What is a DECT Phone?
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Digital Enhanced Cordless Technology (DECT) phones are cordless phones that can be used to talk around the house. The technology used in earlier cordless phone models resulted in sound quality that was not exceptional. With digital technology, sound is now as crystal clear as that of a cabled phone.
DECT phones work from a base station, usually with a single handset. Some DECT phone models allow additional handsets to be added to the base station. You can also have additional cordless handsets in different areas of the house. This is ideal if you have a home office or work from home. DECT phones are also excellent if you have a large garden and want to take your phone outside with you.
The range of the handset will depend on the phone itself. The point of the cordless phone is that you can walk around free from the base station. Most cordless phones have a range of around 300 meters (about 984 feet), but new digital technology is being upgraded daily to expand that range.
You can also talk to another person within the house using DECT phones, rather like a walkie talkie device. Battery life will depend on the amount of money you spend on the phone. More expensive handsets allow you to talk for around eight hours with a single charge up. When not in use, the handsets can retain a charge for around 100 hours. Most DECT phones have a battery alert device that signals when battery power is low.
Cordless phones have come a long way in design since the early days. DECT phones are very stylish and come in a range of designs. Some top of the range DECT phones will set you back a lot of money for the design alone. High budget DECT phones are made by some of the top technological manufacturers available – well known names that are cutting edge in other fields, such as audio and visual equipment. The designs are sometimes stunning, but so are the price tags.
There are only so many functions that a DECT phone can perform, so top end phones are not that different from budget models. The only difference will likely be in the design quality. Some DECT phones now look like flip mobile phones with back-lit keys, text functions and access to email. The most important factor with a DECT phone is audio quality. If this is not up to scratch, then any extra money spent may well have gone towards design.
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New: Discuss this ArticlePosted by: pheasant
My old Philips DECT phones are on their way out, and need to be replaced. One useful feature they have is that I can set up 3-way external calling by dialing TWO external numbers in turn (plus a little bit of button pressing). Is this feature common to all DECT handsets ?
Posted by: davischris
what is the difference between normal cordless phone and dect phone? i am working in a multi-storied building with a complex structure. can i use dect phone in the building with lot of terminals and more than 10 dect phones? (like a normal cordless phones, but the phone should be in "range" within every part of the building) Now my staff is using normal mobile phones.
Posted by: anon10327
A lot of DECT phones can be reset by pushing a reset knob or by a special command. I own two different DECT phones marketed by Philips: a Voip321 dual phone and a Philips DECT515. It seems that the Philips DECT phones have no provision to give the handset and/or the base station a hard reset.
The base station of the Voip321 can be reset with a registered handset. However, if the registration is the problem you are lost. The handset of the DECT515 can be reset by removing the batteries for more than 8 hours. However, if that doesn't solve the problem there is no way to give the handset a hard reset. Are you aware of this problem with Philips DECT phones? Or is there a "secret" solution for my problems? Posted by: anon10293
is panasonic handset 1034 compatible with 8231 base?
Posted by: anon10138
Why do DECT phones use only radio spectrum?
Posted by: anon9937
Are there any known risks by using or having a DECT phone in your home? When I lived in Germany 2 years ago, there was an issue about that type phone at my child's school.
Posted by: dannykicks
In response to anon4936:
It depends on the model phone you get. The Philips DECT 6.0 allows any handset to pick up the incoming call. However, once one handset picks up that call, another person can't listen in with the other handset unless the call is transferred or 3-way calling between the 2 handsets and external caller are initiated.
It sounds like a lot of work, but only takes 3 minutes to get it down without issue. Posted by: dannykicks
The Philips DECT 6.0 High Def voice is compatible with headsets. Battery life is 12 hours talk time and 150 hours on idle. The exact model number is CD4402B/37 and runs for just about $68 at Walmart. Setup is under 10 minutes and includes a second handset and base station. The second base station does not require a phone cord to be directly connected. The first station obviously does require a phone cord.
The phone is compatible with Voip services such as Vonage. The set includes speaker phone and direct calling to the other handset (intercom style). The phone LCD and keys are completely back lit with a vivid blue light. My only complaint about this model is that the ring tones (or as they say on the phone; ring melodies) are kinda annoying. Posted by: anon8145
I have the same number for phone and fax. Used to work perfectly with my old Panasonic phone. With new Panasonic DECT 6.0 phone, when people call me, they immediately hear the ten digit dial sound and "beep" of the fax (and if I pick up immediately I also hear it.) very annoying! Any ideas why this happens, and what can I do to stop it?
Posted by: murkev
Do the DECT phones ALL use the Spread Spectrum technology, or is it not necessary any more?
Posted by: anon6286
Are all digital phones DECT are does DECT specify a particular standard for digital phones? If so are DECT phones superior to regular digital phones?
Posted by: anon5938
What about security? Is it possible for someone to listen in with a scanner like the old cordless phones?
Posted by: anon5367
I purchased a Panasonic DECT 6.0 phone (KX-TG8232) recently. I find that whenever this phone is active, I lose my interconnection via my DSL. The DSL line is filtered by the splitter provided by the phone company. Any ideas?
Posted by: anon4936
I purchased a GE 5.8Ghz and you couldn't have two people listen on two handsets to the same call. You had to transfer the call to the other handset. Will the DECT technology allow two people on different handsets talk to the same incoming caller?
For example, incoming phone call is answered by two different people at same time in household. On my old phone, both handsets could hear the incoming caller and we would figure out who they wanted to talk to and the other handset was hung up. But the GE only allowed one handset to hear it and then you had to transfer it to the right phone.
I decided to research phones and the DECT seems best. But I need the capability of having more than one handset answer the call. Posted by: anon3997
My dect 6.0 phone is great except when I use my headset I get an echo. Are there headsets made for dect 6.0 technology?
Posted by: anon3212
I have a Uniden 1060 (DECT 6.0).
Specification-wise, what is the Peak Envelope Power of the Base and Handset? I'd really like to adjust the antenna to optimize the TPO (Transmitter Power Output (TPO).
I'm a ham radio operator.. sorry for all the techie stuff..
jay Posted by: anon2474
Actually, the lower the frequency, the longer the range (due to a longer wavelength). A 900MHz phone generally will have much better range than a 5.8GHz phone.
Posted by: anon2090
I have seen plenty of DECT cordless phones that are headset compatible.
As for my question - how would you compare the range and call quality of a DECT phone vs. a 5.8 GHz digital phone like the Uniden TRU 9360? My current phone is a 2.4 GHz and gets static when I go outside (but still not far from the base). I've heard DECT may be better quality sound, but at "only" 1.7 GHz - wouldn't the range be much less than a 5.8 GHz? Thanks. Posted by: anon459
are there any DECT cordless phones that are headset compatible?
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