Hello,

We are building a home and need a phone system. We need these characteristics and hope for recommendations from pros on the best basic system for our needs. We don't want to spend a bundle. In our current home we have a Panasonic KXT61610. Used is OK.

4 CO LINES
16 SYSTEM PHONES
8 OTHER PHONES (DON’T NEED TO BE IN SYSTEM)
PAGE ALL VIA SPEAKER PHONE
DOOR INTERCOM/OPENER for 2 doors
PAGE EXTENSIONS

Desirable:

Group Page
Messaging (6 mailboxes)

Thanks,

Bob Murray

Why not take a look at the partner.

they are not the cheapest or as feature rich
as some ,but they are
user friendly for the family /guests / kids

Why not complete your profile so we know who you are and location .

there probably is someone on this board near you and can help you out with advise and recommendations

I belive ACS version 7 has a wake-up function that could be handy in a home setup. Along with the door phone and wireless and analog support.

Go with the Panasonic KX-TA824, their newest addition to the system line. It's similar to the 624 and the 616 you mentioned.

Best thing is that you can retain any existing Panasonic phones on the new system. It expands to 24 stations, with 8 lines. In addition, literally ANY industry-standard phone can be used with it, though some codes will need to be learned to use every feature.

You will be hard-pressed to find a better multi-line cordless phone than the KX-TD7895. It gives the regular residential user the full "keyset in their hand" capability.

This is the ONLY system we sell for residential applications, and that's ONLY where we sell it. It's designed to work in the home/small office environment. Aside from dropping the cordless phone in the pool, you won't have any problems. I have been using my Panasonic system in my home for ten years without a single failure and my kids know more about using the features than I do.

The thing I like most about it (as a user, not a salesman) is the fact that every single component needed, like door boxes, cordless phones, gate operator relays, etc. are all from one manufacturer. They are designed to work together from the get-go. One manual, one system, one happy user.

All of this said, I don't even really like Panasonic! I just like the way their system works in my house with 27 phones!

------------------
Ed
---------
How come there's always enough time to go back and fix it a second time?

[This message has been edited by ev607797 (edited August 16, 2005).]

Ed, I beg to differ, there is no such phone system that is designed for a specific application......

I have put NEC DS systems in homes along with Partners....The phones ring the same and do the same stuff........

We will be installing the system in Phoenix.

Bob

Check out the product line from Vodavi at www.vodavi.com - they're right there in Phoenix too.

Can not go wrong with an Avaya product.
Full of features.
Does have wake-up call.
And don't have to worry if they will be around tomorrow or still make that product like some others years down the road.

I have a Partner R.6 in my home that works great. You can hook any tip/ring device to it . So if you wanted to get some less expensive cordless phones (say from radio shack, no Problem). These phones can still use the advanced features of the system. And have their own ext #'S. Avaya has a cordless phone that is intergrated, but is a little expensive.

Will expand up to 48 stations and 32 lines.
Support for 16 channel T-1 and DID's.

Many different size vioce mail and auto attendant options.

Will do your electronic door locks and door phones.

SMDR port for easy call reporting.

Has remote call fowarding. PC card back-up and restore with remote administration.

Avaya may cost a little more (depending on your vendor) but will supply you with the service you are looking for in the long haul.

This is my opition.
Thanks,
Michael

I agree with ED. Panasonic has been rock solid for me as well. The new 824 looks like a winner and now can have an "in-skin" messaging card. I have not installed one yet, but the old KX-T, KX-TD, KX-TA & the KX-TDA have lots of flexablity. Another plus you will not have a large learning curve going from the 616 to the 824. Pricing looks hard to beat as well.

Stephanie

Look at the Panasonic. Can't go wrong for a home.

Installed 2 824 Pana in the last 30 days, just a dream with a lot of new features --- especially the BV board, a in-skin 24 mailbox message center. A winner for your app.

KLD

My first choice of phone system is not exactly the best choice for a home so an unbiased opinion from my side of the fence would be the Panasonic, good luck in finding the right solution.

Please fill out your complete profile

Mitch, light up a cigar and have another dozen Coronas. I am almost there myself.

I beg to disagree with you about NO system being designed around "residential-only" applications.

Panasonic has always been well-knowned as a great residential system, though not formally called one.

Vodavi has actually released a "residential" version of their STS and we sell LOTS of them. While it's not much different from the regular STS, it has it's own formal residential FCC registration number. Same price, same system, but a true residential registration number. Not many other manufacturers have systems meeting this criteria.

Be careful....If you by one and install it in a business, you might get in trouble with the FCC Police!

------------------
Ed
---------
How come there's always enough time to go back and fix it a second time?

Bob,
The Panasonic is a good option. Take a look at the Panasonic KX-TAW848. The cell stations are cool. The KX-T7680 phones have a better range than the older KX-T7895. You can use some of your older phones on the KX-TAW848 or the KX-TA824. Having a phone system in a home is great. Good Luck!
Axion

You should get a Samsung phone system.

Home phone system is usually setup primarily for their intercom (internal phone-to-phone) features not for handling 4 T1 phone lines.

This is normally setup by assigning each room in your house to a labeled button on your phone such as “Kitchen, Family, Guest, Garden, John, Sara, Basement, Utility room, Garage, Master bed, media room, etc…

These are normally setup with a type of room-to-room 2-way page. Basically you hit the button for the room you want and the phone in that room will give an indication noise to alert the people in the room that you are on the line ready to talk with them.

The Samsung has the ability to assign each extension with “FAUTO” which is a force auto announcement which does this feature. The Samsung LCD will also display which person or room is calling you. All you need is an “SLI” card and you can connect fax machines, modems, cordless analog phones with programmable buttons as shortcuts to the different rooms.

I do know Panasonic advertise a lot in magazines as specializing in home phone systems but I don't know what exactly give them a perceived edge in this market over any other phone system that can do what I just described.

Samsung layout is very well design. The programs are very straight forward and easy to follow. Unlike others systems, there is no possibility of bringing down the system from typing the wrong key. For example program 104 will only change the name of each station. There is literally nothing you can possibility do in this program to mess up the system except to misspell your station name.

The only thing I have heard about Panasonic is that the phones themselves (not the system) but the actually phones are kind of flimsy and break easy. I don’t know this from personal experience but what I have heard around.

If the Panasonic dealer is offering you a lower price, I would go with Panasonic. If the Samsung dealer is offering you a lower price, I would go with Samsung.

Along the lines of Panasonic thinking, I have a Panasonic KX-TG4000B in my home. It is a 4-Line switch...2.4 GHz wireless system, has an Auto Attendant AND voice mail, can be expanded to 8 wireless extensions + the Base, has Message Notification, Back-Up batteries for the Base (imagine a system with its own "UPS"). It is very easy to program (like MOST Panasonic gear) and easy to use. The range is amazing, as well. I have the base mounted rather high in my home, and I can hit the base with a handset from the other side of my property (5 acres) with little difficulty.

A properly setup Panasonic 824 with the Backlit LCD and Backlit keypad phones, 1 or 2 7895 cordless phones, ( again setup properly, these phone have 12 buttons so you see lines and have function keys like Page and Voice Mail Transfer, CID etc.) BV or TVS voice mail would be like an Atomic Bomb going off on top of all the other systems. Espicially if you let the VM (TVS or TVA- TVA has unified messaging} take calls and use CID routing. All Daughters known callers go only to her phone or page only her, Grandma,s callers ring her phone, business callers ring or page for dads home office, screen via paging or phone ( i have a call for Cindy from Jeramy, either over the page or when phone picked up, special greeting for special friends by CID,doesn't mater what line they call on, Windows program for literate home owner, modem built in for non literate homeowner, video doorphone that connects to phone system with multiple monitors including TV, IP Cam can also connect to doorphone etc,etc,etc.
KABOOM!!!! All the others are dust in the wind baby.
They miss some licks on the business side sometime but they have residentil locked down
tight!

Go with a TDA 50 with same phones or better
and the Celluar wireless phones, Hydrogen bomb time!

[This message has been edited by brokeda (edited August 17, 2005).]

[This message has been edited by brokeda (edited August 17, 2005).]

Yikes! I think my soapbox broke!!!

You can go to soapbox.com the new 2006 models will out in September.

If you mention this forum and use a coupon
you get 30 % off ,extended warranty .




[This message has been edited by KENB (edited August 18, 2005).]

TransTel Communications makes a real nice small system TD-824i
3 year warranty. Many features and flexable programming. I've been in business over 30 years this is the best telephone equipment I work with. I sold many Panasonic KX-T systems and you would be happy with the features that TransTel has over the Panasonic

https://transtelcommunications.com/

------------------
Merritt
Commercial Communications
1-800-244-3033

Metel
no disrespect intended but,that transtel looks like something you would buy in Toys -R-Us.

You would say "whats better " and i would say any one mentioned in the above posts.

[This message has been edited by KENB (edited September 01, 2005).]

How about the new Panasonic KX-TA824? What does this have over the KX-TD824, now discontinued?

Bob Murray

The KX-TA 824 replaced the KX-TA 624.
The KX-TD digital units were the TD308, TD 816,
TD1232 and the TD500.
The KX-TD line was replaced with the KX-TDA series, TDA50, TDA100 and TDA200.
I'm not a fan of having phone systems in residences but I hear this TA624 is sweet.
CID to SLT devices for one thing.
MrG.

------------------

I got a Telrad and a Toshiba in my house
And there the greatest

------------------
ssimpson@oneringtelecom.com Need a Telrad Programmer Kit? Telrad Programmer Kits
How about some Camo? DUCKCAMO.com

How does the telrad handle door intercoms? See original post.

Bob Murray

Any system will handle a door intercom and entry, I too have a Telrad system (in the office) but would work the same in a home application, it'll do most anything, but for a home I would go with the Partner ACS, because of the easy programming...if it were my home.
https://www.telbroker.com/phone_system.htm
You can also get a brochure on that page.
Good luck on what ever you pick.

And the Panasonic has a great celluar wireless that can cover any estate size property, they work, not to high dollar wise. The wireless phone can be paired with a wired phone so you only need 1 number for each person with both a keyset and cell phone. Compleat CID log functions available on the cell phones.

Hi Bob, Vodavi makes a great system for the home. Here's a link.
https://www.vodavi.com/productDetails.asp?pageId=7&parentId=0&productId=4

Good Luck Bob!
I've installed allot of the Vodavi products and they are very user friendly.

If I can toss in my 2 cents:

I normally work on larger systems, NEC 2000, Mitel sx200, so I'm no expert in key systems. Mitel doesn't offer anything that small. NEC has the Elite / IPK, but that's just too big for your application.

While I normally grit my teeth when programming Avaya, I must admit that the Partner line is worthwhile. A standalone 509 module (R7) would pretty much fit the bill.

Drawback: it's a 4-wire phone (for digitals). You can plug in 2-wire analogs, also, with no extra programming needed.

ESI has some good little switches, built-in VM and a lot of other features, and are still pretty easy to program, but you're back in the price range of a Partner.

I've dealt with Panasonics, and Toshibas, and at the risk of spitting in someone's Holy Water, I wasn't impressed. Actual mileage may vary, etc.,

I'd go with Partner over those any day.

I can't speak for Iwatsu, but I know people who fear them, and this gives me pause. All the Intertels I've ever seen have been ancient and very touchy. Obviously, they must have a better product by now; the ones I've seen have been customers too d%%n cheap to upgrade.

So, bottom line, I suggest a Partner, and I say that as someone who doesn't sell them. But DO NOT lease one! If they try to get you to lease, RUN, FORREST, RUN!

EDIT: A single 509 wouldn't give you enough phones, but 2 509s in a 5-slot carrier would, and room to spare.

[This message has been edited by telephoneguy (edited September 02, 2005).]

I have sold and serviced most of the above brands and still like TransTel for the durability and features. Check out the TDS series of telephones https://transtelcommunications.com/main/faq/tds-faq-1.html
The web site is a little out of date but the (Toys R US) phone is the cheaper model with LCD that retails for under $140

you would choose a TransTel over the Partners, Panasonics, Vodavi's, NEC's??????

I gotta go to their training class or hire their salepeople cause they sure planted a good one in your brain......

No offense, but I took a look at the documentation, design and looks of the equipment........NO WAY, NO WAY, NO WAY.....

100 percent off shore manufacturing, no in house repairs, only 20 yeatrs of experience in the industry........you gotta be kidding me......

I have got a few of the old Panasonic Easphone systems and Partner System older then that.....

I will pass on that one.......

Hey telephoneguy I completly agree the Partner is the way to go.

Strong, sturdy and been around the block a time or two.

But you can not put 2-509 cards in a 5-slot carrier.

The 509 is the (R.7) processor card.

The expandtion cards are 308(3 lines and 8 extentions),012(0 lines and 12 extentions)200(2 lines 0 extentions)400(4 lines and 0 extentions)206(2 lines and 6 extentions)

You can put a 509 (processor) and any of the cards above in a 5-slot carrier.

Put again the Partner is a rock solid system.
We put them in homes all the time.

So, how would I configure the Partner to do what I described in my original post? Why is Partner better than Panasonic or NEC? Mix it up, experts! You've got to convince me one way or the other. I'm going nuts shopping for prices on the day's recommended components on eBay. Even got some stuff that I will trash or resell.

Right now I'm leaning towards the Nec 1000 or the Panasonic new 824. Help me decide, gurus.


Bob

Hey bob if your looking on e-bay.
Go with your gut.

good luck!

Most of the people you will find on this forum are people that make their living selling and servicing telephone systems.

Me for one.

When you decide to go with e-bay that takes away from our life line.

I am not telling you what you should do or not do.

The big key to any phone system is the person that sells it to you and the person that installes it and what promises they make to you.

They are a bunch of systems out there that will do what you need done.

Again I wish you the best of luck!

AND THE WINNER IS ??????????

lol

WINNER TO BE ANNOUNCED.......

No way Any system can beat Panasonic in a house!!
A properly setup Panasonic 824 with the Backlit LCD and Backlit keypad phones, 1 or 2 7895 cordless phones, ( again setup properly, these phone have 12 buttons so you see lines and have function keys like Page and Voice Mail Transfer, CID etc.) BV or TVS voice mail would be like an Atomic Bomb going off on top of all the other systems. Espicially if you let the VM (TVS or TVA- TVA has unified messaging} take calls and use CID routing. All Daughters known callers go only to her phone or page only her, Grandma,s callers ring her phone, business callers ring or page for dads home office, screen via paging or phone ( i have a call for Cindy from Jeramy, either over the page or when phone picked up, special greeting for special friends by CID,doesn't mater what line they call on, Windows program for literate home owner, modem built in for non literate homeowner, video doorphone that connects to phone system with multiple monitors including TV, IP Cam can also connect to doorphone etc,etc,etc.
KABOOM!!!! All the others are dust in the wind baby.
They miss some licks on the business side sometime but they have residentil locked down
tight!

Go with a TDA 50 with same phones or better
and the Celluar wireless phones, Hydrogen bomb time!

As for Partner, Avaya, Lucifer Technologies,
AT&T, Western Electric Evil Red Bagel or whatever---- Panasonic never made thousands of systems that over heat and turn weird colors in 2 years,never made disposable power supplies ah la 206-410-820, and they never ripped people off with a $500.00 list price
music on hold connector that was nothing more
than a plastic box with a wire running through it, what a joke. I sold schematics on
connecting music on hold and paging to Merlins back in the 80's and 90's in the Gear and the Mart. the Evil Bagel's legal dept sent nasty cease and desist letters. My lawyer indicated how we would dissect thier plastic box for every media outlet we could
get to listen, on how they were pounding sand
into customers, they decided to lay off. Just had bad taste for Lucifer ever since.
Also had a customer who was bought out by
Lucent. They made them switch to a small Definity system. They did not get a paging card. The former owner, who stayed on as CEO,
bout croaked when he ordered the card, over
$4 Grand, we used a 6 button phone and came off the speaker, they feaked and said it would void the warranty, yadda, yadda!!

Can't you guys make it on the installation and service? Sorry, I'm just a civilian lookin' for a good phone system. If I say I'm buying retail will you give me advice? So, I'm buying retail at list plus 10%. Now what's good? I hope it's not the product with the highest markup.


Bob Murray

Lets see. Your building a house. The Biggest purchase most people make. Fill with electronics. TV's, Security, etc. Yet a few hundred bucks will keep you from getting with a local company that has a track record of
providing quality home communications systems.
A communications system that you or your family will reach for in an emergency, which could be life or death.
Most overlooked in most houses? Power fail provisions. A "quality" battery back up and power fail cut over to std phones after the battery is exausted. ( the battery to be replaced every12 - 16 months) When the power fails and you hear weird noises in the middle of the night, it will be nice to look over and see the Green Backlight glow of your Panasonic phone on your nite stand.
If the system goes kaput you will still have a line out with the std phone or phones set up as power fail, assuming you have a real phone line from a central office and not some VOIP sillyness. Cheap sounds sweet, but remember those VOIP lines might tell the Cops you live in Packistan. Call 911 several times a year to verify that your correct address is being transmitted to the Public Safety folks.
System should be setup so that lines can be pulled from phone system and still be connected to std power fail phones.
If you use cordless phones remember to put battery backup on the base unit, otherwise when power goes the phone is useless. Unless its a Panasonic home cell phone, because the
transmitter gets power from the control unit,
so the main battery back up powers the wireless also. Again its your home, get a high quality battery backup, APC for example.
Not the cheap ash color units found at Sams
or the one that look like an oversize multim outlet. Go to a good computer store, look for the Black APC Smart UPS,at least 700VA, they are high quality.
Whatever system you get it needs to be set up properly, including the Panasonic,, otherwise they are as useless as Tits on a boar hog.

[This message has been edited by brokeda (edited September 03, 2005).]

Bob, as far as profit margins...

Speaking for me and most of the phone guys I know, cash flow is always an issue. Let's say I bill 30 hours of billable time this month, at $80/hr. Wow, $2400, right?

Except -- I've got to set aside 15-30% for taxes (Self-employment, licensing, fees, etc.,). So now we're looking at maybe $1800 if I won't have a really good year this year. Plus, I've got overhead; lights, phones, cell phone, computers, etc., plus I wind up using small parts (cross-connect, jacks, gel-caps, etc.) that I probably won't be able to bill a customer for.

So let's say that $1600 of billables would be spendable cash for me. Not great, but enough. Except...

I won't get paid on most of those jobs for 30 days, whereas my landlord always wants the check from me on the first of the month.

And then there are a certain percentage of deadbeats, and "I lost your invoice," and "I pay net 45" ...

So Sales are what keeps the balls in the air until the "accounts receivable" become "cash in the bank." Now, most guys I know have a set mark-up, and it's pretty reasonable.

Keep in mind that we don't just pull a quotation out of the air. We've got to sit down with the calculator and call our suppliers, specify the equipment that will do what you want at a price in your budget, work the phones until the supplier gives us a price, make a nice neat package out of it... we usually eat all that prep time.

Want to p^&& off a contractor? Ask for a quote, then tell him you're installing a used POS* that you bought on the internet, and oh, by the way, could he set it up for you?

So I'm with Mike Daniels on this: If you're buying a POS off of the internet, it was nice talking to you, and good luck getting service.

*Piece-Of-Something

[QUOTE]Originally posted by brokeda:
[QB] A properly setup Panasonic 824 with the Backlit LCD and Backlit keypad phones, 1 or 2 7895 cordless phones, ( again setup properly, these phone have 12 buttons so you see lines and have function keys like Page and Voice Mail Transfer, CID etc.) BV or TVS voice mail would be like an Atomic Bomb going off on top of all the other systems. Espicially if you let the VM (TVS or TVA- TVA has unified messaging} take calls and use CID routing. All Daughters known callers go only to her phone or page only her, Grandma,s callers ring her phone, business callers ring or page for dads home office, screen via paging or phone ( i have a call for Cindy from Jeramy, either over the page or when phone picked up, special greeting for special friends by CID,doesn't mater what line they call on, Windows program for literate home owner, modem built in for non literate homeowner, video doorphone that connects to phone system with multiple monitors including TV, IP Cam can also connect to doorphone etc,etc,etc.[QB]

Whoah, hold the phone.

Did you say CID Routing or Direct Dialing inward routing(DID/DDI)?

Do you mean that:

1. Everyone in the family has a unique phone number that will be directed to their extension?

Business phone number to DAD's phone
Jessica phone number to daughter's phone
etc....

or

2. CID Routing based on the caller ID information. So if it seen that 305-555-5471 is Jessica's friend phone number. Then the call is routed to the daughter's phone?

Please let me know because I did not think any phone system could do CID routing(or it was a secret hidden feature)

number 2. gets info from 1000 number speed dial list.

put number and name in list.
you can direct a call from that number to an ext,or auto attend. If the auto attend answers first there are even more options.
Caller ID also looks at this list. If you get number only from CO. if it sees number in SD list and a name is attached it puts the name with CID info.
Lot of options. I like talking caller ID best

Talking caller ID! My gosh, that is cool. Do the phones actually read the person's name?


Why does Samsung not have the CID routing. That is such a cool feature. In my office, certain people have their own customers list.

The CID routing can be used to add each person's client list to route the call directly to them instead of forcing the clients to dial it from the voicemail directly list.

Is this a feature unique to Panasonic? I must say, Well Done Panasonic! I think I read in the Samsung forum that they use to have this feature but it was a hidden feature that was not published then it was removed in the next software!!!

Ugh.... that makes me mad!!

I don't know your budget (the thread has gotten pretty long so if you've covered that, sorry) but consider the Inter-Tel Axxess. I have one in my house configured very similar to your specs and it will do everything you want and more.

I have mine at the house and the offices configured for CID routing which is really nice. Plus any 800, 888, 877, 866,0 area code or unavailable just gets disconnected on dial in. I hate telemarketers.

Good luck.

What I call Talking CID =
This is in conjunction TVS or TVA voice mail:
this is just 1 example: maybe your regular calls just ring all phones, CID routing sends Mom's call from her home to Voice Mail(CID sends Mother In Laws call to Wife's phone! ) its set to treat this call in a different manner depending on how your mailbox is setup. 1. System can page all phones, a group of phones or just 1 phone and play this file over the speaker " I have a call for (jerry) from (your Mom). You then have an adjustable time period to pick up the call. You record the names as part of CID setup.
2. You are using a std cordless in parallel mode with your key phone, or a system cell phone in parallel mode with your key phone, your key phone is set for Live Call screening, or you could be using a wireless by itself. Call comes in, goes straight to your mailbox, phones give special ring (both key phone and wireless) you can answer and hear the person leaving the message,they cannot hear you, if you want to take the call you push a button and connect, if not then just hang up.
There are many variations as to how this can be set up.
Another great feature of Panasonic , for home use, is the Backlit display and keypad. The green display is easy to find in a dark house, lift handset and the keypad lights up - very bright. Lighted display without lighted keypad is useless.
This feature is indespensible in a home environment. Just be sure to have good UPS on the system. When you wake in the nite after a storm and the power is off, the phones are ready to go
and easy to find.

Does Inter-Tel even let you buy the phones or just lease?

Anyway, about the Panasonic. Do all the phone have the backlit display and keypad or just 1 particular model?

I'm pretty impressed with the Panasonic, they seem to give you a lot of features at a reasonable price. I love the ability to be able to control/route inbound calls based on the caller ID number.

I can't tell you how many times we get
1. crank calls
2. salesman trying to sell us junk.
3. Fax machine calling every 5 minutes at 3:30 am and going on all NIGHT!!


I wish I had the ability to just route the call anyway I want. Phones system should be easy to program and have features that the user likes.

My phone system good list is:
1. Samsung/Panasonic
2. ESI

You can buy Inter-Tel phones and they're actually based in Phoenix.

The Axxess system is very feature rich. Really overkill for a home but I love them. They do not have the backlit key pads however. I guess if you wanted to you could run single line sets that do if you really wanted one in a particular area.

As for the CID routing it's wonderful. I have a select group of people that when they call it, the system multi-rings to several extensions at once, then if I don't pick up, the call is routed to my cell phone. Everyone else (except the telemarketers, etc.) get the auto attendant. The telemarketers just get disconnected.

Also, one last note since this is for home use. Probably my biggest pet peeve about the Inter-Tel executive keysets is that they display CID but don't retain it for later review. Therefore you would need to have a CID box in your bedroom to review past calls unless you were using a single line set. In my case I have the CID dispaly on the TV screen anyway. It's such a great system, I really hate it that they didn't add that feature.

I noticed no one said anything about the Norstar!!! (GOSH!) I love those things. (sorry) Plus you keep talking about GREEN LIGHT UP PANASONICS?? Doesnt norstar make a phone that lights up ORANGE all over?

Norstar is a wonderful business system. Just useless a Tits on a Boar Hog at home. Even in a semi dark office Most cannot see the button indicators. They need clumsy boxes for SLT devices.
All Im saying is that Panny is great at home.
I'm just big on home security. We install for a lot of Security companies. If you cant see your phone in dark house, your security sucks. If you can't see how to dial 911, in the dark, your security sucks. If your phones dont work with the power off in the dark, because your to cheap to get a good UPS, your security sucks. If the storm knocks out the power and the phone system too, power fail phones should be part of the plan, otherwise your security SUCKS harder than that TV
in the commercial. I like the Pan cell phones because they work with the power off if you have UPS, wireless link is powered by KSU.
How many people have grabbed a cordless phone in an emergency to find the handset working but no dial tone, because the powers off, their security sucks. ( Man theres a lot of Sucking going on around here )
Be careful with CID routing. You can send un known
numbers to cutoff or the Ozone, but remember it could be a Family member or other person you know
calling from a different location.
Oh, the CID display log on the 824's hold 300 calls at every phone you want.

I deal with more Norstars and BCMs than anything else. And, I have to agree, there are better choices for a home. I have had a Norstar in my house for years, and it works fine for me. But, if I were paying retail, I would save a few dollars and get some more 'home-friendly' features in a different system. That being said, it is hard to beat a Norstar in the office!