Breaking up is Hard to do

but now that ma bell has been tolled off, you're in for some ring-a-ding surprises

One big difference about owning your telephone, whether it be a simple cheapie or a $400 multiple-memory, digital-readout showpiece, is that you are responsible for its maintenance. In the old days of leasing phones, if one broke, you took it to the phone company, which replaced it at no charge. When you buy a phone, however, once the warranty runs out (typically, after 90 days; sometimes after a full year), you're responsible for the cost of repairs.

Over the years, we've become accustomed to high-quality phones engineered to last a minimum of ten years--no easy feat when you consider how many times you've accidentally pulled the thing off the table or slammed down the receiver in frustration. Some of today's electronic phones may not be quite so rugged. Moreover, there are simply more things inside them that can go wrong. It's a good idea to have one telephone-company-quality phone around the place (even tucked away in a closet) just in case your fancy phone decides to take sick leave.

Until now, you've used a telephone to talk with other people. But have you ever considered talking to it to make it dial a number for you? The Command Dialer by Audec (about $250) does just that. It has 16 phone-number memories to which you append a vocal key word, such as office or Kathryn. To make a call from a memory, you speak the key word into the receiver. When the light next to the memory location on the phone's panel goes on, you say "OK," and the phone automatically dials the number. You can also simply press the appropriate memory button for speed dialing, but the voice-activated dialer will impress your visitors. Each of the Command Dialer's memories holds up to 30 digits, which is plenty of room for an MCI or Sprint local phone number, access code and long-distance number. The unit is smart enough to listen for the MCI or Sprint computer's tone before sending the access code and phone number. On other memory phones, you usually have to program fixed-length pauses carefully and hope the computer tone goes on when it's supposed to.

The Entex VRD#100 voice-activated phone (about $300) has a longer memory, with room for up to 100 numbers to be dialed by speaking the associated key words into the handset. In fact, the phone doesn't even have a traditional dial showing--only a digital display. To dial a number not in the memory, you can speak the digits into the handset. For long-distance services, you can leave the local service number and access code in one memory and make a call by saying, for example, "Sprint Leslie." As with all voice-activated phones, the Entex must be trained to respond to a particular voice (you speak each name two or three times to enable the circuitry to store a voice pattern for that name). But the Entex also lets up to three voices train it independently. Oh, yes--there is a regular pushbutton dial concealed beneath the phone's panel, just in case you get laryngitis.

Today's high-tech phones not only listen, they talk, too. One that puts an electronically synthesized voice to excellent use is the Webcor Zip 1050 ($119.95), an almost traditional-looking desktop phone that acts as a silent secretary. At the flick of a switch, the ringer is disengaged and a female voice gives callers one of three messages. One advises that no one is available and he should call back later. A second message says, "Hello. No one is available. Please call back after three o'clock P.M." You use the phone's push buttons to program the time you'll be taking calls. The last message starts out the same way but ends, "The party may be called at ..." and gives the number. Again, you put in the phone number where you can be reached. This model is great if you don't want to be disturbed and your friends aren't inclined to leave messages on an answering machine. In addition to the unit's 14-number, 16-digit memory, it has one of the most natural-sounding microphone elements of any non-phone-company handset we've used.

ITT Telecom's Model PC 1008 desktop phone ($259.95), like the Webcor, has three voice messages and a number of other features requiring a larger, more businesslike console. A digital display shows the current time, elapsed time of call and the number you're dialing. Sixteen memories hold up to 28 digits each, plenty for the long-distance services. There's even a memory calculator to help reduce the number of gadgets cluttering your desk. The PC 1008 can be used as a speaker phone when you need to keep your hands somewhere other than on a telephone handset. The microphone element for the speaker phone can also be called from outside your home or office so that you hear what's happening in the room when you're not there.

Another product combines the powers of electronic voice synthesis with other sensors to operate as a kind of advisory service about the conditions in your home. It's called the Sensaphone ($249.95), by Gulf + Western's Consumer Electronics/Unicord Division. Hooked up to your telephone, its internal sensors give you a verbal report on what's going on at home. The Sensaphone answers the phone in an electronic male voice by confirming the number you called and telling you what time it is, what the temperature is (a great feature if you're checking up on your winter cabin), whether the power is on, if there is any loud noise apparent, if any alarm condition exists and what the condition of the backup battery is. It then gives you a 15-second aural peep into your house. If no one is supposed to be home and you hear loud punk-rock music in the background, you may consider calling the cops.

If you don't want your telephones talking or listening to you but prefer the simple convenience of storing lots of numbers in a memory for one-button dialing, you have plenty of choices today. AT&T is very aggressive in broadening the variety of telephones available to consumers. Today, the AT&T line boasts a number of highly styled, technologically advanced instruments. One we especially like is the Touch-a-matic 6000 ($229.95), a compact and attractive desktop telephone console with a memory big enough to store up to 60 16-digit telephone numbers. Three of the buttons are marked in bright colors for easy-to-find help when police, fire department or medical aid is needed in a hurry. A large digital display along the top of the console displays the time, day and date when the phone is not in use. Otherwise, at the push of a button, it times your call. The phone also remembers the number last dialed (either from a memory or direct dialed on the traditional keyboard). If you get a busy signal, it can be instructed to redial the number once per minute for ten minutes or until someone answers. The phone also doubles as a hands-free speaker phone, if needed. The handset is smaller than you might expect from a desk phone, so you may want to test this unit in the store first to make sure you'll be comfortable using it for a long period.

Record-O-Fone has recently introduced a desktop model that closely resembles AT&T's expensive Genesis telephone system. The Record-O-Fone PBX 2800, however, costs only $90 (available in a two-line model for $100). You can dial a call from one of the 36 memories or by pressing the flat-membrane keyboard digits without having to lift the receiver. Like most smart phones, the Record-O-Fone remembers the last number dialed for one-touch redialing.

Forty-one memories are packed into the Comdial Voice Express 41 desktop telephone ($399.95). Each memory can hold up to 22 digits, along with a special automatic-pause feature that listens for dial tones or computer-access tones when you're using discount long-distance services. When you press two memory-location buttons in sequence--one for the long-distance company's local number, plus the access code, the other for the (concluded on page 139)Breaking Up(continued from page 104) long-distance number--the phone chain dials the two numbers. A 12-digit display shows you the numbers as it dials for you, plus the time of day when the phone is not in use. Busy numbers are automatically redialed for ten minutes. And if security is a concern at your location, you can enter a code that prevents any unauthorized callers from using the phone for dialing out.

For the home, a smaller-memory phone may be all you need. General Electric's Hotline 2 one-piece phone ($65.95) features 12 memories, three of which, preferably emergency numbers, are available at the touch of one button. The nine others are recalled by pressing two buttons. A small light illuminates the keys for night dialing. This model is switchable between pulse and tone dialing. If your home is not wired for tone dialing, you can still use this phone to access a long-distance-service computer by dialing the local number with the pulse dialer, then switching to the tone dialer for your access code and long-distance number. The phone comes with a dual-purpose cradle that turns the until into a slim desk phone or a wall phone, the latter attaching to a standard wall plate.

While we're on the subject of one-piece telephones, be sure to check out Comdial's Model 0020 ($59.95), as it's one of the sleekest communications pieces we've seen. Unlike other one-piece phones, the 0020 rests on its back, revealing a brushed-aluminum-look faceplate and simple numeric keypad and ever-so-slightly contoured profile. In keeping with its simplicity, the 0020 has no extraneous technical features beyond a Hold button.

High styling, however, need not be limited to one-piece telephones. From Denmark comes both high style and high technology in the danMark 2 ($199), a fully featured desk phone with an eminently simple and understated appearance hiding all its power. Four buttons control all functions, such as the speaker phone and memory programming. Nine memories, plus a last-number-redial feature, are accessible with smaller buttons on the top panel of the low-profile unit. A 16-digit LCD display confirms the numbers you dial.

Looking more high camp than high tech is the TEL-2280 Big Dial phone from Universal Security Instruments ($99.95). As its name suggests, the push buttons on this desk-style phone are large enough for the most bleary-eyed dialer to see correctly, provided he can remember the number he's calling. And even if not, the phone's ten-number memory and convenient index of stored numbers should help speed the call. Three one-button memories simplify dialing a call to the police, fire department or doctor.

Combining two or more phone products into one unit makes sensible use of desktop real estate. Record a Call, for example, packages a ten-memory cordless telephone with an attractive AM/FM digital clock-radio, the Model C.A.T. 50 ($279.95).

Another popular combination today is that of a telephone and an answering machine. Phone-Mate's sleek Know Phone IQ 850 ($129.95) can be used as both a call screener and an answering machine. A built-in electronic voice answers calls for you while you listen to find out who the caller is. If it's someone selling something you don't want, you won't have to stop what you're doing to answer. But if it's someone inviting you to a hot-tub party, just press the Answer button and lift the receiver.

But not all phones are meant to be used on a desk. If you like to think on your feet but don't want to hold a cordless phone to your ear, the Technidyne Hands-Free Go Fone, Model GF290 ($149.95), is a marvelously new configuration that should interest you. The portable remote unit is about the size of a pack of cigarettes and slips into your pocket or clips to a belt. A lightweight one-earphone headset with a tiny boom microphone takes the place of the traditional handset. Without any cumbersome antennas, you can roam up to 300 feet away from the equally minuscule base unit, depending on your environment, and dial or receive calls. What better way to restore your Bugatti while talking with friends?

The popularity of cordless phones has caused interference problems, especially in densely populated areas. With so many phones in a confined locale, it is possible that someone else can accidentally make outgoing calls on your line if both cordless systems are on the same frequency.

One company addressing such problems is Uniden, with its Model EX-4800 cordless phone ($279.95). You can program the base unit to respond only to one of 256 security codes sent by the portable unit when communication begins. This prevents anyone with another phone on the same frequency from dialing out on your line. Cobra goes one step further with its Model CP-330S cordless unit ($229.95), which lets you also change the frequency pair on which your phone works. Therefore, most potential interference problems are correctable by the user--you don't have to take the unit back to the dealer, hoping that he has a phone in stock with a frequency that's not used in your neighborhood.

The FCC is also making available additional frequencies in the 46-to-49-megahertz very-high-frequency (V.H.F.) range for cordless phones this year. Mura Corporation is among the first to jump onto these new frequencies, which allow the phone maker to keep both transmit and receive signals at a frequency with characteristically higher-quality voice reproduction (without the buzzing that sometimes occurs at the handset end of other phones). Mura's MP-900/901 is a powerful combination of a fully featured self-contained desktop phone and a cordless handset with a claimed range of up to 1000 feet. The cordless unit uses the 32 memories of the base unit for dialing out, complete with voice-synthesized confirmation of what number is stored in each memory, in case you forget. In an office or warehouse environment, the base unit can work with up to five cordless units, paging each one individually when incoming calls are screened at the base unit. The price is $249.95 for the base and one remote, $129.95 for each additional remote.

The Electra Freedom Phone 4500 ($319.95) is another cordless model using the new V.H.F. frequency pairs. With a claimed range of 1500 feet from the base unit, it takes the worry out of being far. Before dialing an outgoing call from the keypad or one of the ten built-in memories, a special tone lets you know whether or not you're close enough to the base unit to make a good-quality call. Accounting for interference problems, the 4500 has a programmable security code and a choice of two built-in frequency pairs.

The ultimate cordless telephone, however, has to be the newest technology in car telephones--cellular mobile phones. Cellular systems eliminate the likelihood that you'll ever have to wait for an open line--saving you 20 to 60 minutes in some metropolitan areas. With a cellular phone in your car, you pick up the handset, listen for the dial tone and dial any number in the world. Similarly, your mobile phone has a regular number, just like any other phone, so anybody can reach you there. There's no mobile-phone operator.

OK, we'll admit that car telephones aren't anything new. But one new thing this cellular technology brings with it is the possibility of a portable, hand-held telephone with the same flexibility and power as the mobile cellular units. Motorola is the first supplier to bring out a portable unit, costing around $4000. But as technology improves and the number of portable phones increases, the prices are bound to go down.

It looks as if it won't be long before the old desk telephone that does nothing more than dial and receive a call will be as outmoded as the wall phone with the crank wired to Sarah at the switching office.

"With a cellular phone in your car, you pick up the handset and dial any number in the world."

You weren't alone if you didn't fully understand what all the fuss was about last January when the monolithic AT&T cut loose its local Bell phone companies--the ones that send you your each month. In all likelihood, the only differences you've noticed are that you're writing checks to a new company name and your monthly telephone bill is even more undecipherable than it was before. But one change for the good is that competition for selling you telephone equipment has opened wide. To distinguish their products from others, telephone manufactures are producing electronic telephones with enough 2001 features to please the most avid technophile while, in many cases, making the phone a more productive office tool.