BT Cordless Landline Phone with Call Blocker & Answer Machine, Single Handset

I brought these phones more than 3 years ago and they are excellent quality and still going strong - in that time we have had no nuisance calls. The phones are very easy to set up, the most onerous thing you need to do is add all your contact phone numbers into the phones directory. There is a comprehensive instruction booklet provided. When I brought them I thought I would have to set something up in order to block the nuisance calls, but no that is done automatically, if the callers number in not in your contact list your phone does not ring. The unknown caller will be told ‘Callers to this number are being screened by a BT call blocking system’ they are then asked to announce their name and press #, then wait for the phone to be answered. The majority of nuisance calls ring off at this point, if the unknown caller does state their name and press #, the phone will ring and you are told it is an announced call. At this point you hear the persons voice/name, a message then gives you instructions on what number button to press dependant on whether you want to answer the call or not. This service is at no extra cost to you. I use the hands free facility a lot, really good if there are a few of you in the room wanting to listen to and speak to the caller. Also if there are a few of you in different rooms, each of you can lift up a receiver and join in the same conversation. Good volume levels. I believe you can sync your mobile phone somehow, but after 3 years I haven’t managed to get round to it. Excellent phone if you are looking to eliminate nuisance calls, a must for all older people. Highly recommended.
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First time since the old analogue push button phone that I had I have purchased a BT phone and I must say I am sort of impressed. The important issues for me were met which were making it easy to import my contacts using Bluetooth, easy initial setup and clear instructions for extras (not too complicated) - the synchronisation between phones was excellent making to whole setup a dream. I also like the True Call feature i.e. call screening before my phone rings - should get rid of 100% of scammers and pre-recorded unwanted calls. My only gripe as with most phones is the lack of decent ring tones - 15 in total and most were high pitched shrills that would be enough to make your teeth hurt or trigger a heart fibrillation and the lack of being able to import you own. Fortunately I there were a couple that were acceptable Also the searching for contacts from the address book could be improved a little and perhaps the screen a little larger. The only major downfall is the lack of an indicator to see if you have missed a call so you then have to keeping worrying yourself to check the handset for missed calls. Would much rather have some kind of indicator. However after trying the phones I found the audio was total rubbish - on speaker phone it was ok but in normal operation I had to keep adjusting the volume to suit each call and even then struggled to understand some callers. It became so frustrating that they were returned as not suitable for intended purpose. Could be perfect with a little more thought by BT and a better audio.
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I was a bit nervous paying this for a phone with such mixed reviews, but having been registered with the Telephone Preference Service for years and getting fed up with all the international nuisance calls that they have no power to deal with. I decided I needed to do something. The phone is nice and solid, feels comfortable to hold and is easy to use. The first job you are going to want to do, is to connect your mobile (can connect more than one) via bluetooth and import your contacts. Also when your mobile is connected via bluetooth, you can use your mobile instead of the handset when making landline calls and your Landline phone can be used when calling on your mobile. Quite useful if your battery is low or you prefer to use the other device. You do need caller ID from your phone service provider for the call blocking to work, so if you don't have that then you should get it. If your provider charges for such an in-expensive feature, maybe it's time to review your service agreement. Call blocking is simple. If an unknown number phones, they get displayed and you can choose to accept or add to the blocked list. If you block them, they get a message telling them they are blocked in future. If they are a friend or family or genuine caller, and they haven't been added to your phone book, they will unfortunately have to pass the call screening. This is down to you to ensure family and friends are in your contacts. If they aren't, why on earth not ? They can pass call screening by announcing who they are. Your phone then rings and announces the caller from the name they left (recorded from what they said) and you can choose to accept or reject and whether to block the caller. It does take time. But the end result of bothering to set it up correctly will benefit you. No product is just going to be able to decide for you, who to accept and who to block. One very useful feature of the call blocking is the ability to block area codes. So you could block calls from a particular country. If you don't have friends or relatives there and a nuisance caller starts to phone you using multiple calling lines ( a common trick ). you can just block calls from an entire region of the world if you wish. You can also block calls beginning with a set of numbers, which should reduce cold callers from solar scams/insurance scams/pension scams etc. No system will ever be perfect, scammers will find ways around many systems, but this one seems to cover most bases and as a result, I haven't received a nuisance call since installing it, although as you can see from the photos, they have tried, those numbers are known scammers, easily googled, and the red symbol shows they are blocked. Phone never rang, and they will move onto softer targets, i.e those without call blocking. Good luck to you if you are reading this review and don't buy :) The only feature I miss is my previous phone announced the caller name if they were in my contacts, saving bothering to go look at the screen. A minor negative. Overall I would score this 9.5/10 with the announce caller name my previous non call blocking phone had being the .5 of a point lost, but I consider this a small loss, compared to never being bothered listening to John with his heavy foreign accent explain to me that he is calling from Windows, or Janet, also with an incredibly heavy foreign accent, who wants to let me know that the tax office are going to send me to jail and Paul the Nigerian Pastor/Prince/Investment banker would like my bank details to send me lots of money to hide for him
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