Side by Side Comparison of: AT&T vs Petra vs Southwestern Bell vs Steren

Have for several years used the last generation of this phone and loved it, but it got too old and died. So, replaced it with this newer model of that phone and love it just as much. Love the upgrade of the backlit screen. Also prefer the more normal voice of the set answer on the answering machine, as the old voice was a bit scary, and like that I can do my own recording if I decide to which I could not do on the old one.

Love it!!! This phone is exactly what I was looking for. I primarily wanted a digital answering service so I could toss my old machine but I got sooooo much more. This phone is not high tech but it is not met to be. The set up instructions are easy to follow. If I needed another phone I would definitely purchase again. I will get a longer receiver cord but other than that this is great. Highly recommend it. Also the color is not all white it is a light grey and white which frankly is very attractive.

Excellent is all I can say. I was able to figure out most all the features, without using the manual... took a bit of trial and error... but it's a wonderful phone. The feature I like the most is turning the ringer off and setting the ringer volume. The feature I'm OK with is the volume control on the answering machine... volume can be turned to low, but not to off.... But that's OK... then it's just call screening. One tip that another reviewer wrote that really helped, was IF you have another answering machine on the same line... it needs to be unplugged, in order for the very efficient answering machine included with the phone to function. This is an excellent phone, would recommend.

I have a magicjack ("mj") and anyone who has a mj, and have ever had to deal with tech support, which all they have is chat for tech support, then you know why I hated dealing with tech support. The mj tech support clowns insisted that my problem was the computer, or the internet connection was too slow, or anything, except for the magicjack. They finally convinced me that it was the phone itself.

So, I set out on a trek for a phone. What a trip! In the past, I had seen phones for $10-15 dollars. I figured that I would replace the phone in my computer room without spending a small fortune. We have cordless phones, one of those systems that has two phones. It is not very old, but I thought that I would get something comparable to replace that with. Then I saw, that they cost more than I had remembered. I really did not need to spend that much money. So then, I thought, I would stay with the original idea, and get a real cheap corded phone.

I began reading all the reviews here at Amazon. Reviews are great. I have bought some things with really great reviews on it, then decided that they must have had all the employees for the manufacturer do the reviews, clearly they had been wrong. But anyway, I read the bad as well as the good, to see if I can live with the worst of the reviews. I chose this particular phone. The worst of the reviews, was not something that I could not live with.

The phone reached me very quickly. It was exactly as advertised. I don't like to think I am blind as a bat, and that I didn't need big buttons. Ya know what? The big buttons are great! Not once have I had to squint to see the buttons. It has a nice large read out panel. Not once, have I had to squint trying to see what the panel says.

The phone is not too large, and not too small. It is just right. I have to agree with most of the good reviews I read, and have to disagree with the bad reviews I read. I am glad that I was prepared to watch for issues within the bad reviews, and glad that there was no problem on my phone. The phone is just right, the price, the size, the features, the phone fit what i needed, and I love it!

For those considering purchase who, like myself, hate the sound of a ringing phone, especially a loud ringing phone (and this phone's ring is loud even on the lowest setting), rest assured that you can turn the ringer off completely and never have to hear it. Doing so will leave you with a number of options to detect an incoming call in progress or thereafter. One can choose to hear (or not) the message in real time as it is being recorded. One can choose to hear (or not) a beep every 15 seconds or so after a message has been left. One can choose simply to view a flashing light which starts once a message is recorded and continues until listened to. One can choose any combination of these settings. One of the great strengths of this phone is its excellent versatility in terms of settings allowed. For me that means I never have to hear a ringing phone at home again as I choose not to pick up while the call is still in progress anyway. One more point: the phone comes with certain default settings chosen by the manufacturer. To change settings to those that suit you read the manual carefully. It is long but very clear providing you bring it with you to the phone's location to use as you are choosing your own settings.

The build quality is very good and feels durable.

The heads up display tilts up to about 45 degrees and lights up orange when in use.
During a call it displays the call duration in minutes and seconds.
Font is big and legible and there is a setting to adjust the contrast to some degree.
When not in use it displays the number of missed calls, today's date and time, and number of voicemail messages. It runs on AC power (not batteries). If there is a temporary power outage the information still is retained.

Speed dial is programmable to the dialpad. Hold a key from 0-9 to speed dial for 1 second to auto call. Press the dedicated speed dial button to access the speed dial directory. Press the dedicated directory button to access the full phone book, which is searchable.

The handset itself is relatively lightweight but still feels like a high quality build. The handset cord itself is relatively short, and if extended more than about 3 feet, it will begin to pull the base.

The ringer volume is adjustable from no noise (the backlight will still light up if there is a call) to very loud. I have it set to the 1st setting and it is plenty loud for a small room. The ring tone music is a "business phone" like ringer, and there is no option to change this.

There is also a setting to adjust the audio equalizer to a minor degree, such as increase bass, or increase treble. Like the ringer volume, the call audio volume itself is adjustable from low to high. I have mine set at the lowest volume and it is more than plenty loud for me.

The speakerphone mic works best at close distance, less than 3 feet away. Speakerphone audio is also relatively loud even at the lowest settings.

Over a VOIP system, the call quality sounds better than a cellphone.

In summary this phone is an excellent value and I recommend it.

Exactly as shown. A solid phone from the company that knows phones. Doesn't take messages, but can't beat the price. Corded, not cordless, but my old one didn't work in my building. Desk or wall phone.

Very clear reception. Appreciate the volume control for both ringer and incoming calls. Wish the directions on programming numbers was a bit clearer, but once I got help on first one, it worked ok

We love this phone! We had one for years that broke and we tried multiple phones from stores and they didn't hold up. I figured I would try this one because it was close to our original phone and it works great. Love the caller ID and the cord lid long but not too long. Even though it is an AT&T phone it works for all providers. I would definitely buy this again!

wanted to ditch the wifi phones in my house for the sake of my 2 year old who loves talking on the phone all the time. This wired phone working great no mater how may times my kid drops it (I've lost count now) its still working fine.

Why so many bad reviews for this phone. I held this phone the same way as most of you customers did, and As long as you don't hold it tightly you shouldn't dial any numbers. The volume is great. I am hearing impaired and I am able to hear the conversations on the lowest setting. I just wish the ringer could be a bit louder but that is okay. This phone gets a perfect 5 stars. You can't beat this price for under $12 and free shipping

My cell is my main phone, but I have a land line in case of earthquakes (last big one we lost power but not phone service - !). I just didn't like not being able to screen calls so I pay for caller ID. Then I tried to find a phone that was (1) small in size, (2) compact in design, (3) would accommodate extension cords on both the hand set and the base (have a small apt. and like to carry it around with me). This was the ONLY phone I could find that fit the bill, AND was so inexpensive! Yes, the buttons on the back of the handset were annoying at first as I also kept hitting the disconnect accidentally while talking at first, but I adapted and it doesn't happen any more. And yes, it would be easier to read the caller ID if it were back-lit (BEWARE - the photo makes it look like it is back lit and it is NOT) but not a big deal to me as the phone rests on a shelf under a lamp. Had this phone for about 6 years - look a beating as I had dropped it a number of times - and it finally gave out. Phone worked, but caller ID didn't. Could ONLY find a replacement on Amazon. Looked all over and no other phones fit the bill - WAY too large and bulky, cordless (won't work if power is out), much more expensive, etc. Was so thrilled to find this tried and true model on Amazon that I bought an extra for the future just in case. Cannot go wrong for the price - and you can change out the cords with standard phone extension lines.

For those of you that still have land line phones, this extra long coil cord allows you extra freedom to move around without moving the telephone base, obviously. .Its a quality product too.

It works perfectly. Let us hope that my cat doesn't chew it up like she did to the last one.

Replaced what I had (old) with this identical one - perfect fit, I feel at a great price, and quality made. Also, received it quickly.

Very happy with length of cord. Can go into another room without over stretching and damaging cord. Can't believe unable to buy a long phone cord in a local store. But knew wd find on Amazon.

Come very compressed, but after you use it extended a few time, it stays extended. If you want a cord that is short all the time, but a shorter length. But I use this with my landline while I am cooking, so I want the longer cord that stretches. I am having no problems with the sounds coming out of my landline, much better than cell phone conversations which can be tinny and fluctuate in volume.

This phone cord works good!!!

Great item... Great seller...

Nice, clean look to replace old cord to kitchen phone. Works great, as expected.

Works great with my old trimline phone. Getting rarer and rarer.

Just what I needed.

At last a cord that doesn't twist into a mess!Its been weeks without a problem.

GOOD PRODUCT

AT&T CL4940--Had to replace a Panasonic corded answering machine I had for 5 yrs. The machine was one of the items destroyed by an electric surge explosion after a brief thunderstorm. The model is no longer available, it seems every time something is good it's removed from the market. That machine, together with CL4940 had the same featurers which I don't need. My sole intentions is for answering purposes. Not thrilled the machine is in white but it was the cheapest I could find for my use. Large buttons are a nice feature should I use it as a phone, it's quite simple to program, although I'm still having difficulty setting day/date/time feature. I find the following very interesting---I called AT&T customer support, prior to receiving the item, inquiring if a light flashes when there's a message and was told "absolutely not." Customer support personnel need to become familiar with the products AT&T sell because a light does flash which is extremely convenient because it can be seen from a distance.

This is a fine phone, especially for the price. There are a few shortcomings, for me, though.
I set up the directory OK. But when I want to access the directory you have to page through all of the names/numbers to get the one you want.
There was no way to enter them alphabetically. Same goes for the speed dial.
The instructions were not clear as to how to dial from the directory or speed dial. I am kinda getting use to looking up the number first, then picking up the handset, which, then dials the number for you. Seems like a reverse of my previous ATT phone.

I bought this for my mom so I call her in her room in a nursing home. The large digits of the readout are great, and the large buttons are easy to see and use. My main complaint is the detachable plastic piece that is supposed to elevate the phone in the back so it is angled forward for easier reading. Despite multiple attempts to get this piece to stay in place, the phone slipped and collapsed. I think it would be better if they made the phone itself higher in the back, rather than use the plastic support. My mom rarely uses her phone, so this model is okay for her. But it might be a problem for someone else if placed on a corner of a bed stand where it could unexpectedly topple to the floor.

Nice big buttons for the visually impaired. I bought this phone for my 86 year old mother who has dementia and has trouble seeing the buttons on a standard cordless phone. She would also confuse the TV remote control with cordless phone and get frustrated when she couldn't make a call on the remote. They are both black plastic sticks with number buttons on them so I can see how a sufferer of dementia might get confused. She also started to have trouble with the concept of hanging up the cordless by placing it back in it's cradle so I decided to give her this kind of phone instead and it is helping. The numbers on the buttons are quite large so she can see which ones she's pushing and it looks nothing like a remote. This is a good choice for the elderly.

It does everything I need as a main phone... at a modest price.

Growing up with old style black bakelite phones that weighed many pounds, there isn't much out there these days that is going to please my sense of what is desirable in a phone. But over a period of a few years, I've at least learned not to hate this phone. It tells me who is calling, who has called, and keeps track of the phone numbers I call most often.

I'm sure it also gives foot massages, can cook dinner, and wash the dishes.... if only I'd just bother to sit and read the manual. Not gonna' happen!

Great phone, someone complained about caller ID being to dim. Well just turn up the contrast or brightness on phone, so u can see it better. Comes with the preset of 3 goes up to 5 I think for brightness. Very basic phone no real perks but screen and color ID only wish it came with a speakerphone.

I would have given this a 5 star rating except for the bottom part you remove to install it on a wall. It's not a tight fit and can fall off. i didn't want to spend a lot of money for a phone that will hardly be used so it works

Just what I want! I needed a basic phone for my landline. More than enough basic bells and whistles. Contrast on caller id screen difficult to see. Generally only calls 3rd parties I don't wish to talk with so don't miss there being no message system. Great price.

Comfortable to hold, easy to dial, good sound, and a terrific bargain. If you want this kind of phone, I don't think you can do better.

This phone is so light weight that it will fall off the counter when you use it. You can't see that you have dialed the number because the number keys don't light up or anything. It works but it is not great.

This replaced an older trimline phone we had that stopped working after 20 years. We rarely use the land line so I can't write a lot about it. It seems fine for when I do use it. The caller ID portion works well. It is not backlit. I haven't had issues reading it. It's a good basic phone with caller ID with it. Great for my use - a rarely used land line phone.

If you are still using a land line with corded phone, this makes it so much easier.

good

it works

was great when i needed it. need a landline stephen king novel.

it works. its a phone cord.

Bought it but didn't use it for present installation.May use sometime later.

Just a typical telephone cord nothing uniqe or special

very good

Great price. Good quality cord. Quick delivery.

Works well

Typical spring cord. The junky phone always falls off the table b/c the cord is too tightly wound up. But it works on the typical annoying land line. I only have land line because no one ( the phone company) can seem to repair my phone lines. Yes, I have a cell !

I purchased a Trimline Corded telephone for my elderly mother to prevent the telephone from moving on her while answering and talking on it. It was a PERFECT solution to the short cord that came with the Trimline in particular. I would recommend that you seriously consider the cord as a replacement for a cord that comes with a desktop telephone.

1. The screen is not readable in the dark.2. It is also difficult to clean this phone. I very, very,very,very lightly sprayed the phone with a drop of windex and used a paper towel to clean the phone. The readout on the screen stopped working. If you get this phone ONLY use a damp rag or a wash-n-dry to clean it. It has zero tolerance for being wet.

This phone does the job, although it has some odd characteristics. The speakerphone is pretty terrible, and that seems to be the only way to record and play messages. It's usable, but the clarity is below average. The menu system is a little awkward getting used to, but it's functional as well. The ergonomics of the keys and the message system are good. Bottom line: this is a decent, functional telephone. I rate it as solidly average, but few people probably care about such phones any more.

This phone worked well and had an easy to read display. However, when wall mounted, the phone protruded from the wall several inches and had a very unappealing appearance. It stuck out so far that you could see the whole back of the phone. If you plan to use this phone on a desk, it will be just fine. You might want to see this item at a store before ordering. We returned it after one hour.

The delivery time was overnight and that is a plus. I like the phone and would rate it a 4+ except for the following.a. Phone is of very light plastic and as such is prone to be a bit unstable. I realize the design is inexpensive but this is worth noting.b. I`m not fond of the "retractable coil" cords and tho this is easily fixed by substituting handset cords, my disappointment was in discovering the handset end is very small and won`t accept a "standard" connection.To be fair perhaps that is standard altho I think not. I`ll fix this by buying another cord but think it worth mentioning.Of course a personal preference.c. As far as I can ascertain, there is not a battery substitution for the "wall wart", which would do away with the need for the electrical connection.Having said the above, the phone fills my needs and does it reasonably well. For the cost, it is of reasonably good design and offers all the features I might want. I, of course have no experience with longevity of the fone but it is inexpensive enough that I will buy again if it lasts one year.

UPDATE: For reasons unknown, the readout on this phone has suddenly started reading: "12 missed calls" or "15 missed calls" or other random numbers when only one is received. This takes away a very important feature. I am moving my rating from five stars to three. As this is a new business phone I can't afford to return it under warranty service, I need the answering function NOW. Everything else seems to work okay.This is a really good phone for the price, you probably won't get a better deal anywhere. It has several excellent features, primary among them is the setup. Even an old coot like me could figure it out right away, the instructions are barely necessary. Also nice is the fact the phone has dedicated buttons for each item on the answering part, there are no uni-buttons to control multiple features. If you want to listen to your message, hit the "listen" button, "delete," hit the delete button, and so on. The listen button flashes when a message is received, and pushing it plays the message also. The LED panel is a nice orange, it comes on only when making or receiving a call, so your bedroom, if that is where you place it, isn't lighted up all the time.Smiles: An adjustable display panel which flips up to make it easier to see when used on a table. You can answer the phone by simply pushing the speaker button if desired You can skip or replay messages by pushing independent buttons The mute button can be used to put a caller on hold, no need for two buttonsFrowns: While the phone will function in a power outage, none of the other features will. Even worse, you will have to reprogram the entire phone from scratch. Ditto if you simply want to move the phone to another location. A battery backup to hold the programing would have been helpful. I do not know if the answerer works in an outage, but I can't see why it would. This may be difficult to wall mount, I was lucky and already had a phone mounting plate on the wall of my apartment, so it was a snap. Speaker quality is poor, scratchy, but easily audible.In conclusion, this is a great buy for the money, easy to use, easy to setup, and attractive also.

The phone is well designed, except for one major flaw, which I discuss later. The basic controls are easy to use. It has some clever features, like the redial format selection, which allows one to select the format the phone uses to redial a number from the phone log. After selecting a number from the caller ID lot, you can select whether the phone dials seven digits, 10 digits, or 10 digits preceded by 1. The major flaw goes to the heart of the product, the large display. It is large. It is not backlit. An LCD display that is not backlit appears black on gray. It can be read only with strong direct light on it. It is all well and good to see the new message light blinking, but I wish I could glance into the kitchen as I pass and read the text display of how many calls I'd missed, or be able to review the caller ID log without turning on the brightest light in the room. While I'm at it, it is grossly misleading to market this phone with a picture of a backlit display. That is not what the phone looks like when installed.

Even though we've had this for a short time, one small piece of the back fell off...but it went right back on. Otherwise, you get what you pay for. AT&T is a great phone supplier. This is an adequate phone.

If the caller ID display would light up like the photo shown in the description :( Other wise rest of this phone functions fine for now..

After two months I'm getting a squealing feedback effect that usually occurs if I put a portable speaker phone next to this one when I'm on perpetual hold. Only problem is, the portable speaker phone is nowhere near. Either that or the PC police are tapping my phone. Like another reviewer stated, why can't they just make a good simple phone that works like they used to make in America. One improvement over the previous version of this phone is that I can actually read the caller id display. The previous one had a wrap around window that made reading the last digit almost impossible.

The picture makes it look like the caller id display lights up but it does not. I bought this phone specifically for that purpose because the location the phone jack is in is dark.

The phone works fine but the main body is too light in weight and it gets pulled around when you pick up the receiver, the only solution is to anchor the body to the table which is not always feasible. Maybe it would work better as a wall mount. The manufacturer should weigh the body down so that this does not happen, it makes the phone feel cheap even if it works OK.

I purchased this phone for my dad. It works great, looks good on the wall and basically performs like any other land-line phone. The problem he has with it is the caller ID screen. The light isn't bright enough for the letters/numbers to "pop" and because they are the old-style monochrome LCD, you have to look at it directly to see clearly; they aren't visible from an angle. This doesn't work well for him because the phone is hanging on a wall that is too close to a corner for him to get directly in front of. It kind of defeats the purpose to take the phone off the hook to see what it says if you are trying to screen your calls.

needed too replace old one, it did the job.

Haven't had to use the length, but it does work well . . .

As coil cords go, this one is okay.

I like that I can move around but these do not last. I have to buy another one because the piece that goes into the phone keeps tearing up.

We have an issue with a certain member of our household pulling on the cord during long phone conversations. We go through phone cords more than a normal family should. After about 6 weeks using this cord, we began hearing a crackly static sound during calls. When we changed out the cord, sound quality went back to being clear. My guess is the cord would probably last longer with normal use. But if you have someone who refuses to stop pulling the cord during 2-hour phone calls, I doubt any cord is going to hold up.

IF YOU REALLY NEED THE LENGTH IT'S OKAY. FOR NORMAL PURPOSES IT'S A BIT OF NUISANCE, THE CORD BECOMES TANGLED AND IS A MESS. MAKE SURE IT'S SECURE IF YOU HAVE KIDS OR YOUNG "DUMMIES" ABOUT AS THEY CAN HANG THEIR SELVES BY ACCIDENT. USE EXTREME CAUSTION IF "KIDS" ARE THEY, THEY FEEL INVINCIBLE AND DON'T KNOW MUCH ABOUT REAL LIFE.GOOD LUCK, KEEP THE CORD SAFE AND AWAY FROM THE "KIDS."God bless and stay well.

works fine

It is not quite long enough but is ok. 25 footer would be better.

No problem

Can you hear me now?

A 12 foot cord is only 12 feet if you stretch it all the way out. I didn't realize this when looking for a longer phone cord. When this cord is not stretched, it's about 21 inches long.

Was disappointed that the cord is made in China. Had to throw away other cheap cords made in China because they caused static on the line. So far, this cord works fine. It's a good value.

I should have returned this phone. Not getting an immediate "tone," have to click repeatedly with the base release clicker to get the tone, no ringer/sound, gives off a background buzz noise when in use. Not happy at all despite the other good reviews. Having no trouble with the base weight.

I bought this phone to replace another ATT phone whose keypad suddenly stopped working. It seemed well designed and with a useful set of features. However, I found that, although the ringer was working when I adjusted the volume, it did not ring for an incoming call. I considered this a fault, so requested a replacement. However, the replacement had the same issue, which I had not had with the previous model phone. I thought that it might be a REN issue (the REN of the 4940 is 1.2 - not particularly high), so I tried it on a different phone circuit - the phone rings for incoming calls sometimes, but is unpredictable. The problem is clearly with the phone - perhaps the REN is actually higher than indicated.Apart from this, the phone is attractive and easy to use, and the large keys are welcome. If the ringer problem can be solved, I would give 4 stars.

The AT&T CL4940 is not what I was expecting.I got the phone for my 82 year old mother in law. I wanted a high ring tone, big buttons, sharp hand set audio, simple phone, now that she has problems hearing when the phone rings and the “modern” phones are difficult for her to understand. I thought this phone covered most of what I was looking for, what sets this phone apart is the large, backlit, tiltable display that she can see who is calling and can see what number she is dialing.But what disappointed the most is that the ring tone is NOT “Extra loud” as it’s advertised. The Ring tone is very low, even for me and my husband (39 year old), you can barely hear the phone ring from the next room or down the hall. The flashing light on top of the display is not that bright and if you are not looking directly towards the phone you can barely noticed that is flashing. She liked the phone because of the big buttons, the backlit display and the sharp hand set audio, but the LCD display does not work if the phone has no power, it would have been good if it included back up batteries to be able to work.

There is no place to write or note what speed dial button is whose. It's necessary to scroll thru the stored numbers to find the one you want as they are stored in the order they were entered not alphabetical. Strange way to display numbers when a 1 is first, instead of 1-567-8569 you get 156-785-69. This is not made by ATT, it is made by Advanced Telephone Technologies, I'm surprised ATT would license their name for such a flimsy product, try to wall mount it, it is not like the ATT phones of old that were built to last. For some stupid reason the display shows the model number instead of something useful like the date or time.Look for something else or go to Goodwill and get a used phone from one of the Bell companies.

The big buttons are nice, very easy to dial. Volume up and down is real good. There are two major problems, though. It's very hard to read the Caller ID. Luckily, our cable TV also displays the caller ID so that's what we always look at. It's very hard to see on the phone who is calling. The other problem is once you have heard an answering machine message once you can not play it again. It seems to disappear. So if I listen to a voice mail that my wife would then like to hear, she's out of luck.The big buttons are not worth the hassle with the poor screen quality of the caller ID and the lack of ability to hear a voice mail more than once, so I am not happy with this machine.

I bought this phone last November 2015. I would expect a phone to last longer than 8 or 9 months. It was fine until the last two weeks and I started having problems with it loosing contact with the party that was calling. The other party could not hear me and I could not hear them. Then I noticed that the phone was not storing the messages on the answering machine part. A relative told me they had left a message a month ago that I never received. Then I find out it was not on the answering machine at all but on my voice-mail through my telephone service. I had to buy another phone. Hopefully Iwill get better service. But I do not intent on ever buying this brand again.

Nice looking phone but requires buying an adapter to make it work. The adapter was not available at ATT store. I bought it for about $9.00 at Walmart. Now I need to find someone to install it for me. Would not have gotten if I knew all this

I use a set of five cordlesws Panasonic phones and like them very much but they do not work well next to my computer. Needing a landline, I opted for the ATT phone which works next to my computer. Awkward to use, the caller ID is not clear and is on the side opposite from the dialing buttons. The buttons are used for programming the phone. There are few slots for inputting my phone lists and only 3 memory buttons. As I use it infrequently, I didn't bother to return it, but it is certainly not well designed. I would not recommend it.

Worked well for a few months but then it would ring and I would be unable to hear anything and the caller could not here me. It's too bad that with the proliferation of cell phones and cordless land lines it is almost impossible to find a suitable replacement for a reliable handset.

I wished one could pick it up yo see who's calling before answering, instead you have to strain to see display.

This phone will last about two years before it needs to be replaced due to several factors, all of a sudden you cannot dial out and there is a lot of static and their is a little plastic tip that breaks off so it cannot be hung on cradle anymore.

This phone has a very nice feature set. The LCD display however is one of the worst I have seen (my Casio watch and hp Calculator are far better and they also have no backlight). Thinking I had a sample defect I asked Amazon to ship a replacement which turned out to be equally bad in terms of the display.The Quick Start manual included is missing some important information. Go to the manufacturer's website for a more complete manual. http://cdn-media-att.vtp-media.com/media/p/document2/products/{59A4E55E-7972-4344-9C2B-ECC7AF4A62EE}/TR1909_CIB_i10.0_20141230.pdfWith a decent display I would rate this unit 5 stars considering the price. Considering the poor display I have chosen to rate it 2 stars.

I needed a new cord for my kitchen phone. This one arrived the next day and works beautifully. There is one small hitch: fully extended, the cord is only 11.5 feet NOT 25 feet as advertised.

Poor quality ord. When you moved it kept losing the connection so I couldn't hear the person I was talking with. Bought a better cord at the store and the problem was solved.

I ordered a 'white' cord.l to go along with a white phone. Unfortunately this cord is more off-white than white.

Not 25 feet, more like half. Smaller than normal gauge wire, cheap exterior insulation.

The absolute lowest grade coil cord I have ever seen. Makes dollar store junk look like AT&T in the 1960's

We ordered this because our batteries on the cordless phones would die and we needed to use a corded phone with some length to the cord. It worked great for about 3 months. Then it started to make the phone crackle and also hang up calls. We had to put the original cord back on, the short one that came with the phone. The one that came with the phone is still working. Not sure if we will order another RCA 25 ft cord online again.

I guess I should've checked the length more closely, but when extended fully it pulls the phone off the counter. I couldn't use it and wound up buying a 25' cord which works much better.

I should have gotten 25' cord for a kitchen.

Measured with a tape measure, this cord is 2 feet long unstretched! Get the 25 foot cord, that might be 5 feet if you're lucky!!!

Not a bad handset cord. The coiled cord is very compact and does not hang down from the wall phone onto the floor. But it has much less than a practical 12 foot length. By what standard was this length determined? For a true, usable length, you might want to order a cord with a longer length rating. I bought a more reasonable cord at Radio Shack.

Great cord -- sturdy and nicely made -- not 12 feet by any stretch of the imagination --- only way it's 12 feet if if you stretch it within an inch of its life.

Hi, let me tell you about the telephone cord. If you stretch it to its maximum it may be a 12 foot cord. My old 12 foot cord would stretch to 15 feet. Maybe I am spoiled. I do not want to exchange it. I will be happy using it the way it is. I could not find a telephone or cord anywhere. I thank you for asking. Al Luber

pitiful. purchased two of them. the first one did not work properly and was returned. bought a replacement which also did not work properly. returned it for a refund.

I purchased this phone to replace my separate phone, answering machine and caller ID upstairs, even though they were working well. When connected, the new phone appeared to work correctly. The caller ID correctly identified the caller, I could make and and receive calls, and hear the party on the other end but they could not hear me. So I disconnected it and set it aside. It's possible I accidently had hit the "mute" button, so a few weeks later I decided to give it another try. This time it seemed to work fine, until I discovered that if I answered an incoming call on my downstairs phone, there was a loud "zinging" for about 15 seconds. I disconnected the CL4940 and set it aside again and that problem went away. Later I gave it a third try. and it work fine for a couple weeks. Then it stopped ringing on incoming calls. There is a "volume" control which reduces the volume of the ring tone in four stages down to "ringer off." It seemed to function as it should, which is to sound a test ring at each stage. But, even at full volume, the phone did not ring on actual incoming calls. Other reviewers have noted this same problem. At AT & T's suggestion I disconnected the AC power to the phone for about a minute and re-connected it. Apparently this re-sets things because the phone now operates correctly. All of this suggests that they tried to make a phone with too many features.Latest Episode: Since the foregoing, the phone has gone back to giving just a short bleep rather than a full ring and does not ring again. The caller also gets just a short bleep and nothing more. If I do pick up the phone, and the caller has not hung up, we can have our communication. Since it does not ring for the required 4 times, the answering machine function does not pick up the call. Disconnecting the power in hopes the phone can re-set itself does not correct things, Since it has been just one thing after another, I have had to reduce my rating to one star, and even that is too much. I have developed a poor opinion of AT & T products.Yet further episode: It still does not ring (other than the short bleep), so the answering function does not work. In fact none of the functions work and the it does not respond to any of the buttons. The display now says "NO AC POWER" When I disconnect the ac power the display goes blank, so obviously it WAS getting power. So I checked the power supply with a meter and it does supply power. When I reconnect it, the screen again reads "NO AC POWER" What a sad piece of equipment. This is the last straw. It's headed for the trash.

I am not happy with this phone. It will not display the telephone numbers of incoming calls, even though we have caller ID and another phone we have does just that. We are not using the answering system, and have it hooked up to an external answer machine. That answer machine will verbalize the number coming in (another indication that our caller ID through our carrier is working just fine), but I want to be able to see it on the new phone, because often names are associated with the number. There is also no Caller ID log which is another useful feature if it worked! Unless I can quickly get this problem resolved, I will be returning the phone.

After less than a year, this phone malfunctioned. It will, all by itself, connect to a dial tone. If I am at home, I cannot hang up. I have to remove the wire at the phone jack before the phone will work again. If no one is at home, the dial tone makes the phone inoperable.This phone, in a vacation home, is used by our freeze alarm system to alert our plumber. Recently, our furnace failed and the house began to freeze up. The freeze alarm detected the event but with no phone working, the plumber was not notified. The pipes froze.We were lucky that it was not the fire alarm that couldn't get through.

I bought this phone here on Amazon in Oct 2012. Over the past few months, the Caller ID has been fading and fading. Right now it's completely unreadable and I would never recommend this phone because of that. It's such a waste to buy a whole new phone (the rest of it works just fine) so I'm going to try and find a Caller ID box (just one more thing to add to my desk space - ugh!).Stay away from this...

I really like this phone so far. I like that the display sets up at an angle. Love the big buttons. People hear me clearly. I like when someone calls and leaves a message, you can actually hear them leave you the message and can pick up if you want too. .The only complaint is when you have to record a greeting. You have to do it through the speaker part of the phone which makes you sound muddled.I haven't tried some of the advance functions, so I can't give a review on those as of yet.Edit: February 19, 2013. I've had this phone for 2 months. At first I loooved this phone. However, after month one, I noticed static on some of my calls. On the two month mark the speaker phone no longer works. Also, the date and time someone calls you and leaves a message is never correct.This is a huge disappointment. I originally gave this a 5 star. Now, I'm downgrading it too 2 star. This is not quality.Edit: February 19, 2013. Well, later today my phone just went bezerk! Any button I pushed on the phone whether it was a number or delete button, or anything, showed up on the display as a "6" and made a long beep. So, I could not longer dial out. I tried turning it off by un-hooking everything and turning it back on. Again, it wouldn't allow me to dial anything but the number "6" with a long beep sound. Any button I pushed whether it was 1, 3, 9, delete, mute, etc ALWAYS showed up on the display as the number "6" and made a long beeping sound. I really loved this phone until today. I have no idea as to why it would malfunction the way it did.Contact Amazon and PURCHASE a warranty. That's what I should have done. You can't return it after thirty days.I've downgraded this to a 1 star.

No longer dials out, only received calls. No phone book, dialing is uncomfortable due to the buttons on the back, often press by mistake. Buy a different one.

I bought this phone in november and use it for 1.5 month. It just stopped working. I am very disappointed in this purchase!!! Invest in another good one

HORRIBLE

When you pick up the phone, you hear a dial tone, but the buttons don't work. I've had this less than 2 months. Waste of money.

Great cheap little phone. No issues. Does exactly what you would expect it to do.update: after less than 1 year of use and used maybe 10 times, the phone is stuck on talk - I cannot hang up the phone. Now in the trash. Don't waste cash on this.

I bought this for an elderly family member who needed a simple phone without too many bells and whistles. It is being used but not without problems: (1) it is black and the numbers on the pad seem to be grey and not easy to read; (2) while it is in use, there is a button which frequently is inadvertently touched and disconnects the call; and (3) it is not heavy enough to stay on the table when he picks it up to answer a call. I would not purchase this again.

Item did not work...no dial tone on phone..put old cord back in..worked fine...sent a note explaining this...was told to contact amazon for a refund...but when I pulled up the picture of the cord, and clicked on refund ..answer said no refund was available on this item...cost was less than $6..not worth any more of my time

Item arrived in a open used package with no directions or information. The clip that goes into the phone jack was also defective causing this purchase to be unable to be used. Seller stated that this was brand new however this is clearly preowned based in the dirt on the white phone cord and the debris in the plastic case. I do not recommend this product

So far I've had not problems with it. I love the fact that I can use my landline when washing my dishes;, etc. I don't like any portable phone near my head, so this long cord solves that problem when I need to multitask.Update: As of November of 2016 it's breaking up my connection. I've had to switch to the original cord which is too short.

This item does not fit tightly into my phone. I bought a 25 foot one so we could move around the house while we are talking on the phone. I finally had to give up & put my old one back onto the phone because with this one we had to stand by the phone & keep the cord from any movement or we would just get static. It's a piece of junk.

I bought this 2-28 and installed it on my phone today 3-14-16. It is defective. There is a short in the cord. My old one was kinked up but worked fine. This was worse!I tried to return but it isn't eligible, I assume because it is past the 30 day return window. Well, many of us buy things for later use, so this is too short a time period. DO NOT BUY!

Shortly after receiving this 25 foot cord it started having static and low volume on my phone calls. This got worse over time like - there was a short in the wire inside the cord. I did try to contact the company...they referred me to Amazon. Amazon gave me a refund for the defective phone cord.

This is a piece of cheap flimsy junk. It only lasted a month before it became unusable, tangled and twisted.

I received the cord, as expected. Probably there are no connectors on it. Now I need to figure out how to return this 12 foot cord. Not happy

length before pulling phone off surface is about three feet.

Didn't try to hookup phone until February 25. It doesn't work. I can't return because window to return expired!!

Sent it back. Was supposed to be 12 Ft. Could barely get five when the tension pulled the telephone off the table. Stretched it as far as it would go and even then didn't make 12.

Fell right out of the existing phone, had to hold it up to talk. This could be because this cord did not match the wall phone.