AT&T 5830 5.8 GHz Cordless Speakerphone System

So, it's a good phone. But come on: some of the design decisions are just plain weird.

First, there's the oddity that while there's an indicator light for your (phone-company-supplied) voicemail, there's no easy way to actually dial that voicemail number and retrieve your messages. Rather than have a one-touch button, the phone requires that you assign voicemail to one of the phone-book entries. No big deal... except that it means you're pressing a minimum of three buttons (and likely more) every time you want to get your messages.

Then there's the omission of a "this is my own area code" feature. This means that all caller-ID numbers show up as (and get dialed as) 1-XXX-XXX-XXXX numbers... which can mean long-distance charges for local calls on some systems. Yes, you can edit the number, but it requires three clicks.

Lastly, there are the set of weird behaviors that come from having the built-in base-station speakerphone not know anything about the base-station phone handset. This means, forinstance, that if you answer a call using the base-station speakerphone, you can't just then pick up the base-station handset and have the call automatically transfer. Instead, both units will be active, which means you need to hang up two separate phones.

All of these are nits, but in a system costing this much, they're silly.

So should you buy it? Yes, sure: it does most of the basics well; the quality feels high; the backup battery feature will come in handy in a power-failure (though battery is sold separately); and 5.8 Ghz is the future. But don't expect perfection... and do send "you can do better" thought waves towards the folks who designed this unit.

PS-- An equally small nit about the extension handsets: their a/c adapters don't detach from their recharging bases. That means you need an extension cord if your desk has one of those holes to thread cords through-- the adapter likely won't fit through to reach the outlet.


I Have NEVER Been This Happy With A Cordless Phone   March 19, 2004
the_emperor_of_ice_cream (Ft Washington, Pa United States)
13 out of 18 found this review helpful

Before I begin my review of the BEST cordless phone I have ever used, I thought some fun facts were in order...

1876 Telephone invented by Alexander Graham Bell (believe it or not, the fax machine was invented ~15 years prior to this)
1913 AT&T becomes a government sanctioned monopoly
1946 AT&T begins offering mobile telephone service (this is true!)
1958 AT&T starts selling modems (almost a decade before DARPA creates the internet and more than a quarter century before consumers have access to the WWW)
1984 AT&T is torpedoed by Judge Green's Modified Final Judgement (MFJ) -- this effectively ushers in competetition which drives innovation, and lower prices
2000 AT&T still hasn't woken up to the reality of MFJ (i.e., it's break-up) and is charging rates as high as 35 CPM for domestic calls to more than 20 million of it subscribers
2003 With the introduction of the 5800 series phones, and a new residential VoIP offer, AT&T starts to signal to main street and wall street that it is willing to wake up to the realities of today's marketplace

But you don't need to know the above to appreciate what is, in my opinion, the BEST cordless phone on the market (and I have tried many!). Here's the deal with the AT&T 5800 series...
+ Uses 5.8 Ghtz band and "Frequency Hopping Technology" to eliminate static and security issues
+ Awesome speakerphone on the base station
+ Ergonomics of the unit are unsurpassed
+ Each handset has a speakerphone built into it -- while these speakerphones are not as crisp as the one on the base station, they come in handy when interfacing with those annoying recorded menus that most companies are using today
+ All units include visibile message waiting indication (great for those with voice mail)
+ The unit just feels substantial (they have the sturdy feel of AT&T's old Western Electric produced phones that felt like they could drive rail road spikes)
+ Expansion handsets don't require RJ11 jacks to get dial-tone, they use the house wiring and they also auto-seek the base unit to simplify set-up and intercom signaling
+ For convenience, calls can be transferred from one handset to another
+ Base unit will "speak" the caller ID information -- this is especially convenient for those frequent times that you can't angle around to see the caller ID display

There are some light cons to...
+ The voice mail waiting indication light is so bright (and it blinks) that it has woken me up at nights (the only way to turn it off is to clear voice mail messages)
+ The 5800 series isn't so much a phone as it is a whole house phone system, as a result of this and the EXTREMELY high quality of the product, it is a little more expensive than the 5.8 Ghtz offerings from it's competition -- my opinion is that the extra ten or twenty bucks is well worth it

And I thought the following would be helpful as well...
1) In the past, most cordless phone providers made outrageous claims regarding the range or distance the handset could travel from the base station (AT&T makes no claims with this unit) -- wise shoppers should expect no more than 250 ft of range with the 5800 series
2) For those using the new VoIP technology to save on phone service (e.g. Vonage, Packet8, BroadVoice, Phonom, etc.), this system provides an excellent solution to the whole house wiring problems that these types of services tend to create


my favorite so far   April 17, 2003
11 out of 13 found this review helpful

I was promised a cordless phone with CID for my birthday. Unfortunately, I had to return quite a few phones before I found this one. This one has quite a few cool features to it.

One of the unique features is a talking CID that calls out the number of the person calling so you don't have to have the phone or get up to look at the caller ID to know whether or not you want to get up and answer the call. (A couch potato's dream.) Also, the talking caller ID voice message is fun because you can record an announcement to play when certain numbers call your house. It turned out useful when I started using that feature to record a SHORT message when I wanted to remember something to tell the person calling (for example, a question to ask the contractor next time they called). The message is tied in with the CID so that it only plays when the call is coming from that number. Useful for those with no short term memory, like myself.

I also like the other features, speakerphone in the handsets, and vibrator ringer (doesn't wake up the kids). I found the menus to be fairly easy to operate, and have very little complaints about the phone. I LIKE the feature that the phone book does not share between phones because my husband and I don't call the same people, and I don't want his buddy Ed's phone number taking up MY memory. I guess it would be nice if it could give a choice. Also, there is room to charge a battery in the base so that you always have a fresh battery in case you forget and let the one in your handset go dead, and also if the power goes out it supplies power to the base so that you can still use the phone. Handy.

Overall I don't regret spending the extra cash I paid for it. My only complaint is that there is no volume control on the talking caller ID so if your base is in an out-of-the-way position it can be hard to hear the talking CID.


Excellent Phone   September 3, 2003
N. Omar (Chicago, IL USA)
8 out of 8 found this review helpful

I purchased this phone 4 months ago as a gift for my mother. I waited to write the review because sometimes you don't know if the equipment will perform as expected.

She wanted a reliable phone with excellent quality and one that wasn't difficult to use. Although this one has some very nice features that she'll never use, I still wanted her to have a nice phone.

The quality is outstanding, both the handset and speakerphone. The sound is very clear with no degradation at all. Some people experienced problems with their phones but maybe that had something to do with the area they lived in.

The talking feature was a nice surprise. It started out by announcing the telephone number but now it states the name of the caller. I thought maybe that my mother was 'imagining' this but lo and behold, it really does announce the name!

I would buy this phone for my own home if I needed a replacement. It's a good value if you don't mind spending the extra money for it.


very disappointed   June 1, 2003
7 out of 17 found this review helpful

If you think that a 5.8 ghz is better you might be as disappointed as I was. There were a lot of interferences, couldn't go more that 10' from my front door and the volume keys are located in a very rediculous place. They are located at the side where you hold the phone, and without knowing it you lower the volume. I returned it.