AT&T Lucent 993 2 Lines Corded Phone

I just received this phone and as I use the phone a LOT for my home-based business, I took a little time to read the user manual so my son wouldn't have any questions when using it for the home line.

There are TWO corrections I can add to earlier reviews of users who missed the details in the user manual:

1) The NEW CALL light, which lights up if a new call came in, can be programmed NOT to light up. It's a setup option, and this phone is easy to setup. So for busy offices (like mine), you can make it so it doesn't light up. You can make this be different on line 1 compared to line 2.

2) That same NEW CALL light CAN be made to FLASH if there's a new Voice Mail waiting at your phone company's voice mail system. This is called the Central Office Voicemail (COVM) - the default is OFF, just go through the setup and turn it ON. It's very easy to do! Not only does the light flash when you have a new voice mail, but when you pick up the receiver you'll hear a stuttering dialtone for a few seconds before the regular dial tone kicks in. Your phone company must support this also. I no longer use Vonage so I can't vouch for how they do this. The VOIP phone system I use now is www.phone.com, and on their web page area "Settings", set the "Message Waiting Indicator" to "On".

BTW I switched to phone.com because their support is in the USA, they offer the ablity to block calls on a specific number basis (this is GREAT!!!), you can adjust the phone adapter volume, and they actually were able to make my outbound caller ID show my name instead of the name of the city I live in. Vonage couldn't do any of these. I just set up two accounts for what they call Home Phone Plus, which is a few bucks cheaper than Vonage. Vonage might be cheaper for international calls (they both have special international packages), but I use Skype for so many of my international calls that this part doesn't matter to me.

What a great phone for a small business. The AT&T 993 SOHO 2 line phone is a great unit. I especially love the speakerphone as it is clear and has plenty of volume for me. Even with my slight hearing loss I don't have to have the volume all the way up. The three way conferencing is also easy to use and very useful. With battery back up you won't lose the programming once you've gone to the effort to plug in all of your frequently called numbers. This phone has great audio quality, ease of use and an excellent operatons manual. Perfect for a two line business.

I love the phone and the features, but I have had 2 bad handsets. The seller was wonderful to work with because he replaced everything but I still got another bad handset. So the phone is great and has some really neat features and I am working through the issues with the handset because I do love the phone and refuse to get rid of it. :) It's the perfect office phone especially if you have 2 lines. The caller id is easy to ready and it also lets you know when you have voicemail. The speed dial options on the side are a must. I make 100's of calls per day and I keep the most important people right there. Like I said it's a great phone and the seller was awesome. I will be buying from them again.

This is a great phone for what it does. However, I guess it's an older model and does not address the carrier system voicemail. There is no indication that a voicemail message is waiting and no simple way to access the voicemail from the carrier (Vonage or RCN. What it does have is a red light that indicates a new call has been received and the light does not go out until you check your call history. I find this a bit annoying.

The speaker phone is practically perfect. People at the other end have no idea a speakerphone is in use.

Overall its a good phone for making and receiving calls. Not so great on voice mail features.

Overall, this phone is great. I've owned many phones for my small business - this phone replaced a couple that I owned for only 3 months (they were so crumby I've forgotten who made them). This phone has excellent clarity, easy to understand instructions, simple straight-ahead controls including volume and a nice auto redial.

The two drawbacks it has, in my opinion, are minor - 1, the "new call" light - you really don't need that and if you are in a busy office it's going to always be on. 2, (and this is really minor) if a cell phone is near this phone there seems to be a buzz interference - so I just keep mine a couple of feet away.

Otherwise, for the money, this is a great 2 line phone.