Some Nice Features but Others Disappointed

I was looking for a 2-line phone that had a good speakerphone and would let me use a headset.

Although RCA is far from the electronics powerhouse it used to be, I was cautiously optimistic when I found this 2-line office phone with a decent price after rebate at Office Depot. It was loaded with features and had all the features I wanted, except the speakerphone was not full duplex (for which I'd need to pay about $100 more). The features I evaluated were very nice. Two LEDs for each voice mail line light when voice mail is waiting via your local carrier. Another indicator flashes if a call has been missed, and you can scroll through the caller IDs to identify that call. The phone advertised 3-party conferencing capability, which I did not test.

I was disappointed immediately upon getting it home and setting it up. The speakerphone cut out so I could not hear the other party, even though there was no noise in my room, and my voice sounded distorted and choppy to the other party when I talked at regular volume within 2 feet of the phone. I have used multiple phones with non-full-duplex speakerphones and this was the worst. I tried my headset with the phone, but the other party couldn't hear me unless I shouted. I thought that maybe I could still salvage some usefulness out of the phone by hooking it up to my Plantronics amplified headset, which works fine on my other phones. No luck; my voice was so distorted ("buzzy") that it was annoying to the other party. The only way I can effectively communicate is through the corded handset, which offered clear transmission. If you will only communicate with the corded handset, then maybe this phone will work for you.

BTW, I tried contacting RCA Customer Support about this issue via their web form, but I found their form to be user-hostile and my attempt to submit my carefully-completed form was rejected and lost. Bad omen. I returned the phone to Office Depot and now have a greater appreciation for the phone I tried to replace.