Nightshift blog

Finally, my brother has sent a Skype phone so we can talk for hours, for free. It’s a GE 31591 Cordless Telephone.

Here’s a bit of a story. I have two siblings who are abroad and they would usually call us using their cellphones. There are times we will use Yahoo messenger for video chats but that would require booting up our PCs and Macs. So a phone where we can instantly talk, and is free. What’s remarkable with this phone is that aside from receiving and making Skype calls, it can also receive and make normal landline calls.

The Package
The package consists of the following: a cordless handset, cradle/charger, base unit with power adapter, telephone cord, ethernet cable, battery and battery compartment cover. Before you setup the phone, I assume that you have an Internet, a router (whether wireless or wired) and a landline phone. You should also have a Skype account.

The Setup
The setup is very easy. Just put the battery and its cover on the phone, place it on the cradle, and charge the phone up. Connect the base unit to the power outlet, connect the ethernet port to an available port in your router and the phone cable to the phone port. Since I have a ADSL connection, I connected the base unit to the splitter which my Globe phone used to occupy.

In the image below, the yellow ethernet cable is connected, from the modem to the router. The blue cable is from the base unit to another port in the router.

Skype
Now, unless your modem/router does Mac filtering, the base unit will automatically acquire an IP address, which you can see when you go to Menu > Settings > Network. Once connected to the Internet, you can sign up for an Skype account, or sign in with a previously created account.

Here’s how our phone looks like once signed in with Skype.

Making calls
Landline calls is easy. You just dial the number and press the talk button. To end the call, press the end button. As for Skype, there are two ways, depending on the Skype account. If it’s a Skype ID call, meaning, you want to call the username, you need to press the asterisk and spell the username of the person. If it’s a Skype Out call, meaning it’s a like an overseas number, then you dial the plus sign, country code, area code and the local number. Of course, you wouldn’t have to do this if the person you want to speak to is already in your Contacts. You can add 100 regular contacts and 200 Skype contacts.

The handset also serves as a speaker phone. On a call, you can press the Speaker button and press the up and down arrow keys to adjust the volume. I just wish the phone had a dedicated volume adjustment button on the side.

Reception
So far, I was able to test a Skype call when my brother called yesterday afternoon. Reception was crisp, although there were miliseconds of silent beeps. But according to him, on his end, it was seamless. He was using Skype on his mobile phone by the way. So maybe it was my Internet connected that had issues. I haven’t made a landline call.

The phone has a signal bar which displays the connection of the phone to the base unit. My room is upstairs and when I went there with the phone, the signal bar is still full. Suffice it to say, you can place the base unit near the router/modem and the phone somewhere else.

Issues
This phone was bought in Canada (see the link here). And being in Canada, the set can only be used in 110v power outlet. I have to use a computer AVR which has a single 110v port and plug a power cord extension. I just wish that this is a 220v set, but I think I can just buy another adapter from Raon (a place in Manila known for electronics).

And as I have mentioned earlier, I wished they had a separate volume control button. Another thing I noticed was an echo on Skype call on the first day. For some reason, it disappeared on the second day.

Other than on those issues, the GE 31591 is a great phone.