Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

I've done about 50 hours of research over the last 3-4 weeks trying to replace our old Panasonic KS-TG5240 (5.8 GHz) which is about 7 years old. I felt it was important because while it was not necessarily a large purchase, we only replace our phone every 5-10 years. I looked at Consumer Reports, and online reviews both here and other retailers. The batteries on our old phones were going, the keys sticking, and the range was never good enough. We patched our range issue with some added wired phones. But we needed an upgrade to ensure our phone was answered after office hours. i liked some of the phones made by V-Tech and Uniden, but one unique feature of Panasonic phones locked me into them. I needed the ability to schedule a phone to ring only during certain hours. The "Silent Mode" did the trick, allowing me to set start and end times that the target phone won't ring, allowing it to ring essentially after the office closed. No other manufacturer had this feature (with scheduled hours). I was focused on range because our small preschool is about 150 feet wide, and the phone needed to reach down to the break room from the office. Consumer Reports listed 6 Panasonic models that had excellent range: 474X, 477X, 473X, 773X, 659X, and 947X. At least one model (which I found a lot of stock available) had "fair" range was the 684X. So I stayed away. We really liked the Hold button on our existing phone, but only one of the Panasonic phones with excellent range, and none of the newer phones had a hold button. I read many an owners manual and discovered that most Panasonic phones will display a "soft key" for Mute, which while not the same as Hold, would work for our need to have a private conversation face to face before including the caller. I was intrigued by some of the features of the newer Panasonic phones. One (I forget the model numbers) linked to WiFi and allowed iPads and iPhones to act as handsets on the phone system. Problem with this system was the price. A 5 phone system would be over $500 Many of the newer Panasonic models link to cell phones (like this model), but these work the opposite of what I wanted. They allow you to use the business phone to make cell calls. I was only really interested in link-2-cell so I might be able to use a headset in the future. The problem with this is that most phones only have bluetooth in the base, and its range is only about 30 feet, so you won't be roaming the campus talking on your phone, just around the office. The other feature that the newer Panasonic phones have is that you can setup a group in your phonebook, and then assign that group to override the "silent mode". This would allow me to give certain individuals the abilities to ring in certain rooms. The downside to the newer models, is lack of range testing available. So I figured I would buy one local, test it, and if it didn't work, take it back and buy one Consumer Reports says is excellent range, giving up on the new features. Visiting brick and mortar Office Depot, Best Buy resulted in very lousy stock. I ended up at a Frys, where they had pretty good stock. I purchased the KX-TGE263 (because of the smaller base unit), only to discover that accessory handsets are not available until at least June 2014. I returned it and bought this model which contains 5 of the 6 handsets we needed. I can get by with my wired phones until the accessory handsets are available. I charged over the weekend, and tested the range on Monday. While the audio quality was a little degraded at the range we needed, it worked fine. So we will be keeping this model. After a week, here is my feedback. 1) We got the silver, and it is a very nice looking phone. 2) The display is very large and lights up very bright. 3) Phone displays the time when not in use, which gives me a clock other than my computer in the office. 4) Volume for earpiece is on the side of the phone, making it very easy to adjust without having to take it away from your ear or accidentally going into any menus which is what happened when using the navigator button on the front. (although that method still works) 5) Volume for the outside ring and the intercom ring is the same volume (as far as I can tell). So at first we turned it off to keep outside calls from ringing in the classroom, but then they could not hear the intercom. So we turned the ringer all the way up, but put every phone in "Silent Mode" during class times. This keeps outside calls from ringing through, but has a very loud intercom. 6) There is no dedicated intercom button on the handset panel. But when you pickup the phone off its charging base, the left soft button is an "INT" button enabling you to easily make intercom calls. 7) You can name every handset so that when making intercom calls, you can easily tell the handsets apart. 8) The answering machine was easy to setup, even without reading the instructions. I used a handset to record the greeting. 9) Another almost priceless feature. Upon receiving a call from a telemarketer, you can hang up, press a few buttons, and save their number into a "Call Blocked" list. We tested this, and the phone will ring once and then disconnect, displaying "Call Blocked" on the phone. On the callers end, the phone just goes dead. Excellent. Now I am kind of excited to get telemarketing calls, because I can block them. 10) "Silent Mode" worked great. Now when I go home at 4, any calls that come in will ring load and clear in the assigned room, making it very clear they need to answer the phone. No more missed calls from late parents! 11) Phone will still work in a power failure. Just park a charged handset in the base. It will draw power from it to enable other handsets to work. We tried it. It takes a minute for the base to adjust, but then other handsets continue to work as long as one is sitting on the base. Things not so good: 12) After making or receiving a call, transferring it is not so easy. You must select menu, scroll down past Equalizer (allows you to change sound so it is easier to hear) and Hold, to the intercom function, select the handset to call, and then proceed. 13) Noise Reduction button seems like a gimmick, and takes up valuable faceplate space. I'd rather see a hold or intercom button. Update July 2014: a) Ended up not using the "group" override feature. The issue is that when the phone rings, you can't tell if it is from a special "group" so I end up picking it up in the office anyway, and then having to transfer it. b) The call blocking feature is nice, but dang Google seems to have dozens of different numbers, but I stayed diligent, and finally I only get about one call a month now, instead of 4 per week. c) While the display is large and bright when the phone is off the hook, the backlight goes off when it is on the charger, making it harder to see unless you have just the right light coming from just the right angle (keep in mind my 50 year-old eyes) d) If you have an unheard message on the recorder, a message will display on all handsets. Great if you are using this set in your house, not so great for a business. I don't really want the teachers listening to the messages. e) When listening to a message on the base station, all handsets show "Line in Use", which is kind of annoying. Update 18-Mar-2015: a) Range was not good enough to cover our required 100 foot distance through 6 exterior walls, so we bought the Panasonic KX-TGA405B Range Extender. We placed this about 50 feet from the base unit through 4 exterior walls, and now handsets work throughout the school. b) We added a 6th Panasonic KX-TGEA20S handset (including the one on the base unit) and registering was simple and it covers the last room without a phone. (now that the range extender is in place) Update 16-Oct-2017: System still working perfectly. Still on first set of batteries.