Even in the same industry, the need for office phones is always different from one company to the other. Whether this is your first time or not, we’ll bring you the best budget office telephones under $500 in 2018.
The reviews and office phone comparison that follows will help you identify great options that are currently within your budget.
For some experienced users, you may find out at one point that the ones you’ve have been using have some limitations in one way or the other. So acknowledging the fact that there are better options in the market often warrants the search for advanced office telephones.
In addition to finding great models and alternatives within your budget, this office phone buying guide takes into account most of the intended use case you may have in mind.
One interesting fact here which many are yet to understand is that stationary or land line phone are still relevant regardless of mobile smartphone penetration.
And sometimes, the current stage or size of a business makes organizational need to be different from one business to the other. Before these office telephone reviews, people who are still contemplating will find the specific benefits. However, let’s look at the key factors that influence preferences and purchase decision.
Best Budget Office Telephone Buying Guide
Corded vs Cordless Office Phone
Obviously, the corded phone is the old model while cordless is the new model. But the important considerations are simply beyond that. For people that have used corded office phones before, the need for cordless option should already be apparent. The core difference is that corded phones require the caller to seat or stand in one place while having conversations. In this case, the obvious thing is just a question of convenience. Another key different is that corded phones don’t run on battery or electricity.
And they are known to have very good voice quality. While cordless office phones provide the convenience of moving around, even within your yard, it is possible to be misplaced when you need it the most.
On the other hand, moving around with it means that won’t be any incidence of missed calls. But you have to keep charging constantly.
Answering Machine Inclusion
Also worth considering before you buy an office telephone is whether it has answering machine or not. During our research, it was very obvious that people are searching for the ‘best office telephone with answering machine’. Probably, this could be people like you that have used phones without answering machines. Now they want better models in order to stay in touch with all, not some incoming leads for their business.
For a whole lot of business owners and marketing teams, this is very important. One reason is because a great deal can be won or lost between the time you get a missed calls and the time you get a chance to reach back.
Caller ID
Once again, this is another important factor that many people are keenly interested in. And these interests aren’t for nothing. Deliberate interest in the affordable office phone with caller ID often follows an acknowledge need. Obviously, it is important to keep in touch with every quality lead that expresses interest in your business.
But how can you do that without know the ID of the caller. Unfortunately, it is not all types of office phone systems that have this feature for caller identification.
So take note of caller identification capability in any office phone you choose to buy.
Budget Office Telephone Reviews Under $500
AT&T 4 Line Expandable Corded Phone
Especially, in the US AT&T is one of the oldest brands when it comes to all things communication technologies. For this and other reasons, there is a sane expectation that they should have some relatively old corded office phones. Even at the affordable price, it has everything you need in a standard corded phone.
The expandable feature of this phone means that you can increase from 1 up to 16 stations. Depending on the context of usage, you’ll have receiver and speakerphone volume control.
In those instances when the rest of your working colleagues need to hear live conversation with a prospect, this feature makes that possible.
For incoming phone call notifications, the AT&T 1070 corded phone comes with selectable ringtones.
Moreover, it is confirmed to be DSL and headset compatible (2.5mm jack). This provides for seamless connectivity and communication just the way you want it. Other features that make it similar to Vtech Up416 corded phone included 16 intercom number locations and 200 name caller ID history.
For distant team communications, this office phone provides three part conferencing too. With this feature you can be able to take decisions with your team or managers regardless of where they are. However, it is limited to three users at a time.
AT&T CL4940 Corded Office Phone
Coming very close to the one previously review above is this interesting model from the same brand. On the very first impression, the design of this one looks really attractive. The white colored device presumes a distinct level of modernization. Somehow this thing alone sets it apart from many other old corded phones both from AT&T and other brands.
In addition to this, the price is impressively more affordable when compared to other models Panasonic or Vtech corded office phones. This puts the AT&T CL4940 among the best budget office phones under $50. Yes, it’s that cheap.
Also notable is the clear labeling of all the buttons in the front. Like the one review first, this one also have volume control and selectable ringtones.
Based on the statements of past users found through our research, the audio quality on this one seems far better than what is obtainable from other models offered by AT&T. If you have been looking for a wall mountable phone, this one is also good for that. There is a hole on the back that can be used to mount it comfortably with a sizable screw.
When a call is coming in, the bright LCD display servers really well so you don’t have to guess around the caller ID. Just press the right button and you are in for your business conversations.
When you are out of office or simply busy, the phone answering system helps to give callers appropriate message or direction.
In some specific contexts, you may also have the need to mute ringer.
This phone makes easy provision for that as well. When you are in the middle of a face to face conversation that’s very important, maybe with your senior manager or even your spouse, this ringer muting button will become really useful. For people that may have the need of connecting to their fax machine, this is a good option too.
When you receive incoming message, you’ll get an audio alert as well. This will help you to identify important message and respond as promptly as possible.
This is very important because in the business world, one minute chance is enough to close or break a deal. And you don’t want to be responding late when an important message is left for you to act on.
Note that the keypad numbers are not illuminated if you have any need to do dials in the dark. However, the LCD display screen provides good lighting when you start to dial the numbers. This display screen is mostly in orange color. So that could be enough for you to have sufficient view in the dark.
Panasonic KX-TGF352n Office Telephone
As for all things electronics, this is another old name in the game. However, you can say that they have superior strengths in some specific product areas, not all of them. In terms of the best budget office telephones under $200, they have great models too.
Looking at all the feature set that is available on this phone, they have some interesting distinctions that knock other models like AT&T CL8410 and Vtech CM18245 off the park.
For example, with Panasonic KX-TGF352n, you get both corded and cordless phones in one package. With the compatibility, you can still get the benefits of both corded and cordless office phone in a single deal. And the price is never as high as expected in most cases.
This is a monochrome kind of device; no colorful display here. But you can still good use of it both in day light and night contexts. On this product, you have the option of setting and making use of either English or French languages.
To get started with it, you have a rechargeable battery that provides up to 780 minutes talk time on full recharge. Full recharge time may be up to 7 hours. Like many other models, this is a wall mountable office telephone that you can put on the base location for easy communication.
You can choose to make use of one 2 or 6 handsets at a time. Other interesting features include noise cancelling and outside line remote.
From our research, around 86% of past users have found this product to provide good value for the going price. The KX-TGF352n has intercom, speakerphone and dual keypad too.
Here you also get answering system, caller ID and call waiting features.
The weight is just about 2.6 pounds. For conference calls, this works for 3 ways only but you can have up 17 minutes recording time. Unlike those other models mentioned earlier, here you get 50 names caller ID history and 100 names directory. One year warranty is what you get here. If you are looking for where to buy Panasonic KX-TGF352n, go check it out on Amazon.
AT&T EL52313 Expandable Cordless Phone
Even when AT&T seems old to many people, they still bring to market many interesting modernized office telephones that compete favorably well with newer brands. One good example is this AT&T EL52313 Dect 6.0 cordless phone. Besides this one, they still many other models like the CL82407 Dect 6.0 and CRL82312 which comes with 3 handsets.
Interestingly, most of these cordless office phones are similar in many aspects. But one thing that sets them apart is the price. At the very point of purchase, you’ll have the option to choose from one, two or three handsets.
So in this regard, the number of handsets you choose will affect the price you end up paying. But just as the name suggests, this cordless phone is practically expandable up to 5 handsets. And you’ll be making use of only single jack for all of them. With this model, you’ll also get last 10 numbers redial.
The operating language options in this phone include English, Spanish and French. There is also what the manufacturer calls any key answer.
Depending on your intended use cases, AT&T EL52313 Dect 6.0 cordless phone includes a wall mount bracket in its full package. Different from is obtainable in the Panasonic model mentioned earlier, you only get 14 minutes recording here. Other call answering features include call screening, call interpret and remote access. For effective conversation there is also a caller ID feature in this phone.
In its maximum capacity, what you get here is 420 minutes talk time which is less than the 720 minutes mentioned in those other models in this cordless office phone reviews. To stay promptly in the loop regarding incoming messages, there is audio message alert and message counter in the LCD display screen. This makes it possible to identify and respond to messages when it is appropriate.
If you want to keep a tight tab on scheduled calls, there is also clock and time stamp on the screen. For people interested in the best cordless phones with answering machine, this is a great option.
Caller ID memory and directory features can only retain 50 entries respectively. As at the time of this writing, AT&T EL52313 Dect 6.0 cordless phone price on Amazon is less than $70.
This makes it cheaper than many other competing models in the market. Just in case you have the need for headset jack, this phone doesn’t come with that.
One year warranty is what you get here.
VTech CS6719-2 Cordless Phone With Intercom
For some businesses users, there may be time when incoming call volume becomes higher than normal. In that instance, if the capacity of your office phone cannot hold all incoming caller ID and other details, you are bound to lose deals in such situation. To prevent such from happening, this Vtech CS6719-2 provides the capacity to accept and record up to 50 incoming caller ID details.
Impressively, this is higher than what you get from other models. The speaker phone according past users; provides high quality audio.
So you don’t struggle to hear what the person in the other end is say or simply lose understanding of some pertinent spoken details during the call. Bearing in mind that some business calls are very delicate, timely and important, audio quality really matter here. Here is one good reason why experienced users often go for cordless vs corded office phones.
For any reason at all, making important calls in dim light or night hours is stress free as the backlit illuminated the keypad along with the LCD display screen.
The quiet mode makes it possible to mute your ringer should you have any need to do that in your home or office.
With the available intercom, this office telephone system is expandable up to 5 handsets. Beside the original two that comes at the point of purchase, you may consider buying additional handsets depending on your personal needs or company size. Note that the caller ID feature requires phone subscription before it could work properly. The phone is very easy to set up.
The downside which puts some people is that it doesn’t have inbuilt answering machine.
As for price, this seems like the best cordless phone under $50. Just in case you have dire need of cordless phone with headset, this isn’t the model for you. Instead, consider for others like Panasonic KX-TGE463S or VTech LS6475-3 Dect 6.0 models.
Panasonic KX-TG7875S Cordless Phone With Range Extender
Specifically in those situations when more than 2 handsets come into play, the effectiveness of communication between users often comes to test.
And if the best budget office telephone system you spent money isn’t strong enough, the signal strength will be very poor. This is the area where Panasonic takes things forward with the range extender.
For people that have 5 line cordless phone systems in mind, this is something you really have to take into account. And this is example of those salient factors that this office phone buyer guide should help you to decide.
One other impressive feature of this product is the remote access to messages.
To ensure seamless connectivity when you need, don’t for an extra handset if you don’t have strong need for it. Instead, consider spending your money to buy 4 line cordless phone or just 3. This will save you the from the potential headache of incompatibility and connection issues.
With this one you get 600 minutes talk time when it is on 7 hours full charging capacity. Hence, the Panasonic KX-TG7875S works with AAA rechargeable battery.
Among other features, it is very easy to transfer phonebook via Bluetooth. This another interesting angle that makes this product different from other competing models. Unlike the Vtech CS6719-2, there is an answering machine on this one which makes standard office communication management to be very easy and stress free.
In addition to the range extender, you also get a headset. Obviously, this is the only cordless phone with headset in this entire review article.
For high scale sales teams, the phone directory capacity large enough to hold up to 3000 entries which puts this Panasonic KX-TG7875S above other models in its category. However, for all the useful feature additions, the price is a bit more expensive. So if you don’t have any need for those extra feature which makes it price, go for simpler modest options.
For people that are still contemplating the purchase, here are key benefits of landline office telephones you could experience when you buy one.
Benefits of Office Telephones
- Centralized Communication System
From day one, the modern smartphone was built to be personal. If you think about how much time you spend in a day with and on your smartphone, you’ll understand what I mean here. So even when the entire staff of a company is authorized to use their phones for office related communications, the disparity of communication flow makes things complex. Most times it affects the relationship with clients, suppliers and partners.
- Call Forwarding
For businesses that have different product lines, pricing structure and even disparate branches, most incoming calls are usually intended for specific recipients. So in order to give prospective customers what they want as promptly as possible, forwarding calls to the appropriate reps and experts in the right location is always beneficial.
- Conference Call
Even though some smartphones can do this these days, standard office telephones do it better. Different working teams in the field can be communicating and giving live updates to office staff while in the field. This can also be used to confirm and authorize expenditure when every concerned person is not present in the same room, building or location.
- Affordability
Standard office telephones are usually more affordable than modern day smartphones. Instead of allowing everyone to make hard to track and useless calls on company budget, centralized system mentioned earlier makes this manageable and affordable. And in most cases, you can always get volume discount from service providers.
Conclusion
As you can see from the start to this point, the best budget office telephone reviews can be really useful in making purchase decisions to be easier. However, affordability or low price doesn’t determine the best in most cases. What really matter is the fulfillment of the need that warranted your search affordable office phones within your budget.
Note, by clicking on the appropriate links of the products that match your needs and preference, you’ll be moved directly to Amazon where you can order immediately if you want.
And you can have it delivered to you within 48 hours or less.
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