AT&T CL82409 DECT 6.0 Cordless Phone, Black/Silver, 4 Handsets

Technical Details

•     AT&T DECT 6.0 Digital Four Handset Answering System
•     Handset Speakerphone
•     Expandable up to 12 handsets through one phone jack
•     50 Name / Number Phonebook Directory
•     Large Lighted Display and Kepad on Handsets

When researching our next cordless, expandable phone system, I found that AT&T and Panasonic phones were getting the best reviews. My requirements were as follows:

1. Phone system must not interfere with my wireless network;
2. Phone base must be wall mountable;
3. Phone base must have an answering machine that would also provide an audible message alert (and a message count would also be nice);
4. Speakerphone on the handsets and base;
5. A shared, central phone book.
6. A Voicemail indicator (for phone company/VOIP voicemail);
7. A lighted number pad.

I spend about 3 weeks researching over 30 models and browsing manuals. I originally was going for a 5.8GhZ AT&T model (#E5924) that I later found was also operating on a 2.4GhZ frequency that may have interfered with my wireless network, as my current 2.4GhZ cordless does (it slightly impairs my wireless network speed). So, I scratched that model, and all the 5.8GhZ category, and decided to find a Dect 6.0 just to avoid any potential problems.

Very feature-rich were nearly all of the Panasonic models, with Talking Caller ID and ringer ID. But, how they can advertise as wall-mountable I don't know. I checked the manuals for the models I was most interested in, and every single model mounted like a shelf. Very unappealing. And none had an audible message alert. Panasonic phones mostly have a blinking light to inform you of messages. I had an older Panasonic model years ago and always missed messages because of the lack of an audible alert. This combined with the ugly wall-mounting made me have to scratch Panasonic off of my list. Shame, because I really liked the features (Talking Caller ID, Ringer ID, Light ID, Caller ID Block).