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Product Description
Philips VoIP & DECT 8551 with AM (german version!) pianovarnish-black
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful
i needed a new phone and i need something to use with skype. Unfortunately all the other phones that have this dual functionality look a bit dire, which is why i purchased this.
The phone is great, easy to set up and sync your contacts, the display is a bit small, but serves its purpose. Skype calls are crystal clear as well as ordinary land line conversations.
it does what it's supposed to and looks great.
The phone is great, easy to set up and sync your contacts, the display is a bit small, but serves its purpose. Skype calls are crystal clear as well as ordinary land line conversations.
it does what it's supposed to and looks great.
11 of 12 people found the following review helpful
I bought this for my parents, from another seller - who neglected to mention that it was the German version.
The physical set-up was simple - plug the base unit into the charger, landline and router, plug the phone stand into its charger, drop the phone into it. Done. The handset had enough juice in it that we were able to test the thing immediately, although we were probably supposed to charge it first.
Actually configuring the thing was a bit of a pain, because (surprise surprise) the UK isn't in the list of countries. If I remember rightly, there was also a problem with inputting a "region code". It does have English in the language options, thankfully.
Outgoing landline and Skype-to-Skype calls, and incoming Skype calls, worked fine straight away. We had some difficulties with SkypeOut, and with incoming landline calls, that you need to know about.
SkypeOut calls failed until we replaced the leading "0" in the phone number with "44" (or maybe +44). You may need to update your SkypeOut contacts accordingly.
Incoming landline calls worked, but the answering machine is a problem. My parents usually use Call Minder (1571), which worked until Dad inadvertently turned the answering machine on. Not a huge problem, except that it answered the phone in German... and we're pretty sure that just cycling the power turns the answering machine on. Some configuration may fix this; maybe just recording a message in English will make it less of a problem. For now, they're being exceedingly careful about keeping it turned off. (I fear that the sleek black unit may eventually suffer the same fate as Dad's "I keep hitting Caps Lock" keyboard and have the button ripped out of it.)
It says "No PC required" on the box... This is true if you're the "don't read the manual" type, because said manual is a CD-ROM. *facepalm* That particular work of genius is probably true of the UK version too. On this version's CD-ROM, though, you can look forward to a bewildering array of languages, none of which is English. Philips' website does have the English version in PDF form, though.
In short: This phone will indeed do the job, and do it well, but you need to be aware of the quirks that the German version will cause you. If you can handle those, I'd say go for it, it's a good piece of kit (although I still prefer my Netgear SPH200D, which sadly isn't made any more).
My parents have chosen to keep it, and seem to be doing OK with it. However, you should be aware that the official advice from Philips' online support person was to send the phone back and get a UK one. Your, um, call.
The physical set-up was simple - plug the base unit into the charger, landline and router, plug the phone stand into its charger, drop the phone into it. Done. The handset had enough juice in it that we were able to test the thing immediately, although we were probably supposed to charge it first.
Actually configuring the thing was a bit of a pain, because (surprise surprise) the UK isn't in the list of countries. If I remember rightly, there was also a problem with inputting a "region code". It does have English in the language options, thankfully.
Outgoing landline and Skype-to-Skype calls, and incoming Skype calls, worked fine straight away. We had some difficulties with SkypeOut, and with incoming landline calls, that you need to know about.
SkypeOut calls failed until we replaced the leading "0" in the phone number with "44" (or maybe +44). You may need to update your SkypeOut contacts accordingly.
Incoming landline calls worked, but the answering machine is a problem. My parents usually use Call Minder (1571), which worked until Dad inadvertently turned the answering machine on. Not a huge problem, except that it answered the phone in German... and we're pretty sure that just cycling the power turns the answering machine on. Some configuration may fix this; maybe just recording a message in English will make it less of a problem. For now, they're being exceedingly careful about keeping it turned off. (I fear that the sleek black unit may eventually suffer the same fate as Dad's "I keep hitting Caps Lock" keyboard and have the button ripped out of it.)
It says "No PC required" on the box... This is true if you're the "don't read the manual" type, because said manual is a CD-ROM. *facepalm* That particular work of genius is probably true of the UK version too. On this version's CD-ROM, though, you can look forward to a bewildering array of languages, none of which is English. Philips' website does have the English version in PDF form, though.
In short: This phone will indeed do the job, and do it well, but you need to be aware of the quirks that the German version will cause you. If you can handle those, I'd say go for it, it's a good piece of kit (although I still prefer my Netgear SPH200D, which sadly isn't made any more).
My parents have chosen to keep it, and seem to be doing OK with it. However, you should be aware that the official advice from Philips' online support person was to send the phone back and get a UK one. Your, um, call.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Amazon Verified Purchase
The good bits:
It is easy to set up (except country - see below)
It logged into my Skype account easily
It looks good
Sound quality is fine, though I think this is more determined by Skype than the phone.
The less good bits:
There is no UK option for country. I contacted the seller who said it made no difference so leave on the default (Germany). If this is actually the case why does the setting exist?
You have to put 44 on all outgoing UK numbers when using Skype. Not sure if this is a consequence of the country setting (see above) or is a "feature" of the system. A nuisance either way.
The screen is pathetically small for a device costing over £100. Also, it is unreadable when the backlight is off so you have to press a button or lift it out of the cradle to read anything.
Menu access is quite slow when the handset has to check with the base station - eg for phone book and message status.
It is easy to set up (except country - see below)
It logged into my Skype account easily
It looks good
Sound quality is fine, though I think this is more determined by Skype than the phone.
The less good bits:
There is no UK option for country. I contacted the seller who said it made no difference so leave on the default (Germany). If this is actually the case why does the setting exist?
You have to put 44 on all outgoing UK numbers when using Skype. Not sure if this is a consequence of the country setting (see above) or is a "feature" of the system. A nuisance either way.
The screen is pathetically small for a device costing over £100. Also, it is unreadable when the backlight is off so you have to press a button or lift it out of the cradle to read anything.
Menu access is quite slow when the handset has to check with the base station - eg for phone book and message status.
Most Recent Customer Reviews
Good but one annoying feature
Working from home this was exactly the product I needed to give me some more freedom with Skype whilst also having a landline, however as the other UK reviewers have mentioned the... Read more
Published 22 days ago by Stuart
Excellent phone
After nearly a year of use I am still very happy with this phone:
- Amazing sound quality both on skype and landline
- Great speaker phone
- Easy to set... Read more
- Amazing sound quality both on skype and landline
- Great speaker phone
- Easy to set... Read more
Published 3 months ago by DeeJay
VoIP 8551b
This is a nice phone. Some things to be aware of:
You will need to specify the full international dialling code when making SkypeOut calls. Read more
You will need to specify the full international dialling code when making SkypeOut calls. Read more
Published 4 months ago by ColdCountry
Works brilliantly
We have been using this in Spain for the last month and it works brilliantly. It's so nice to have Skype on all the time without having to boot up the computer. Read more
Published 4 months ago by Ashcroft
Fabulous VOIP dualphone - Better than RTX
I can only review this item by a comparison to the other popular VOIP dualphone arond the RTX3088 - so appologies in advance! Read more
Published 8 months ago by stevebez
Philips VOIP phone 8551B
It's a nice looking telephone and does all the things it says on the box, it would be even better if the volume was greater, as im not so young anymore and a little bit hard of... Read more
Published 10 months ago by davidin spain
Outstanding product
This is quite simply a perfect for purpose product... what is better than IDD calling ? a phone that only uses internet and and has HD quality sounds as well.... Read more
Published 11 months ago by Dinesh Jinasena
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