Wireless phones question

[ChristiaanJ]

Situation :
One landline, several sockets (upstairs and downstairs).

Plug in two "old" phones (wired), one in each socket.
During a call on one of the phones, you can now pick up the other phone and join in the conversation (call it party line, conference call or whatever).

Plug in one wireless (DECT) "master" base station that can serve two wireless handsets. You now have lost the party line/conference call function. (After some button punching you can 'listen in' on the second handset, but not talk.)

Now my question (the shop didn't know) :
If I buy two separate base stations (each with one handset), and plug one in each socket, will that work again like the original party line arrangement? I.e., am I able to again join the conversation (listen and talk) on both phones?

Any insight greatly appreciated.

CJ

[BEagle]

Plug in one wireless (DECT) "master" base station that can serve two wireless handsets. You now have lost the party line/conference call function. That seems strange - are you 100% sure of that?

I have a DECT base station plugged in upstairs and the main phone plugged in downstairs. Both share the same line - and my broadband modem and Sky receiver are also on this.

I can talk and listen on both phones simultaneously, exactly as if they were both wired phones on the same line.

[Saab Dastard]

Beagle,

As I understand you, you have two physically separate phones (not a common base station with 2 remotes), so that is a different scenario to ChristiaanJ.

A single DECT phone cannot (AFAIK) support multiple handsets both transmitting and receiving concurrently, although simultaneous receiving is possible (as ChristiaanJ mentions). I think it's analagous to VHF radio comms - only one station can transmit, but anyone in range can receive.

In answer to ChristiaanJ's original Q, I see no reason why two distinct and separate DECT phones with independent base stations should not work simultaneously in the desired fashion - although you would need to check that they don't operate on the exact same frequency and interfere with each other.

SD

[ChristiaanJ]

Thanks all !

BEagle,
I didn't want to complicate the issue too much... but I have the same, a DECT base (with two wireless handsets) on one socket and an old conventional phone on another socket.
The problem is that the wireless setup doesn't allow conference calls using the two wireless handsets (seems the system is too ancient), but conference calls with one of the wireless set + the old phone works OK, as one would expect.

Saab Dastard,
The plot thickens, because - unlike our ancient heap - at least one recent Philips 'dual' DOES have a conference call function, as confirmed by their "chat" helpline (they've gone 21st century!) and the download of the relevant user manual.
I see no reason why two distinct and separate DECT phones with independent base stations should not work simultaneously in the desired fashion...My idea entiirely.. I would think that at the phone line interface they look exactly like an 'ancient' phone'.although you would need to check that they don't operate on the exact same frequency and interfere with each otherI thought of that, but that's the same issue as interference by your neighbour's wireless phone, which IIRC is 99.9% solved by a random coding scheme.

CJ

[Don Coyote]

From the instruction manual to my Panasonic KX-TG8423 phone:

2 handsets in the same radio cell can have a conference call with an outside party.

[daved123]

ChristaanJ,
I have a French phone line system in the house with three paralleled branches ending in T-sockets.
In the 'office' I have a triple stacked "T" connection, the ADSL filter with the Livebox line plugged in the base, a pass-through connector with the printer fax line in the base connected in to that, and a 10Euro LeClerc phone T-plugged in to the pass-through connector. I have a similar cheap handset in the bedroom and a Panasonic dect base station with one handset in the kitchen, previously a similar Philips dect phone.
I can initiate or answer a call on any of the three and during the call can shout for my lady to pick up either of the other two phones and share the call, TX/RX on either phone no problem.
During thunderstorm activity the dect phone gets replaced by a third cheapy phone and the situation remains the same.
Could it be your dect phone settings or the unit itself ? Worth borrowing another dect phone from a friend for comparison.
Groetjes,
DaveD

[ChristiaanJ]

Don Coyote,
"From the instruction manual to my Panasonic KX-TG8423 phone:
2 handsets in the same radio cell can have a conference call with an outside party."
Thanks! The misery here started because the two handsets (Siemens, now rather ancient) in the same radio cell were NOT capable of a conference call. No mention in the manual, and a phone call to Siemens confirmed the feature didn't exist.
This seems to have been 'cured' now, as you confirm, and as my check with Philips support also confirms.

daved123,
Looks as if your setup is much like mine, one DECT on one socket, and cheap handsets and suchlike on the other sockets. I already know that works...

I'll now just have to make sure that whatever I get to replace the now totally clapped-out Siemens 'dual' does have the 'conference call' feature - my problem simply was that I was not aware yet that it existed on a typical present-day 'dual'.

Many thanks to everybody for helping out to sort this!

CJ

PS The Siemens was a "Gigaset 3000 Classic".
Pretty cruddy... within a few years the memory feature (stored numbers and the 'redial') gave out completely, one of the battery sets (standard AA rechargeable, luckily) failed, and today the chicklet keys have to be wiggled or pounded to work at all...
Which explains why we're looking for an update...:ugh:

[BEagle]

Yes, sorry, I misunderstood your question.

However, I dug out my old DECT phone and unplugged my wired phone. So then I just had 2 DECT phones on the same line. Each base station seems aware of the other, so there was no RF interference between the phones, nor the nearby wireless Internet radio system.

It was certainly possible to talk and listen on both simultaneously.

[ChristiaanJ]

BEagle,
Thanks for your trying that out! To me that seemed logcal, but then these things aren't always logical.

Don Coyote et al,
After looking through several user manuals, it now seems that most if not all "next-generation" dual cordless phones (i.e., two handsets on the same base) now have the full "conference call" feature.

PPRuNe is incredible.....
Many thanks to all for your help!

Issue settled, now just need to go out tomorrow and get the new phones.

CJ

PS Herself will be pleased... she detested the old setup...