Rating: 
Summary: Siemens Gigaset 8825
Review: - Phone & its handsets are mediocre at best.
- Siemens support not very forthcoming/helpful.
- Design & features not well or professionally thought out.
- No battery backup for date / time. Any power loss requires resetting;
- Speakerphone on handset, but does not 'mute';
- Controls not easy to use;
- Phone's number listing not easy to enter or maintain.
At first glance this unit appeared promising. I am very disappointed, with the telephone, the headset(s), and Siemens. I have found a replacement system, which will cost less, and do more. I will never by a Siemens product again.
Rating: 
Summary: Yes, you CAN interrupt the answering machine!
Review: A number of people have said that you cannot retrieve calls from the answering machine using the cordless handsets. This is incorrect, you can retrieve those calls. The deal is this: You cannot interrupt the Auto Attendant message from anywhere except the base. However, once the caller hears a greeting from an individual mailbox (1 through 4) or begins recording a message in any one of those mailboxes, you can JOIN that line from the cordless handsets (which will stop the answering system and give you the call). I have my cordless sets programmed for Manual Line Selection to make these things easier, but you can push the 'talk' key and select the line in use by the answering machine if you prefer to setup the cordless handsets for Automatic Line Selection mode.The call quality and answering machine recording quality is quite good for this price. In fact, the answering machine quality is much better than most other one- or two-line cordless phones with integrated answering machines. The program menus are quite easy, and the cordless handset menus are very simple once you get used to them. It is a slight learning curve... but what phone SYSTEM isn't going to have a learning curve? The name-directory speed dialing is very FAST and easy to navigate. The speakerphone quality is average, and I would recommend that you use headsets if you really need to be "handsfree" (since the cordless handsets and the base have the 2.5mm connections). I have set the base next to my many computers, and have noticed an occassional "click" while using the cordless handsets. It is very rare, and I am sure it is because of the placement of the base unit. I intend to soon relocate the base to another location in my home to solve this problem. Overall, this system is well worth the investment. Once you take a few minutes (and a few calls) to get used to it, you will be quite pleased. As mentioned, the manual is average and could use additional detail... but Siemens toll-free technical support is only a phone call away and they are very helpful with any question you could throw at them.
Rating:
Summary: poor workmanship
Review: After only a year, the LCD display didn't work properly. More and more segments of the display faded away. The maximum range of the wireless handsets is far inferior to another cordless phone from Uniden which I also own. I would advise everyone to avoid Siemens cordless phones.
Rating:
Summary: Great on Paper, Horrible in Reality
Review: After purchasing this phone from Amazon.com, I absolutely could not wait to use the phone system. It read in the description like the 2.4 GHz phone of my dreams with its small size, two lines, hidden antenna, answering machine, advanced caller ID, and directory features that appeared to be similar to my cellular phone.
Yet in reality, it's horrible because Siemens took a phone that could have been easy to use and made it absolutely as hard as possible.
The command and menu system on every phone is arduous and almost nothing can be done at a touch of a button. When you pick up a phone line, it automatically defaults with a preference to one line or another (meaning I can't select to use line one instead of line two without digging through menus). The phone defaults to disallow call barging -- great if you want privacy on the Siemens system, but horrible if you want to have two people talking on one line. The list goes on and on, but can best summarized by saying it will the least simple phone you have ever owned.
I can program my VCR, I can program my ReplayTV, and I have a computer navigation system in my car. I can absolutely tell you that this is the most difficult phone system I have ever seen implemented in a "home / home office" two-line unit.
The speakerphone on the handset works fine, but there's no mute button on the base. That means if you're on hold using the speakerphone your every word (or background noise) is broadcast. Siemens thought out this phone very, very poorly.
So if you read about the phone and you're excited -- you're right -- it's a great phone on paper. After spending nearly a month with it as a highly motivated buyer I can tell you that it's a horrible phone in reality and I'll revert back to 900 MHz before keeping it.
Rating:
Summary: ".....is that clicking another call you have??
Review: After reading the reviews about the clicking and interference, I bought the newer 8825 to replace my older model. I assumed the reviews about the loud clicking were from ex-Siemens employees. I DO have a wireless network (I know this was mentioned in a review) and this phones clicks like CRAZY. People are always asking what that clicking is. I'd like to give it 1.001 stars since I do like the look of the phone. Oh, I almost forget, the volume is terribly low. I can't go on my terrace when the ocean is rough without straining to hear the other person. They really should offer a highly discounted price for 8825 owners if or when they fix these 2 major problems in the next model.
Rating:
Summary: AWESOME features, best cordless available, but not perfect
Review: After spending quite a bit of time reading product reviews, and looking at a number of cordless phones in person, I finally settled on this Siemens 8825 set. I must say that I'm quite impressed overall with this phone and its performance! As others have said, it is literally PACKED with features, from callerID, voice announcement, multiple voicemailboxes, call directories that can be sent between base and hand units, intercom, speakerphone in base and handset(!) and many many others. You can register up to 8 handsets with a single 2-line base unit. Each handset may be registered with 2 different base units as well. It is important to note that the handsets use standard NiMH rechargeable AA batteries. This makes them very easy and economical to replace in the long-run. The sound quality is oustanding - from base and handset phones. It is at least as good as my old trusty Panasonic "Sound Charger" which set the standard for good quality analog cordless phones. In 3 weeks of use, I have not experienced problems with handset hanging up calls that one other reviewer mentioned. The callerID features are particularly well implemented. Incoming calls appear on the display of the base unit and all handsets (even during calls if you have callerID call waiting service). You can call a number from the callerID log, as well as save it to the directory. There is only ONE master callerID log - so using a handset to review and delete call log entries deletes them from the base unit as well. The digital answering machine offers 4 mailboxes. By default, callers on line 1 go to mailbox 1, line 2 to mailbox 2, special ring1 to mailbox 3 and special ring2 to mailbox 4. Or, you can enable an automated attendent, that allows callers to direct themselves to a particular mailbox. Unusual for cordless phones, Siemens has provided a configuration for "long DTMF" which enables touch tones to be held out for a longer period. This is useful if you're in a bad area or over a noisy connection, and need to communicate with an automated service (such as your bank, a calling card, etc). While the manual is not always complete, the features and menus are generally logical and well laid out. If you're technically savvy, you should have no problem learning the features. Siemens does provide an 800# to call for help as well. Having said all that, this phone set is not perfect. You cannot hear the actual touch tones being sent when dialing a call (i find this annoying but the numbers do show up on the display). The handset is small (about the size of an older cell phone), and does not balance as easily as a full-sized cordless handset. There is no battery backup for continued operation during power outages. The base unit offers speed dial for up to 10 numbers, but you must remember which number was stored in a speed dial location (the speed dial prompt only offers you single digits). The redial function does not keep trying if your caller is busy. The voice announce feature for recording your announcement is highly unreliable (you may have to try 5 or 6 times before it understands you recorded something). When recording greetings for the answering system, the unit always cuts off the very last half-second of your message. The handset has its own set of limitations not found on the base unit: you cannot mute your call (you can put it on hold however). You can choose an outgoing line from the handset ONLY if this capability was enabled from the base station menus (this is confusing at first). If a line is in use, you can choose to conference in or call out on the other line however. Or, you can configure certain handsets to ONLY connect using a specified line. There is no "speed dial" on the handset. You must page through the directory (you can hit the first letter to jump to that location in the directory). Even with all these limitations, the sound quality, and other features more than balance to earn a 4-star rating.
Rating:
Summary: Don't waste your time or your money
Review: After using this phone system in a business for well over a year, I am sorry on a daily basis that I ever purchased it. The long and short of it: The worst interface I have ever seen on a phone. I have hung up on 4 times as many people as I have ever succesfully put on hold. The worst battery life I have ever seen in a cordless phone. Don't bother replacing the batteries, as it won't help. I have multiple independently-purchased handsets, and they all have the same issue. Reception and sound quality are mediocre in general, but are extremely deleteriously affected by wifi networks and microwave ovens...basically anything putting out microwave radiation in a similar frequency. It looks like a great set of features, but the phone will make you sorry you ever bought it the longer you have to put up with all of it's unfortunate idiosyncrasies.
Rating:
Summary: A total piece of junk
Review: All the issues have been mentioned. I too have the clicking and garbled sounds on the handset. This product self destructs and the refurbished trash they send you is just as bad. What's most annoying is that I recommended this system to a friend because it worked fine for a while but his system has turned to junk as well. I know Siemens products from Germany and can't believe they would sell this junk in the US.
Rating:
Summary: Unusable quality except within a few feet of the base unit.
Review: At first the phones seemed excellent. The user interface is good, they were easily programmed and the ability to share programming information between handsets--it does require "sending" from one set to another--was better than anything else we had tried. In the first week with the phone there was only one or two instances where we had transmitter problems, and the battery only died once. Overall I was very happy. After about three weeks, I had completely changed my opinion. We were unable to carry on a conversation with anyone for more than ten or fifteen minutes before the handset and base unit started to lose sync. Typically, the handset loses sync with the base and you start to hear an "underwater bubbling sound." The caller usually can't hear us, or just hears an occasional syllable past the "bubbling." We found that by changing the angle of the handset, aligning it lengthwise with the base unit (very awkward at times) that the bubbling would sometimes go away for a time. This usually worked within 100 feet of the base unit, but not always. At about 200 feet from the base unit, it was hopeless. We bought this phone with high expectations (including four additional handsets) for our 2,400 square foot home. We placed the base transmitter as specified, centrally and without any significant obstructions to most of our property. Unfortunately Siemens was unwilling to help beyond making a few general suggestions regarding placement of the transmitters and having the telephone company check our lines (not the problem--no other phone in the house has the "bubbling" issue). The phones are now sitting in our basement in a plastic bag (all $500 worth of them). We replaced them with some cheap Uniden $69 models (bought one two-phone set for one line, another for the other line). That works fine and was much more affordable. Unfortunately, we didn't realize the problems with the Siemens phone were endemic, otherwise we would have returned them within 30 days.
Rating:
Summary: Beware lack of support from Siemens
Review: Beware Siemens lack of support. I owned the previous system, the 2420, bought a short 3 years ago. While it is understandable that products come and go, that Siemens offers absolutely no service for this product is unconsionable given the price of the system...
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