Path: utzoo!attcan!uunet!seismo!ukma!wuarchive!texbell!vector!telecom-gateway
From: vrdxhq!escom.com!al@uunet.uu.net (Al Donaldson)
Newsgroups: comp.dcom.telecom
Subject: Re: Code-a-Phone 2770 Answering Machine
Message-ID: <telecom-v09i0477m05@vector.dallas.tx.us>
Date: 26 Oct 89 04:36:42 GMT
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X-TELECOM-Digest: volume 9, issue 477, message 5 of 10

> Otto J. Makela <otto@jyu.fi> asks:
>   . . .  I have a sales blurb for a device called the Code-a-
>   Phone 2600, which would seem to be what I need: ...
>   Does anyone have hands-on experience with these devices ?

When I saw this message I recalled my somewhat embarrassing encounter
with my new 2650.  Following is from my mail folder earlier this year.
(By the way, I think I paid US$65 at a discount store.)

Al
                         ================
  You'd commented that my answering machine sounded really muffled,
  and today I found out why.

  The machine is a Code-A-Phone 2650 combined answering machine-phone,
  with the outgoing message recorded in memory rather than on tape.
  Since Code-A-Phone has a good reputation for quality, I was really
  disappointed when I heard the outgoing message played back.  At first
  I'd thought it was because it was next to the Sun, and the fan noise
  might be affecting the recording.  Nope.  Then I played around with
  holding the handset various ways (my, what a neat idea, using the
  handset as the microphone for the answering machine..), but that
  didn't make any difference either.  Then I just sort of gave up and
  figured that it was a result of a poor design, not enough memory to
  store the voice properly, or such.

  Finally, today I called Code-A-Phone (no 800 number...) and spoke
  with a lady there.  I explained I was really disappointed with the
  voice quality, and unless they had some answer I was going to get
  rid of the machine.  She asked if I had any music or other equipment
  on in the background, and I told her about the computer but said
  that turning it off didn't make any difference.  She asked how close
  I was to the mike and I said I'd tried holding the handset at various
  distances and angles but that didn't seem to make any difference either.
  Then she told me that I'm not supposed to use the handset, but am
  supposed to talk into the microphone.  Microphone??

  Sure enough, hidden in the base of the machine is a tiny little hole,
  not labeled, for the microphone.  The user manual doesn't mention where
  the microphone is; it just says "When the message light starts flashing,
  speak toward the microphone."  So I was talking into the handset,
  the only obvious microphone on the beast, which was about 3 ft away from
  the real microphone.  Sheesh.  What would it have cost them to to stamp
  the word "microphone" next to the hole and/or print a line explaining
  that the microphone is separate from the handset?