Accessories

Overall, a Functional Product
The AT&T 974 is a good small business phone. There are only two problems with it, and these appear to be common with all of the AT&T small business multi-line phones. (1) AT&T frequently introduces new models and discontinues the previous ones. Unfortunately, they do not make the intercom, and some other features, backwards-compatible. So, if you want to get the most from your system, you have to upgrade all the phones in the office. This model is discontinued, and it's replacement--I think it's the 1074--causes all sorts of problems with the 974s in the office (intercom, transfer, hold, for example). (2) When you're on a call, there should be an option to mute, or partially mute, the ringer on the other lines. It's distracting to have the phone ring at full volume when you're trying to talk to somebody else. You can press the "do not disturb" button, but if you forget to turn off "do not disturb" when you hang up, you'll miss subsequent calls.

Beware of speaker phone issues
This is a very nice phone with the exception (and this goes for a number of the ATT phones) that when you use speaker phone it clips parts of the speaker's words so you miss part of the conversation. According to ATT the only way to correct this is to hold down the mute button when the caller is speaking and relaease it when you are talking. This is not progress.

Perfect for small office
Exactly what we were looking for in office with 5 phones. Without spending thousands on a complicated system we got what we wanted for under 500. Currently we have 2 lines and a fax line, they all work perfect. The intercom and transfer have saved lung power (reducing hot air therefore reducing global warming, thank me Al Gore) and leg energy! Now would like to add 2 more phone lines if I can get my wiring straightened out to make the most of the phones!

Speakerphone is the only thing that is sort of a blah. Not really that good, can cut in and out at weird times.

Great phone for home office or small business.
I bought one of these for my home office a few months ago and liked it so much, I purchased three more for my business office. They work just fine. I especially like the separate headset jack button on the phone (no need to lift the handset). I use an inexpensive Panasonic KX-TCA60 headset (about $15) and it works perfectly. This phone is also available at Costco's website for $120 and can be returned for a full refund if you're not completely satisfied.

I'd have given it five stars if it had a built-in answering machine.

Problems with speaker phone
We have had continuous problems with this phone. We bought the phone initially because we wanted a phone with a good speaker phone option. However, the speaker is giving us many problems. If we make a phone call using the speaker phone, the person on the other end does not hear our voice. We must pick up the handset before the other party can hear us. I wrote to Amazon and explained the problem and they immediately exchanged the phone for a new one. Unfortunately, the same thing is happening now with the new phone too. At first I thought this may have something to do with the phone service, so I called the phone service in - but they verified it is not the service. If you are buying this phone for the speaker phone, stay away!!