Uniden DCT756 Quad Cordless Phone - Best phones we've ever had

There are never enough phones in the house. There are always rooms that could use a phone, but have no phone jack. And when you do have a bunch of different phones strewn about the place, they often have features that aren't interchangeable with the other phones. Enter the Uniden DCT756 Quad Cordless Phone with 4 handsets. Does it meet the needs of a demanding phone family? Does it have the features we didn't know we needed?

Read on, dear reader....

•• Hardware ••
The phones are all identical, made of silver and grey plastic. The buttons are clear, but illuminate an orange color when pressed or when the phone rings. The small antenna is a mere nub on the top of the phone. Each phone has its own cradle and power cord, with the main base being a little bit larger than the others. In all, an attractive set of phones that even my picky wife likes.

•• Features and Commentary ••
The phones are feature rich, but the main selling point is the ability to put them in a room that has no phone jack. The garage, the bathroom, wherever. As long as there's an electrical outlet and a decent range to the main base, this phone should work.

The main unit is the central one that talks to the others and keeps them in sync. Example, if you change the time and date on the main unit, it syncs up the time and dates with all the other phones. That in itself is super cool. As well, each phone allows you to name it. We have given then the creative names of kitchen, study, bedroom, and family room. If I change one, the other phones know of the name change of their sibling. It's like the 6th sense that one twin has when the other is in danger. Again, just plain cool.

Along those lines, the intercom feature is very easy to use. Since each phone has a name, I can simply pick one of the handsets up and dial another handset by selecting the name of it in the menu. The receiving call has a unique ring indicating to the other person that it is an intercom call as opposed to a phone call. As well, you can do a 3-way intercom call with yet another handset. Have I mentioned how cool this phone system is?

But wait! It gets better. If I answer the phone and it's for someone else, I can transfer the call to another handset in the same way. Like any other phone, I can choose to remain on the phone and join the conversation, or I can hang up and let the other party have their conversation.

The phone has an excellent speaker-phone function that we use more than we do as a regular phone. The sound is crystal clear and those on the receiving end can barely tell they are speaker. Of course this depends on proximity the person is to the microphone, but I've never had the tell-tale sign of annoyance: "Can you take me off speaker so I can hear you?". And for those who don't want to use the speaker phone, there is a headset jack. I've never used it because the speaker-phone works so well.

The caller ID on the phone is one button away. Since the phone has a 4-way button in the center, the address book and the caller ID logs are accessible very easily. When a call rings through, the caller ID shows, but after a ring. This is a little annoying if I'm screening calls, but I suspect its the signal coming from the phone company, not the phones themselves. Regardless, the phone number and name of the person calling shows up in large block letters which are easy to read a good distance away.

The audio quality of the phones are top notch. I've never had anyone complain about the audio quality and when I call home from work, the phone sounds just as good as any non-cordless phone. The volume control is the up and down of the middle button and is most convenient when talking to people who seem to be louder than others on the phone. So many things like that show that attention to usability went into the design of this phone.

The battery life on these phones is incredible. I used the speaker phone function at full volume for almost two hours non-stop. I barely used half the life of the battery according to the battery meter in the LCD. I was amazed. I fully expected the phone to cut out, but there was nary a hitch. I replaced the phone on the cradle and it recharged it back to full as expected.

This phone system does not have an answering machine which is precisely why we bought it. We use Voice Over IP which comes with a voice mail box so we didn't want the unnecessary clutter of an answering machine. So what's cool about this phone is that if there is a new voice mail, a red light on the top of each phone blinks. There was no configuration or compatibility checking, It just worked. We love this feature.

The only complaint I have is that the mute button is buried in menus, which makes quick muting on the fly a bit cumbersome. But this is truly the only thing we dislike about these phones.

•• Conclusion ••
If you're looking for a phone system without an answering machine, this is the one to get, hands-down.