Philips VOIP841 PC-Free DECT 6.0 Wireless IP Phone
by Philips Accessories
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Our Price: $499.99 Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days Buy Used: from $115.00 (click here) Category: CE See more product details |
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Customers in the UK,
Buy this product at amazon.co.uk
for British Pounds
Digital Cameras Photo Reviews of Philips VOIP841 PC-Free DECT 6.0 Wireless IP Phone
Customer Review: My Best Purchase in Years
Summary: 5 Stars
This is one of the best purchases I have made in the last 10 years. I did not expect that Philips could produce such a well engineered and easy to use product. The VOIP8411B telephone is very simple to setup, especially when you have a DSL router and a Skype account. Just connect a network cable to the router, optionally another cable to the standard telephone jack, select language, local zip code, time zone, type your Skype user name and the password and the phone is ready to use. You can use your contact list imported from Skype or dial a number in the US or international 011... At rock-bottom prices you can call people around the world with no contracts, no monthly fees, no expiring calling cards with deceptive policies, same rate any time - a real money saver. I still keep a landline with a local unlimited plan for $20 just to have a telephone number and 911 emergency option but long distance and international calls are made via Skype. This is more expensive than purchasing a phone number from Skype at $60 per year. You do not have 911 emergency calls but you gain a better control over your phone (you can block unwanted numbers) or move from state to state and keep the same number. Voice quality is adequate, slightly better than through an inexpensive computer headset and definitely better than via a non GSM cell phone. The phone displays your current balance on the main screen. When you select a number to dial, the phone asks if you want to use Skype or a landline. The telephone can also handle incoming landline calls. There are a few shortcomings. (i) The display is narrow and the contact list shows only 10 characters - it is not enough most of the time. (ii) Handling busy lines is weird - the phone does not generate any audible "busy" signal, it momentarily displays the "Busy" message that you cannot see, then goes back to the main screen as if nothing happened. (iii) You can only use Skype voice mail but this is a paid service (the first 12 months is free with this phone or a Skype phone number). For some customers a better option would be to store messages locally from both local and Skype connections. Otherwise this product cannot replace a traditional phone completely if you decide to keep your landline. One reviewer mentioned that volume cannot be adjusted in this phone - this is not correct - after the connection is made up/down arrow keys can be used for this purpose. All in all, I am quite impressed with this phone and decided to purchase an additional handset. Maybe it is time to get rid of a landline phone and save even more.
UPDATE: I purchased an additional handset for VOIP8411B but it did not work. The handset could not find the base station. I also noticed that the connection quality is not consistent: connection to China is excellent, connection to Europe is generally good, calls to Austin, TX had unacceptable quality (after a few attempts I felt so embarrassed that I would not use Skype to call destinations in the US).
Customer Review: I love it but one important caveat
Summary: 5 Stars
I actually got this for someone else who has cable internet (1.5MB/s) and who lives in an area where the local I've-never-heard-of-them phone company is rather expensive. I set it up for her.
1. We both like the way it looks. It is physically smaller than I expected though.
2. Set up was easy except I found entering the Skype password was a pain because * is substituted for each actual characters - this is intended for use at home so who's going to see?
3. Nice, obviously-Skype interface.
4. For the caller, quality comparable with landline except one instance where the person on the other end wasn't even sure I was speaking English. Normally, the quality on the receiving end is better than landline.
5. Unbelievably cheap! Getting a local phone number $60/YEAR for SkypeIn, free calls to all US/Canada $30/YEAR and really cheap calls overseas with SkypeOut.
Now, the caveat. Skype make it quite clear that you can't call 911 for emergency calls. However, I figured that since the call centers are on the phone network, they must have regular 10-digit numbers but 911 acts like a speed-dial number so the 10-digit numbers are never actually used. With the 10-digit number in hand, I thought I could set that up as a Skype contact and assign it speed-dail #91. Obviously you would have to identify your position - as you've had to with cell phones until recently.
I was wrong. I contacted the City of Charlotte (NC) and after several emails got the following response from someone high up. It is possible, though probably unlikely, that the system in your area may be different.
"The 9-1-1 system does not work on 10 digit numbers. It is a system built specifically for 9-1-1. We have direct connection to cama trunks at AT&T. It enables us to get your calling number and address. So even if you can't stay on the phone we can get to you. The federal government has mandated that all VOIP providers upgrade their networks to provide 9-1-1 service. I don't know how Skype gets by that mandate. We do have 10 digit numbers coming into the center for outgoing calls and to receive non emergency calls. These numbers are not manned 7X 24, may not be answered or may be busy. I want to repeat we have no emergency 10 digit numbers. Our non emergency police number is 3-1-1. Do not expect to get emergency service by dialing any number but 9-1-1. If you put any number in your system but 9-1-1, that 10 digit number may get eliminated, changed or could be out of service. I want to make sure you do not have any false hopes or information because the last thing I want is for you or your family to need an emergency response, dial a 10 digit number and get no one."
One minor annoyance: There was a power failure and I was surprised that the password had to be re-entered when the power came back on and the internet connection was re-established.
Customer Review: not so good as a landline phone
Summary: 4 Stars
Pluses:
1. Very reliable.
2. DECT 6.0 encryption, which extends the voice security that we get from Skype.
3. Best speakerphone I've seen.
4. Landline clear.
5. Can work with simultaneously with a computer that's logged on to Skype. On an incoming call, both the VOIP841 and the computer will ring.
Needs Improvement:
1. The power brick they include is only for 120V US lines, not very friendly for traveling. It's hard to find a compatible power adapter because on the base-unit it requires 7.5V 12W which is not easy to find. For the handset, the connector between the power brick and the charge unit has to have a weird angle and tight fitting. For that one I could not find an adaptor.
1a. Poor base-unit performance when powered from internet. In other words, when running it unplugged (using the power only from the internet line connected to the switch) it runs poorly. The landline is noisy, and Skype crashes about once every 12 hours.
2. There are no phonebook when using the landline. You only have the Skype-out Contacts. But the numbers on the Skype out contacts include a "+" country code (eg. +1 212-555-1212) which is incompatible with the telephone company.
3. Skype Contact loads slowly. Every time you push the contacts button, it makes you wait 2 seconds while it re-loads the contacts. Whey can't that be store in handset memory at log on?
4. No voicemail for the landline. I was fooled from their advertisement that it had voicemail for landline. But the voicemail they are talking about is the kind that only works with voicemail service from the telephone company.
5. No videophone. :( No access to Skype chat :( :(
6. No PPTPVPN. On computer when I'm in a foreign country I like to use PPTPVPN in orer to make free calls to my local country on Skype Pro. There is a proxy but that's not easy to setup. Many secure firewall-routers provide an easy-to-use PPTPVPN server.
7. No BlueTooth. Requires a wired headhone for active mobile use.
8. There is a voice quality degradation when talking to another computer Skype user (not Skype-in). The quality is still good telephone quality but it is not as good as the earphone connected to the computer. I suspect the degradation may be caused by DECT 6.0.
9. Changes your skype message so when other people look at your Skype contact they see "Using Skype with my computer. Find out more." But you don't know that because on your own account you see your own message that you typed!
10. Skype-in calls do not work when your online status is "away" or "do not disturb". This might be a problem with Skype, not VOIP841
Customer Review: Excellent dual Skype/landline phone at a good price
Summary: 5 Stars
I first have to say that I have no association with Philips or Skype and am not paid to endorse this product. I had heard about Skype a while ago but never paid too much attention to it; but when I recently moved to Europe and was looking for a cheaper way to communicate with family, friends and business associates in the US, I finally tried it out and was very pleased. The problem was getting other family members to sit down in front of the computer to make these "strange" Skype calls. I therefore decided to get a Skype phone - and as our old cordless phone was not great quality anyway, decided to kill two birds with one stone and get a dual system. After reading a few reviews here on Amazon, I took a chance and ordered the Philips dual phone and after about 3 weeks of heavy usage am very pleased. I have yet to identify a feature I would want and can't find on the phone (I noticed some other reviewers had complained about features they thought were missing, but with a little investigation and reading of the user manual, I found almost all of them on the phone). The only feature I'd like it to have that it doesn't seem to is the ability to forward Skype In calls to another number from this phone. I still have to do that on my computer. Otherwise, it seems to have everything. In addition, the sound quality is absolutely fine (I agree that the speaker phone is a slight bit tinny, but not enough to bother the average user), and the phone has a great look. It worked first time straight out of the box. The only problem I had was that when I tried to register the extra handset I had purchased, it didn't seem to work. I had to contact Philips customer service, and they resolved the problem immediately. (Turns out you have to hold down the button on the base station for 4 seconds, while the base station is disconnected from the internet.) I also had a small problem after a power failure from a lightning storm. Once the power was back up the phone kept cycling through its "start up" mode, and I had to disconnect the base station and take the batteries out of the hand sets to reboot the system. But it worked fine afterwards and none of my stored numbers were lost.
Considering that I was paying a fortune for calls to the US - and having a hard time dialing toll-free numbers in the US from Europe - the combination of Skype and this phone has been one of the best investments I've made all year. I'm pretty sure I'm going to buy another base station and extra hand sets, since the base can only accommodate up to 4 hand sets.
All around, it's an excellent product and I recommend it highly.
Customer Review: Not perfect but it works well
Summary: 4 Stars
First off, I only use skype out, so don't rely on this review for landline function. The only reason I purchased this setup is because I bought a new computer with windows 7 and it isn't compatible with my dlink dph50u which has worked flawlessly for a long time.
Here's what I don't like about the phone. Anytime the phone is in the charger cradle, the display is on. If you turn it off and set it in the cradle, it powers on again. This is ridiculous to expect the batteries to fully charge while powering a display screen. So far the batteries (AAA rechargeable) have not even come close to providing the advertised 12 hr talk time. I bought mine in open box condition with full warranty from sound so good through amazon, so the batteries may have been old. I had to go into the static ip menu to get the phone to connect when I first hooked it up. It did read all my current settings and all I had to do was keep hitting ok. I hate the fact that every time you make a call there is a reminder of your current skype balance and you have to hit ok every time to make that screen go away. Making a skype out call is never easy, but with this setup you have to start by holding down the 0 key until the + symbol shows up. Then you dial the country code and then the phone number. Example in USA: +15551212. It takes too long for that + symbol to show up and sometimes it registers as a 0 if you don't hold the button down just right. There should be a dedicated button that you just press.
Now for what I do like. The call quality has been very good. The volume can be controlled through the earpiece and on speakerphone as well. The phone is a decent size. It is bigger than a cell phone and slightly smaller than most cordless phones. The buttons feel responsive and the overall quality is good. The bottom of the phone is designed so it will stand up on its own out of the charger cradle. You can set the preferred line to skype out or landline so you don't have to go through the menu every time you make a call.
I would definitely not pay $300 or more for this phone. I bought it for $150. If you can find it for this price, I would recommend it. There is no perfect skype phone, but the benefit of paying $3/month for skype out is incredible compared to whatever you are paying for local and long distance calls. I rely on reviews heavily before any purchase so I hope this helps you to decide. For me, it does what it needs to do and does it well.