Re: Connect your mobile phone to your home phones

["Patrick Lidstone" <patrick@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

--- In ukha_d@xxxxxxx, "keyvan2r" <keyvan@e...> wrote:
>
> Patrick
> I am very interested in something like this. Are you happy with the
> performance?

So far, so good - I have only had it a couple of days, but it is
working better than I expected (I have low expectations of anything
involving bluetooth). Seems reliable, and audio quality is fine
(although I am not the best judge).

>May be I am being thick (Very likely!) but is not clear
> from the website how the device handles calls to/from the cellphone
> in relation to wired handsets around the house.

No, this is definitely confusing, and it doesn't work quite how I
imagined.

> Does an incoming
> call on the cell ring the wired handsets as though a landline is
> calling? I am not that bothered about making outgoing calls through
> the mobile using the wired phones..

The best way I can describe it like this: The dock'n'talk box is the
equivalent of a phone socket adapter for your mobile - allowing you to
plug any devices that would normally be connected to a landline phone
network into your mobile instead. That is *all* it does, no more, no
less, even though the website implies otherwise.

> We live very close to the US embassy in London and cellphone
> reception is generally very poor in the Mayfair area - at least for
> both my O2 and Vodafone numbers.
> Our main TV room is in the basement where reception is just enough
> for the phone to ring but too weak for a reliable conversation.
> I looked for some kind of booster with an internal antena connected
> to an outdoor arial but it all seemed too much with wiring, fixing
> etc. and still it may not have worked out.
> we use a Panasonic KXTD 816 PBX which is a hybrid - I think that
> means we can use both analog and digital handsets. We have 2 ISDN
> lines giving us 4 outside lines on one number and 8 DDI to ring
> specific extentions. It also has cordless phones/stations which
> allow "roaming" between stations. Works well, but the
cordless
> handsets are really expensive compared to plain DECT ones.
> The sockets are all from the cat5 patch and we use the cat5-to-bt
> convertors to connect handsets & cordless base stations from wall
> sockets.

You would connect the dock'n'talk station to the PBX as if it were an
analogue exchange line (you may well need to add an extra card to the
PBX to support this). Any incoming mobile call would then be routed as
if it were a normal inbound call, to the extensions attached to your PBX.

> I would be grateful if could give some more feedback before I buy
> one of these. The price seems good. Are there any issues (other
> thank 110V)given that it is product intended for the US market?
> How does it work in conjunction with a PBX?

The unit supports caller ID, to the US Bellcore standard, not the BT
standard, and uses US style phone jacks. It's pretty unlikely that you
would have problems using it with your existing equipment on
compatibility grounds.

Note that you can only connect one mobile at a time to a dock'n'talk.
Theoretically it should be possible to use multiple blue-tooth
dock'n'talks in the same vicinity, but I only have the one unit so I
can't test this myself.

If my explanation for how the unit works still isn't clear, drop me a
line off list and I'll try and do better!

Patrick