Michael Fereday checks out a DECT phone designed for outdoor use
Rather than the cosier atmosphere of inside the home, the BT Elements 1K DECT phone has been designed for rugged environments. While you could use this handset in the living room, the outdoors or a workspace would be more appropriate areas to take advantage of a feature set that includes a dust and waterproof rating of IP67, plus an impressive wireless signal range that could reach one kilometre in ideal circumstances.
My BT Elements 1K kit consists of a single handset with its own docking charging unit, a base station with the telephone line lead already connected, two power leads for the previously mentioned two items, a separate longrange antenna, and screws and plugs for wall-mounting the base station. Both a belt clip and li-ion 3.7V 550mAh battery come already attached to the handset. There's also a two-handset package available from BT.
Rather too bulky for most pockets with dimensions of 195 x 56 x 30mm (H x W x D), hence the belt clip, the handset has a more robust than stylish appearance with its plastic and rubber protected body. A 3 x 3cm monochrome screen, providing status and feedback information, sits on top of a standard arrangement of selection, navigation and alphanumeric telephony keys. Initially covering the screen is a removable label advertising the phone’s nuisance call blocking feature – a boon to all of us who needlessly suffer from companies indulging in cold calling activities.
Protected by a PIN number, the nuisance call blocking feature offers the users two methods of adding callers to this category. You can block calls by type or by specific numbers. In the case of the former, you can select from categories listed as International, Withheld Numbers, No Caller ID and Payphone. Up to ten specific numbers can also be added to the blocked list, and these will also be denied access to the answerphone facility. Callers selected by type will be allowed to leave a message on the answerphone.
When setting up the answerphone facility, care should be taken to ensure the time delay of number of rings is such that it does not conflict with other available features such as voicemail. While you do get a default welcoming message for callers, you could replace this with one you've recorded yourself. Up to 30 minutes of recording space is provided to those who have access to this feature.
The promised one kilometre range of this device is only going to apply when using the handset outside. Even then, the location will need to be obstruction-free so any signal is not blocked. The replacement long-range antenna will need to be attached in order to get close to the promised distance. Even in less than perfect locations, the range of this product should be better than that offered by other DECT handsets.
Along with the call blocking facility mentioned earlier, this phone lets you create a period of time during which only those on your VIP list such as nearest and dearest, will have their calls accepted. This 'Do not disturb' feature can prove useful for those personal moments that we all need from time to time. Fully charged, you should get ten hours of talk time or 250 hours on standby with this DECT phone. Michael Fereday
Suitable DECT handset for those spending time on outdoor activities.