Siemens 8800 Gigaset 2.4 GHz Accessory Handset for 8825 Cordless Phone

I originally bought the 8800 series because I do lots of conference calls and needed a digital duplex speakerphone. This phone offers so much more however. One feature that we didn't know existed but have used constantly since we purchased is the voice announce for caller ID. I can be in the kitchen and the phone rings and then my voice comes on and annouces "The Smiths" from the base station. We answer that one. Or "Caller ID Unknown". Probably a salesman, no need to get up from dinner for that one. It has caller ID based mailbox routing, call barring (to prevent the phone from ringing at all if someone calls who has deliberately blocked their caller ID from being seen), individual phone intercom, 'all house' intercom, and the room monitor with call forwarding works great as well. There are too many features here to learn in one sitting. We have had two problems. Every once in a while the cordless handset has a clicking in the background which I believe to be related with some other...Read more

Only had my 8825 system a few weeks, so I don't know what might happen later. Right now though, this is a great system! Each handset is a speakerphone with volume control. Mine answers by picking up from the cradle without hanging up on anyone. That option must be turned on though. I can even get my messages from the handset. Also, the other reviewer is mistaken - I transfer calls from the handset all the time. You can transfer to any other handset or the base and you can even rename them for convenience. For example - I named one "Basement" so that is what shows in the display and on the transfer list. Older models (2400-series)had poor batteries that caused problems after 6 months - get rid of those NiCads! The new ones have better batteries. This system has way too many features for anyone to use them all. It's a room/baby monitor and supports headsets. You can turn on or off line 1 or 2 for each handset, choose incoming calls only, use different messages...Read more

Siemens do not offer repair support in the US on any of their phones once the one year warranty is up. I was willing to pay and send it wherever but no luck there. If your phone system goes wrong, you are on your own! All they do is suggest you buy a reconditioned unit from them.
Until they sort this out, I would recommend not buying their phones. I speak from experience after having suffered their uncaring Customer Care dept.