Cordless Phone Systems - You've Come a Long Way, Baby!

Cordless Phone Systems - You've Come a Long Way, Baby!

A cordless phone system is typically designed to use radio frequencies to transmit voice information digitally. These phones have changed a great deal over the years, from large "brick" phones to the sleep, almost too-small designs of today. Where they used to be an extreme rarity for most people, today it seems odd to see a cord on someone's phone system!

A good cordless phone system will typically include many flexible and powerful features, allowing everyone from the small business owner, to someone who runs a home based business, to benefit from modern communications. These cordless phone systems are so portable, they allow an extreme degree of freedom and mobility to the user.

The first cordless phone systems were made public as early as the 1970s, but they really did not do well in the marketplace and many were actually recalled due to problems such as short battery life. Technological advances have been rapid however, and today's cordless phones are a far cry from their forebearers. Cordless phones are now in use in nearly every industrialized nation around the world.

A common cordless phone system will have anywhere from 2 to as many as 10 different receivers, or handsets, that can be used in any combination including simultaneously. However, unlike a cell phone system, these phones do not each get an individual unique phone number. They all share the one main phone number of the location where the phone system is installed. There will typically be a single, larger, base station that frequently includes a digital voice mail system. The remote handsets are usually more compact and are just extension phones, but perhaps with access to the voicemail features. The frequency of these cordless phone systems ranges, but are usually between 900 Mhz and 6 Ghz. The higher frequencies tend to work better over longer distances, or indoors where there is a lot of metal or other potential interference.

In addition to their basic functionality as a digital phone system, today's digital cordless phone systems include so many other features, including but not limited to digital voice mail with multiple private mail boxes, call transfer and forwarding capabilities, caller ID and call-waiting caller ID, extremely long standby and talk-time battery life, and more. They are also incredibly lightweight and even pocket sized. Many of today's cordless phones look just like cell phones in fact. The sound quality is also superb, and most will even have a jack to connect a headset to (and it may even include the headset!) Personally, I'm now using a GE cordless phone system that works on a 5,8Ghs frequency, and it is simply fantastic. I can press the intercom button to contact my partner in another room, and if I misplace the handset I can page it and it will beep until I track it down.

The modern cordless phone system is an affordable way for anyone to add features that were once available only with large business phone systems, at a considerably higher price. They will work on any standard home or office phone jack (but may or may not work with a virtual PBX phone system so be sure to check first!) and will last for years of use. You'll be able to have the phone with you at all times, so you never again miss any important calls because you didn't quite get to the phone in time.