Review on Panasonic KX TG4500B Expandable Cordless Answering by Whitney Jones

We've been using this system for about two years for an engineering firm of seven. It works well for us, but we understand that we made a decision based on cost. compared to other available business phone systems. However, for less than $1,000 or the cost of a base station and satellite phones, it's a steal compared to $3,000 or more for a phone system. Also, it's a wireless system, so you only need to plug the base into a real phone jack and you can plug other phones in anywhere there's a power outlet, saving you the money we would spend installing additional phone jacks. The advantages are the price and the cordless phones are very practical and easy to use and we often use the speakerphone which is easy to activate and has good sound quality. Multi-line calls are easy to manage once you get used to the system, and putting people on hold is easy. The downsides are the beep when another call comes in on the other line and you're talking to someone (at which point you might not hear them for a second or two); Typing people into our voicemail system is awkward (we use AT&T) as we press Flash, dial # AT&T, then press Flash again and have to wait for the caller to finish before hanging up. The Panasonic system's built-in messaging and voicemail were unusable due to unacceptable sound quality - the message people heard when they called sounded grainy and muddy. The phone's built-in messaging system had a confusing menu system, and we couldn't figure out how to set up individual mailboxes so staff could easily sort through them, so we dropped those features. This is probably the worst phone feature for us. , but we don't rely on voicemail and phone as much as other companies (email is our primary means of communication). However, given the price and the fact that we love cordless phones, we'll put up with the inconvenience. We don't stray far from the base stations and find the wireless range as good as we need it, and we've walked into a parking lot or across the street without losing sound quality. Another downside is the sometimes low volume for callers, who often have to ask my staff to speak up, but that only happens occasionally. We were happy with the system and it kept costs down when we opened the office; However, once we've accumulated more money, we'll switch to a $3,000+ standard phone system. Given the circumstances, we will again choose a Panasonic system and recommend it to small offices looking to lower their initial costs. We have an open office and often carry our cordless phones around to look at things while we chat; If you have such a creative environment, this phone is a great choice. However, some of the built-in features may not suffice as mentioned above, but they outweigh them for us due to the benefits of cost, convenience and flexibility.