The Skype DUALphone 4088 enables users to combine two phones into a single unit, allowing you to make Skype calls and traditional calls via a landline.

The world is far more connected than ever before, with certain businesses having to make plenty of international calls on a daily basis, whilst many families have members and friends living or working overseas. Currently, one can rely on Skype to make international calls and conventional phones to communicate over landlines to everyone else.

But what about a phone that combines the two? The Skype DUALphone 4088 enables you to access both Skype and conventional telephony services from a single device. It easily replaces your home – or office – landline phone, while also delivering additional handy dual network features such as making a conference call between users on traditional landlines and those using Skype’s VoIP-based service. No PC is required to set-up, nor to run the device.

Features

In order to make use of all the 4088’s services, you will need both broadband internet with an Ethernet connection and a landline. Whilst setting up the 4088, you are able to link two Skype user accounts to its base station, with each base station being capable of supporting up to four 4088 handsets. The phone is able to handle two parallel calls – one Skype call and one fixed landline call simultaneously. Seeing that the DUALphone is a cordless device, you are able to move about freely during calls over a maximum distance of around 50 m indoors and 300 m outdoors.

Other telephony features supported includes caller identity, for which purpose the DUALphone 4088 boasts a 1.5" TFT colour display that clearly displays a caller’s Skype name and profile photo. It can also store up to 250 entries to its contact list (phone book), while its call history dates back 30 entries.

To the point

The Skype DUALphone 4088 is an extremely useful device for those who need to make overseas calls, providing users with the convenience of a cordless telephone together with all the call cost saving prowess delivered by Skype’s VoIP service solution. It retails for a recommended retail price of R1 300.

Article first appeared in TechSmart 110, available to read or download here.