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Even in the days of cell phones, many people find it convenient and downright necessary to have a landline.  Instead of burning up those cell phone minutes, pick up your home phone and dial away.  Almost every company these days has unlimited long distance calling associated with their land line plans.  This is of course good for the consumer.

Many companies are building cordless phones with a built in digital answering machine.  These cordless phone systems have two hand sets and two bases for charging.  At one of the bases, there is a digital answering machine built into the unit.  They are generally simple and easy to use.  If you spend a lot of time on the phone each day working from home, these little units are indispensable. When one handset goes dead, throw it on the charger and grab another.

Let’s take a look at some of the units on the market today.  Hopefully this will help you pick the model that is right for our specific application and fits into your price range.  Since there are plenty of them out there, it is best to arm yourself with as much knowledge as possible about the specific brands.

AT&T EL52209: This is your basic entry level model.  Listing at around $50.00 this unit boasts voice clarity using the latest DECT technology.  It offers the features that most people want such as Caller ID, and Voicemail Indicator.  The drawback to this unit is that it lacks a headset jack and can only accommodate three handsets.  So if you want to expand and use multiple headsets, with this unit you will only be able to add one.

The Panasonic KX-TG1032S is the next phone up on the block and gets the best ratings from both experts and people that own the phone.  Starting at around $55.00 this phone features the very latest in DECT Technology which means that you will not get any interference from your WI-FI network or any other home electronic gadget.  It does have a headset jack, and this unit can accommodate up to six headsets that cost about $35.00 each.  This phone also has higher end models that feature talking caller ID and those phones rate high also.

The Radio Shack 43-140 cordless phone is rated as the best cordless phone for people with hearing or vision difficulties.  Most users say they can hear everything loud and clear on this phone.  It also has flashing lights when it is ringing, big buttons that light up, and talking caller id.  It includes a corded phone on the base and one cordless handset.  The only drawback to this phone is that you can not add more handsets to the system.  Another drawback is that it does not employ DECT Technology.  It uses the old 5.8 GHz
System, but we found very few user complaints.

This should give you a good starting point for purchasing a cordless phone with a digital answering machine.  There are many variations on every phone, and with a little research you can find the one that best suits your needs.  For more information and links to specific companies, please visit Answering Machine.

Brock Timberman is a staff writer for Platinum Web Services.
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Is it a large iPhone? Is it a small laptop? What can you do with it? More importantly, what can’t you do with it?

Just 9.56 inches by 7.47 inches and half an inch thick, The Apple iPad looks like a tablet or slate computer with no keyboard or mouse. The main feature is its high-resolution, multi-touch screen. This highly responsive screen is obviously great for games, videos and photo sharing but the jury is still out on its usefulness as a serious business tool.

Here are some of the ways you could use it:

As an e-reader: Catch up with newspapers and magazines or read an e-book while travelling. Text on the iPad’s backlit screen appears crisp and easy to read, although some people might find it a bit too bright for prolonged reading. Its weight – 1.5 pounds for the Wi-Fi model and just a fraction more for Wi-Fi +3G – makes it as comfortable to hold as a large paperback.    

For emails: The iPad works with all the popular email providers. Use the on screen keyboard to write your emails and save or delete incoming mail with a few taps on the screen.

Working on business documents: Apple’s iWorks software for word processing, spreadsheets and presentations has been redesigned with new features for use on the iPad. One drawback is that you can’t multitask as you might on a computer. For example, you can’t have a browser window open while you’re working on a document or spreadsheet.

Organisation: Calendars, contacts, notes and maps are all available to keep your business on track.

For presentations and meetings: The screen uses IPS (in-plane switching) technology to give it a wide viewing angle. This means you can see a sharp picture with excellent colour whether the iPad is flat on a desk, held up vertically or tilted, and the people on either side of you will see it equally well. It’s perfect for displaying photos, graphics, text and videos in group situations, and is easily handed round when more than one person is involved in creating or editing a piece of work.

The iPad will be able to use nearly 140,000 apps currently used on iPhones and iPods, and more are being developed specifically for the iPad. We’ll just have to wait and see how useful some of them will be for business.  

Adam Donoghue is the MD of Woodford Computers; an Essex-based IT company that specialises in ‘making the complex simple’ and providing cost effective solutions. Woodford Computers works closely with small to medium sized businesses to improve and enhance their IT systems so that they run efficiently and consistently. The team includes expert MCP and MCSE certified engineers and CISCO network engineers. To find out more and to book your free, no-obligation IT audit, visit http://www.woodfordcomputers.com
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