AT&T 954 Expandable 4-Line Corded Speakerphone with Intercom (Black)

Rating:
Summary: Poor Handset Quality
Review: I tried 3 (count 'em, three) of these phones, thinking my first two were duds, but all three had poor handset quality. When speaking louder than a whisper, I heard my voice "break up" -- similar to the sound of a blown sterio speaker. I called AT&T's troubleshooting line and they suggested I try the phone in other jacks, in other configurations, etc., but the handset quality was still poor. Other features and displays on the 954 were great -- but not great enough to offset the bad handset sound.

Rating:
Summary: The Best Multiline Speakerphone / Intercom for the MONEY
Review: I was looking for a used telephone for my home and office, when I saw an ad in the recycler for 7 AT&T Model 954 for $... complete with manual and line cords. It was a bargain. I installed the phones myself and it works wonder. My family and I are enjoying the features especially the intercom. I don't have to raise my voice when calling someone and if I'm in the garage and I have a call my wife just intercom me and announce the caller. For the amount I paid for the telephones and all the features it was a money well spent. I would recommend this multiline speakerphone / intercom system for Home / Office use.

Rating:
Summary: Good Phone, Bad Receiver
Review: In our office we use four of these phones. We have only been in business less than a year and have already returned two phones. The only reason was buzzing in the earpiece. We have determined it is from where the phone plugs into the reciever. I had hoped it was just one bad phone, but after already returning two I have two more that are buzzing when you answer them and during conversations. If you pull or push on the cord you can sometimes get it to clear up. In a business it just doesn't sound very professional when you have to make excuses for your messed up phones. I'm now looking for a new system.

Rating:
Summary: Great phone
Review: It has most of the feathres of full phone systems for a fraction of the cost. Has worked well for us

Rating:
Summary: Want your business to sound like it cares about quality?
Review: Then don't buy this phone! We bought five, and every last one is a piece of junk. Callers began telling us we sounded like we were talking through a pillow or from the bottom of a garbage can. We have surely lost customers as a result.

Rating:
Summary: Phone Man
Review: This phone is Lucent quality through and through. Good features, sound quality and reliabilty. If this unit had caller ID and a dot matrix display, I would give it 5 stars! However, you may have trouble with the intercom feature. This is not a Lucent problem, just a quirk of all multiline, stand-alone phones that have intercom. Intercom works by sending a high frequency signal on the same wires as line one and line one MUST be connected to all phones in your system. There must be less than 600 feet of phone wire between the sets and it is best to disconnect all other equipment (fax, modems, dsl, radio interference filters)from line one. Poor phone wiring can also cause a problem, but not usually. I highly recommend the Lucent Z800A isolation filter to improve intercom operation. You will have to call Lucent to buy it(see your instruction manual). Overall, this phone is professional quality and a great value for the buck!

Rating:
Summary: Gone Downhill
Review: We now have about eight of these phones in our office and we are looking for a new system. After buying the first four we were very pleased, everything worked great. After adding on another four phones the intercom system stopped working. Now the system randomly intercoms each phone. These phones are very sensitive and your phone lines need to be perfect for it to work right.

Rating:
Summary: A good phone, with some caveats
Review: Well constructed, complete feature set for a small business or small branch office. (If you want caller ID, look elsewhere)
There are a couple caveats: The features are difficult to program the first time, and the commands to set them up are counterintuitive to say the least. Once setup, however, the phones are a breeze and actually using the features is as intuitive as you could demand.
The final caveat is simple enough: All four lines come in on two jacks, not four. This requires two-line adapters if, like us, your lines come in on seperate jacks. The required adapters should have been included with the phones. They're inexpensive, but inexeperienced users may have trouble locating the correct adapters.

Rating:
Summary: AT&T 854/954 System is excellent
Review: When I was renovating my house, I considered installing an expensive phone system. My alarm contractor suggested that I save my money and by several AT&T 854/954 phones (both models are basically the same phone). It has paging and intercom, conference calling, call transfer etc. Everything that the expensive systems have... without the high cost. I have these all over my house and I love this system; especially the paging - I hate having to go upstairs to tell my daughter that she has a phone call! I highly recommend buying several (two or more) of these phones over an expensive phone system. It does the same thing for a lot less. Note, however, one difference is that with these phones, you need an AC plug for each unit; on a system you don't. The only draw-back, but if you can live with that minor difference, you'll save yourself over $1000 compared to a professional system.