 secs to so. I wish that was an option I could enable/disable or have additional option to reminding me I am on mute (like a constant very low white noise). The on-off button is very easy to find and the vol buttons are ok (tho I can't quite lower the volume as low as I'd like...so I just don't place the ear speaker as close to my ear. So some very minor nits but quality, comfort and value are excellent on this unit.What I don't like:- No jack for plugging in a corded headset into the handset. This is pretty much not an issue if you order the cordless headset so for me not an issue (but that cordless headset does cost $80).- Center Menu/Select button is not a nav button. To me this is a bit counter-intuitive that the center button doesn't work like I'd expect, pressing towards the bottom of it to scroll down or to the right to go to the right. Instead it is simply an "ok" or "select" button. This takes a bit getting used to.- Condless Handset doesn't have snug fit in charger. It almost seems like the base unit wasn't made for these handsets. I guess I am just used to my old Uniden whose handsets fit snugly in charger and counln't easily be knocked out.I barely use the base station and answering machine so I can't speak to those. Overall, I am extremely satisfied with the purchase. It wasn't dirt cheap but gets an "A" on my key features (headset comfort, voice quality, battery life, expandability, and a wireless headset that has the same range as the handsets). I would buy again and recommend to friends. Hopefully, this unit will last a while (my Uniden phones started out quite good too but their cordless handsets would "crash" frequently (think windows bluescreen) with an immediate 'reboot' to a dead battery (regadless of the actual battery charge).

A few months ago I decided to cancel voicemail and go with a traditional answering machine for my business. I started with AT&T 1739 - Corded Digital Answering System but the audio quality was lacking. This phone replaced my old corded phone and that cheaper answering machine, and now I'm set. Audio quality is excellent both with live and recorded calls, controls are intuitive and easy to use, and the display is bright and very easy to read. I like the various options to silence the ringer, optionally screen calls, transfer to speaker phone, etc. And this is just the corded base unit, I haven't even used the cordless handset yet (and may not). In fact, my only two criticisms are (1) AT&T should sell the base unit without any cordless handsets... it can mate with up to 12, but some of us don't need any. (2) The 14 min recording time could be longer. Otherwise, this is one of the best "affordable" desk phones I've used, with a generous feature set and thoughtful design.

AT&T 84100 DECT 6.0 Corded/Cordless Phone, Black/Silver, 1 Base and 1 HandsetI bought this phone from Amazon and got it shipped to my cousin's address in US as he was coming a week later to visit us (in Hyderabad, India). This phone is good buy (The only problems are the compatibility issues because of US and India standards. I ll talk about it later) . I earlier had some local brand cordless running at 2.4 Ghz. Everything was fine till I bought a WiFi modem. I could definitely see the call clarity drop in my older cordless and eventually, the handset died. I had to buy a new phone and did some research. I was not able to find DECT Phones anywhere nearby my locality.I researched on Internet and got to know that DECT in India is still in nascent stage. Not many people even knew about it. Even people who sell the electronics were new to this term. I wanted the best and did not want to settle for anything less. My requirements were as below:1. Cordless with caller id2. Power outage operation on base unit (as power outage is common here in India)3. Good battery back up on the handset4. Expandable handsets5. Big display and Keys (my parents are old and I wanted to have a phone which they can see clearly with out straining their eyes)I faced two major problems while setting up this phone. Please note that phone is manufactured by AT&T and hence is compliant with only US Standards. The first prob. was with the adapter. This phone needs 110 volts AC and domestic power here in India is 220 volts (DO NOT CONNECT THE PHONE DIRECTLY THINKING THAT IT HAS ADAPTER WHICH WILL TAKE CARE OF THE CONVERSION. THE ADAPTER WORKS ONLY FOR 110 VOLTS. IF YOU DIRECTLY CONNECT TO YOUR MAINS, YOUR PHONE MIGHT GET DESTROYED (at least the adapter will get burnt). I thought I would buy some local adapter and it would be okay. But the local bought adapter could not fit in the power socket of the phone. Eventually I had to buy two US to India transformer plugs (one for the base unit and the other for the handset adapter).The second problem was with the caller id. United States uses FSK (Frequency Shift Keying) technique for transmitting/receiving the caller id. Google for details if you are an engineer and want to know how it works. While in India, Telecom companies use DTMF (Dual Tone Multi Frequency) as the standard of transmission. As such, the caller id would not show any number at all.To Rectify it, I had to research and buy an FSK to DTMF converter which was also an ADSL splitter. Please note that this is not the regular ADSL splitter which you get along with any teleco's internet connection. Once everything was set up, the phone was running butter smooth. The caller id was coming up, but it would take the phone, 2 rings to display the Caller id.Summary:Pros - Cheapest DECT phone I could find with good basic features like voicemail (answering machine), Caller id. Good call quality.Cons - Need to buy transformer plugs, FSK to DTMF converters, limited number of Ringtones, low Volume of the ringtones with respect to the local phones here in IndiaI would rate this phone a 3.5/5 for Indian usage. For all US customers...I would rate it as 4/5 as this phone is best if you need a basic cordless phone with good voice clarity and basic features.

Base:I've bought at least half dozen different base sets and none have durability of this AT&T model, including another AT&T base that was not good. It has big buttons easy to read for aging eyes, far superior volume then any other model, and all the features I want. The speaker phone and the mic work very well from at least 10 feet so easy to talk if looking at a file or whatever.Easy to adjust volume, mute, switch to speaker, delete calls, redial and such as I can easily see the appropriate button. Intercom works well between floors as does handset locator for the remote.Handset:Excellent connection to base unit on next floor of house, easy to use on speaker phone etc.I would certainly recommend this phone.

We've had this phone for some time now and it works great - no problems and easy to program/operate.