Rating: 
Summary: Don't try the 8825 with 2 base stations
Review: Okay phone as a stand-alone unit. However, avoid multiple base stations.I purchased two base stations and an extra (third) cordless handset thinking that my home offices could also use these systems as an intercom. No so, each cordless unit can only register to one base station at at time. That means that the other base station will not be able to intercom a cordless handset that is not registered to it. Sound confusing? Maybe a little. The short of it is that I have 2 base stations and 3 cordless handsets and I cannot intercom completely between them. Otherwise, the system is okay. The cordless unit has a built in speakerphone, which is nice.
Rating: 
Summary: Truly a phone system!
Review: 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, unlike another reviewer said. I can get my messages from the handset. I transfer calls between the handsets all the time. 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 for answering the two lines, etc. Great in every way except the manuals aren't very well written. Good enough though - if you spend a few minutes with it.
Rating: 
Summary: Cool idea...bad implementation
Review: If the answering machine responds to a phone call before you do (even by a second), you can't answer it with the handset. There is no capability for this handset to interupt a line that has already been answered. You also can't transfer a call from the handset. There are no buttons to even attempt this. All such operations are only available from the base station unit. If you try to answer a call by picking the handset up out of the cradle...it hangs up on the call roughly 50% of the time. Then, within months, several handset buttons started failing. I loose 10%-15% of my calls due to these missing features and malfunctions. If you buy this phone, you'll love it for days ... then hate it for months. After a year, expect to break it in a fit of rage.
Rating:
Summary: Great phone for the patient.
Review: I've had this phone for about a week now and really love it. I was looking for a phone with everything and this one had it: long range, nice looks worthy of an office (I was sick of phones that looked like video games), clear connections, long battery life on the cordless handset, great speakerphone, voicemail with multiple boxes, caller-id, 2-lines, reasonable price... the list goes on and on. Then there's the catch. There is always a catch. It's almost impossible to figure everything out without reading the manual. If you're willing to spend some time sitting down to set everything up, this is the phone for you. If you're impatient and get easily upset when you change your voicemail message while you're trying to turn down the volume you'll probably throw the phone out the window.
Rating:
Summary: 8825 Gigaset, best 2-line cordless
Review: If you don't like to read instruction manuals, don't buy this phone. If you are patient, willing to study the manual and really want a 2-line cordless phone with multiple handsets, this was the best solution I found. Pluses: Good range; good, not great audio; lots of usefull features. Minuses: Can't just put a call on hold and pick it up on another handset, you have to transfer the call and know which handset to transfer to if you don't want to transfer to them all; can't speed-dial from from handsets. I had an old ATT (pre-Lucent) 2-line with digital answering and was used to heavy, high quality hardware with great audio (and 1/100th the features of an 8825). Siemens follows the modern philosophy of offering features and not necessarily going out of their way to make a product that "feels" rock solid or sounds above average. Would love to see a product with old-fasioned quality and 8825 features even if it cost more.
Rating: 
Summary: Gadget Lover's Dream
Review: Every feature you could possibly want, and then some. Be prepared to spend 2 hours poring over the manual - and if that doesn't sound fun to you, don't buy it. Once you dig in, it's pure pleasure. Voice announced caller ID is coolest feature. You simply tack on your own announcement to a caller ID entry in the log, then whenever that person calls, the main system plays your announcement back (remotes don't, however). Speakerphone on each remote is excellent. You can also use remotes as room monitors, which is great if you have small children ripping up your house. Buttons on main console are soft and glow a warm red when illuminated. You can use it as an intercom, can page any unit or all of them. You can name each phone, too, so it's easier to know which one you're chasing. The 120-name directory can be sent to each remote, so you only have to build it once. One of the criticisms I read about earlier Siemens model was that menus were foolishly laid out, so that most used features were buried 8 levels below main. They've fixed this, as far as I can see. Only negative is that it causes major interference with our Safety 1st baby monitors, renders them nearly worthless. I had considered buying an office phone system with several extensions, but this does far more, and you have wireless remotes to boot. Best toy I've ever purchased, worth every cent.
Rating:
Summary: Outside looking in
Review: This phone is amazing. It does everything you could want and more. The telephone, digital answering machine, a Caller ID (which the phone will tell you who is calling), 120 speed-dial presets. It's got call transfer and intercom which comes in handy. If you need a phone that does it all this is the one. It's got 4 mail boxes which is really nice living in a busy house like I do. Each person gets their own mail box. This phone does to much to talk about. You won't regret buying this phone. It's the only one you need. It was cool. Big Truck
Rating:
Summary: Cannot survive power surges
Review: I bought my 8825 about 18 months ago. It has worked well in that time, except that it cannot survive power surges. About 8 months ago, there was a power surge in my house that damanged the base unit. The problem was that line 1 of the base unit would go off hook, and stay off hook. I got around this by using only line 2. A few days ago, another surge, and line 2 now shows the same symptoms. I have many other pieces of equipment in my house that interface to phone lines, and none of these were taken out. I will sell my cordless handsets on eBay, and I will look for a new system from another manufacturer.
Rating:
Summary: Siemens on eBay?
Review: Have had a 2415 for about 11 months, it has worked perfectly up till yesterday. When I tryed to log on to the answering machine (using the int button), the display shows "No Channel Available". I reset the base and the handset. The reset went well and registered properly. I was happy until I tried the answering machine again and got the same message. Now I can't even use the phone as it says the same thing when I press talk. Patiently, I tried to called Siemens. Their free 800 number for this unit is now a long distance call. About 3 years ago I bought a Panasonic 2.4ghz set and put it aside for this one (I was blinded the Siemens slick looks and the European name). Well, I pulled out the old Panasonic, charged the totally dead battery and guess what? It works like a charm. So what do you think, anyone wanna buy a Siemens on eBay or Amazon? I'd sell it but I am an honest person.
Rating:
Summary: Siemens not to be trusted
Review: I have a Siemens 2420 system with 8 handsets. I have sent several in for repair with not much improvement. The handsets constantly drop out in the middle of conversations. The noise in the earpiece is terrible and the person on the other end of the line cannot hear you. I emailed Siemens about this and they admitted that they had a problem with the handsets' shielding which caused the dropouts. I then asked if I could get some kind of credit towards their new model since I had spent a small fortune buying the base and all the handsets for teh 2420, but they would not do that. Why would I trust them with this new system when they will not support the old one. At least they should have redesigned the handsets so that we could use the system. I am stuck trying to decide what to replace my 2420 with. The one thing that the Siemens has going for it is the features. Unfortunately, if you cant use the phone, they are useless.
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