AT&T EP5632 5.8 GHz Digital BlueTooth Enabled Cordless Phone with Answering System
by AT&T
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Digital Cameras Photo Reviews of AT&T EP5632 5.8 GHz Digital BlueTooth Enabled Cordless Phone with Answering System
Customer Review: In Life, You Can Never Have too Many Extensions
Summary: 5 Stars
A month or so ago, I had to bite the bullet and purchase a new cordless phone system because one of the extensions on my then current system went out on me. It was at that point that I discovered that my old phone system could only have 6 extensions, and once those extensions were used-up, then you were up-the-creek if anything happened to one, or in my case two, of the linked extensions because the system could not be reset...
I was tempted to purchase less expensive phone systems, but the EP5632 seemed to have what I needed most of all: great distance, it could handle Bluetooth cell phones and it could handle up to 12 extensions. After having it a month, adding 5 extensions in addition to the base, I have been very pleased with it and its ease of operation.
Hooking it up was a breeze. You just place a handset into the telephone base, press MENU on the base, go up or down until "Register Handset" appears, then press "select." Setting-up the Bluetooth was almost as easy, as any Bluetooth pairing could be, which isn't always the case, and to me, the directions were clear.
After using the system for a couple of days, my wife and I programed the phones to our liking. I say this because the handsets allow you a lot of individuality with regards to different ringtones for different callers, assigning pictures to show when different callers call, etc. For us, when we assigned different ringtones, we made sure we had the same ringtone on each phone (for her daughter, especially), that way you didn't have four or five sounds producing a dischord when someone called; however, in our case, that might not have been a bad idea. We, also, liked the feature that you could individually name each phone, and we also added a color to the name (e.g. "George's Room - Red"), to match the color of the electrical tape that we placed on each base and handset. We have a tendency to make and receive certain calls from certain extensions, and I definitely don't want to have to scroll through all of my wife's important people to find the phone number of my friends, so you could say we didn't mind putting in the numbers in each phone. Also, having the extensions individually named made it a lot easier to use the intercom. And, like most cell phones now, when a person calls you, you can just press a button and that person is added to your extension.
The voice mail notifications were great! We could see if we received a voice mail while we were on the phone (a light would blink on the extension), or if we had received a message on the base telephone recorder. In the case of a recording on the base, the phone would tell us we had a "message." Additionally, the phone would tell you if you had any missed calls.
We live in a stone house, and sometimes electronic signals have to bounce off a lot, but I haven't had any trouble with the phone inside our two-story house or even the garage that makes the signals go through 5 walls. We, also, get to roam about a little bit over a half-a-block (250 feet) on outside use. With the base upstairs, we get pretty good cell service, and by using the Bluetooth, our cell service goes anywhere inside or outside our house without any dropped signal. NOTE: Our daughter quickly discovered that she could call us on our cell phone without there being a long distance charge, or her using any of her "minutes," since we both have the same cell-phone service, and the call would go through the "house" phone thus giving us reception that was better for us because we could use the cordless phone handsets.
All-in-all, I've enjoyed using the EP5632 and would recommend it to anyone who needs to have a lot of extensions, or the other features I have commented on.
UPDATE: I was getting a little ansy about upgrading my AT&T EP5632 because of the DECT models, because I noticed that several could make cell calls from the base. Well, after a year, I finally looked at the manual. Not only can you make cell calls from the base, but from the individual extensions. If you Bluetooth cell phone is linked to the AT&T EP5632, you just press in the numbers you want to call (and you usually don't have to put a "one" first because this will be a cell call), and you press the cell button at the bottom right of the extension.
There is another difference I noticed: this phone has a 20 number re-dial, not 5 number, like most other cell phones. It looks like I'll be keeping this one a little longer...
Customer Review: Great Features
Summary: 5 Stars
This is a great phone with great features. The sound quality is good enough that with a quiet pause in the conversation (both parties not talking) it's hard to tell that the phone is on.
The Bluetooth feature alone is worth the price. It works as advertised, but could use some clarification. First, the phone can be paired with up to eight devices (cell phones or headsets). Of the paired devices, you can connect the EP5632 to one or two Bluetooth devices. These show up on the phone as "1" and "2" and are the "active" devices. Of the connected devices, only one can be used at a time. Got it?
There are some limitations. For example, you can have cells paired and connected to both "1" and "2". In addition to the regular landline, this effectively gives you three outgoing lines. However, since the Bluetooth connection only supports one connected device at a time, you can only use one of the cell lines at a time. That is, you can not simultaneously use the cell on "1" and the cell on "2". Of course, you could always pick up the cell phone, dial your call, and transfer audio to the cell, so this isn't really a show-stopper.
Similarly, with a cell connected to "1" and a headset on "2" it is not possible to make a call using the cell line ("1") and then transfer the audio to the Bluetooth headset on "2".
Another quirk is that Bluetooth headsets have a range of only 10m. That's more than enough to roam about a room or two, but it's easy to forget that the headset doesn't have the range of the EP5632's handset and wander out of range. Sure, this is an issue with any Bluetooth headset and cell phone, but it's still surprising the first time a call drops while using the landline because you've walked out of range.
I've only tested the EP5632 with a few Bluetooth devices. It works great with a Sony Ericsson W580i. Cellphones see the EP5632 as a headset. I especially like the EP5632 "auto connect" feature -- when I arrive home and the W580i is in range of the EP5632 base they automatically connect without my help. Likewise, I paired an old Nokia 3600 with the base and it worked fine.
I've had worse luck with my wife's older Palm Treo 650. The Treo initially connects and seems like it will work, but isn't stable. I have managed to place a few calls, but the audio had static and sounded like it could easily turn into a dropped call. Most times the Treo is connected for only a couple of seconds.
For headsets I've tried an (old) Jabra BT200, and two separate Sprint (Primax) PHS-3. The Jabra and one of the Sprints worked flawlessly. The other PHS-3 would initially pair, but when used would fail to connect and gave a two-tone (error?) sound. Most likely this means the headset is broken.
I'd recommend this phone for any family with two Bluetooth cell phones.
Customer Review: Works as advertised
Summary: 5 Stars
Considering my prior experience with an AT&T cordless phone (E5965C), and some of the negative reviews posted here, it was with reluctance that I purchased this unit along with an expansion handset (EP562). This is the only cordless phone I found that has all the features I'm looking for (bluetooth capability, being able to listen to messages from both the handsets and the base unit, a spare battery stored in the base unit allowing the phone to be used during power outages, blinking light on each handset for new messages).
I've had the phone for about a week now and have had no issues at all. The phones were a breeze to set up and configure. The user interface is easy to understand and navigate. Voice quality is very good. The Bluetooth connection works very well for me when I connect it to my cell phone. I've yet to experience a disconnected call.
Battery life is much improved over my other AT&T phone. The handsets can go more than 1 day without being charged.
My only complaints are a few relatively minor issues. The system has a telephone directory where you can store names and telephone numbers. Directory entries are stored separately on each handset and the base unit. There is no way to transfer directory entries from one handset to the other or to the base unit. With a set-up like mine if I want to have the same directory on the two handsets and the base unit they must all be entered manually. Rather tedious. I like the idea of having separate directories but it would be nice to have the ability to transfer individual entries, or the entire directory, between handsets and the base unit.
The same goes for the caller ID log. The system stores the 100 most recent incoming calls. These calls must be cleared off of each handset and the base unit individually. It would be nice to have a global setting that would clear out the Caller ID Log on the entire system. Again, minor issues.. :)
07/22/2008: I've had this phone for about 7 months now. It still works very well. I've recently started using it along with a bluetooth headset. No problems at all with disconnects or voice quality. Great product AT&T! Keep making phones like this one.
Customer Review: Great phone to cut your ties to POTS with
Summary: 5 Stars
I wanted to get rid of my crappy, static filled POTS line that no one could ever seem to fix. Plus, I paid $66 a month for local phone service, when I could add a line to my cell plan for $9.99 (+ taxes, of course) and share in my huge bucket of cell minutes (most of which don't seem to get used thanks to free mobile to mobile calling anyway). I ported my old landline number to a 5th cell phone, and bought this system, and this system will pay for itself shortly.
For three weeks I've enjoyed this phone - it's bluetooth stack seems very reliable - even though I couldn't buy a new cell phone on the AT&T bluetooth compatibility list (they're all a little old - although they could be had as refurbs), it works VERY reliably with the Nokia 6085 that I got from AT&T Wireless for only $20.
I like being able to "name" the handsets - it makes the intercom feature far more useful than the old V-Tech system I used to have (ironically, V-Tech actually makes this system for AT&T). I only wish additional handsets were a little less expensive, but the base is VERY reasonably priced, and overall, even with a bunch of extra handsets, it's a fair deal for a reliable system with great bluetooth connectivity.
A feature no one seems to make much out of is that the base unit can charge a spare handset battery and run on it if the AC power is out. This is a must have feature in my book for any cordless phone system (and yet all too rare). And since this system is really made by V-Tech - spare batteries are easy to come by (about $10 online) - I'd highly recommend you get one right away.
Sound quality is great, it does all the things a phone should do well in the year 2008 (good range, no static, etc.), and best of all, the bluetooth sync is very reliable so far. Buy this system and ditch your old landline without thinking twice.
One caveat - just remember - the answering system and missed call indicators only work with landlines - so you'll have to access your voice mail via your normal wireless provider's procedures - no big deal for most, unless you're hooked on seeing the blinking red light on every handset for missed calls or messages.
Customer Review: Not bad but not all they say it is either...
Summary: 5 Stars
I am just getting around to reviewing this item, I have now had these phones for probably a year and a half. They work wonderfully as cordless phones however I have found some drawbacks over that year. First they have Bluetooth feature that if it worked right it would be AWESOME...but it doesn't. Its mean't to work with your cell phone so that you can get in a habit of charging your cell phone next to this unit. While the cell is charging and you get a call it routes the call through all of the cordless phones so you don't have to run through the house trying to get to it...or sometime you miss calls because you don't hear it well this rings everywhere. Unfortunately we have 2 Blackberrys( which honestly could be the problem as Blackberrys are terrible phones) and when I link them it works. If I leave the house with my cell and come back home again however it won't pair up again so to get it to work I have to pair it with the phone again. Its supposed to work like handsfree cars work but it just won't reconnect later on for some reason.
So the Bluetooth pairing issue is a problem. Also we had to replace the batteries on all 4 of our handsets in the last month because they all died about the same time which to me 18 months is a little short, but then again my wife never hangs them up to charge. I eBayed the replacement batteries and saved a TON of money on that procedure. So would I recomment this phone...yes. It has a hold function, it has a really nice paging function, although we don't use it the answering machine works well, each handset has a speakerphone which is a MUST HAVE, and I am sure there are other features we use I am forgetting about. If you are buying this for the Bluetooth feature however look elsewhere.