I’m looking for one:
With a volume control that stays at that level and doesn’t default loud every time it rings again
With a way to turn off the ringer altogether
With a speakerphone setting button
With caller ID announced
The hardest thing of these to find is a ringer that turns off. I don’t get that many legit calls on it and most of the time I want to go to message. They seem to have stopped producing phones that do this. at least in my searches.
Cord, or cordless?
If cordless, how many handsets?
Corded. I only need one set.
How about this one?
And if you want more features and/or need more than one line, there is this one:
Sorry!.. I must have phased. I like the ones that are cordless with the keys on the phone. I might change depending on what features are available on what phone though.
I don’t see a opt out feature for the ringer on this one.
And the volume on the one I have now just resets every call. It’s hard to shop for these features.
This one allows you to shut the ringer off:
I have a desk phone and a cordless set with a couple of handsets and they have all the features you mention. The phones are quite old so the specific model numbers won’t be useful, but it sounds like those features are quite common.
FWIW, the desk phone is a Panasonic and it has call display, volume control, a speaker, and several settings for the ringer including “off”. It has no microphone, though, so not a full speakerphone, but the speaker is great when I’m on hold. It also has a handy light that fast-flashes when a call is coming in, or slow-flashes when there is voicemail.
Cordless set is a Vtech with all the same features (each cordless handset has a little speaker you can turn on). In fact I have the ringers turned off on all the phones except the one in the kitchen. I don’t want the phone ringing in the bedroom, nor on the desk right beside me when I’m on the computer.
Is that “quiet mode”?
I’m not so confident about any features being common. Any phone tech can become outdated fast. My last 3 phones had no ringer switch and I looked around for one each time I purchased. It might be that I need a desk phone. I’ll look at vtechs.
The desk phone has the ringer control as a multi-position switch. The Vtech cordless handsets have the ringer individually programmable. There is nothing physical on the phone itself.
Check page 17 of the users manual.
Did that answer your question?
I have bought one and am waiting for it. I’m going to assume quite mode is a ringer switch. I’m hoping the volume will stay in one place too. I’ll wait for the users manual unless you have a link.
If you’re talking about the ATT phone mentioned upthread, this is a link to the manual (PDF).
Yes, you can adjust the ringer volume, including turning it off completely. Just like on the Vtech, turning off the ringer displays a bell with a line through it.
Ok I hope so. But the phone I have right now lets you adjust the vol on a call but just resets to maximum volume after the call.
(I have a Vtech dect 6 )
That sounds like a defect. I mean, what is the point in adjusting the ringer volume (or turning it off completely) except to affect subsequent calls! Certainly on my Vtech (CS 6419-2), and I’m sure all properly designed and working phones, when the bell with the line through it appears indicating that the ringer is off, it stays off until you elect to change it.
Hm. Let me work it.
I just went into the settings and turned the ringer off. Called myself 4 times and it is ringing at max volume.
I’m pretty sure I did it right. The handset doesn’t ring but the base does. The base also has a volume on it but it won’t stay at a setting AFAICS.
I can’t see what the point is of muting the ringer on the handset if that is what it is doing. The set is on the base.
The handset reads “ringer off” on the screen.
In my model, the base doesn’t have a ringer. The individual handsets do, and they are independently adjustable, and they do stay as set.
BTW, that ATT phone looks nice – I particularly like the built-in call blocking feature.
Just changed the setting to low vol. Called myself and the handset rang low vol. The base rang loudly. Pretty half assed product.
BTW this is from page 17 of the majual:
“If the ringer volume is set to off, that handset is silenced for all incoming calls except paging tone.
f If the ringer volume is set to off, the caller ID will not be announced and the screen will briefly
display Caller ID won’t be announced.”
I hope this doesn’t mean the base will make noise.
Note if you have a traditional copper wire landline service you should also get the model with no features, but is powered entirely by the telephone line.
With the modern telephones which have to be plugged into an electrical outlet if you lose electricity you also lose your telephone service. The basic model I mentioned above will still work with the electricity out!