jwhitakr's Full Review: Avaya 6408D+ 1-Line Corded Phone
I have used the Avaya 6408D+ digital phone at work for over 3 years now. It replaced a previous model of Avaya phone, which was outdated and in serious need of an upgrade. During the last 3 years I have moved offices at least a half-dozen times. I’ve moved from one office location to another office location across town, and then back again. I’ve moved within the same office from one floor to another floor. Throughout all of these moves, my 6408D+ has stayed with me through it all. During the course of my work over the past 3 years, I’ve used this particular phone for literally hundreds of hours.
Basic Information on the Avaya 6408D+ Phone
The 6408D+ is a digital phone designed to be used in a business environment. In order to function properly, it requires a digital circuit that is set up as part of a digital telephone system. While this is outside my area of expertise, I do know that the telephone is currently set up with the AUDIX messaging system for voice mail and call transfers.
The 6408D+ is a corded phone that includes a built-in 2-way speakerphone. Above the keypad are 6 common function buttons – MUTE for muting calls, SPKR for activating the speakerphone, HOLD for placing calls on hold, REDIAL for redialing the last phone number, TRNSFR for transferring a call and finally CONF for creating a 3-way conference call with two different callers. Above these buttons are 4 buttons used to control the LED display. The display is capable of displaying 24 characters in 2 lines of text. The display control buttons include MENU, EXIT, PREV and NEXT. Along the right-hand side of the phone are 8 user programmable buttons. At the bottom of the face of the phone are the volume control buttons that are used to control the volume of the ring and the volume of the sound when the phone is in use.
On the lower right-hand side of the face of the phone, a small red light with an envelope is displayed. This is used to alert the user that they have a voice mail message, and is a handy way to be alerted that you need to check your voice mail.
The 6408D+ includes a stand that can be attached at the base of the phone. This stand is used to either elevate the phone at about a 30 degree angle, or to be mounted on the wall. When mounted on the stand, the phone measures 8” x 9” x 5” (W x L x H).
My Use of the Phone, Likes and Dislikes
Sound Quality
To give some background on my usage of the 6408D+, I should explain that I spend at least an hour out of every workday on the phone. I work with many colleagues who are in different offices (both in the U.S. and internationally) and so I spend a lot of my time talking on the phone. The vast majority of my time is using the handset, and I very rarely use the speakerphone as it is very disturbing for people around my cubicle to have to listen to my conversations on the speakerphone.
The sound quality of the 6408D+ has always been excellent, and I have rarely had any problems with the sound not being clear or easy to hear. In the few instances where I have had trouble hearing the other parties on a call, it is always due to their use of a speakerphone in a conference room that has poor sound reception. If there is a conference room that has many people around a table, it is always a problem of background noise from their end rather than the sound quality on my phone. Also, the parties on the other end of the phone have always been able to hear me clearly whenever I am speaking through the 6408D+ handset.
In terms of sound quality with the speakerphone of the 6408D+, this is the one area where I would say the phone is lacking. The sound quality of the actual speaker is good when you are listening at low volumes, and I have used the speakerphone many times where I would say that the other parties were easy to hear and background noise was minimal. However, there have been cases where I’ve needed to turn up the volume of the speaker quite a bit in order to hear the other parties. When I’ve had to turn up the volume to over 50% of full power, the voices are noticeably less clear and are not well defined. Also, if you are over 2-3 feet away from the base of the phone when you are speaking, the other parties will have a hard time hearing your voice and clearly understanding what you are saying. This makes the speakerphone useful for 2-3 people at most, and only if you can all sit together closely so that you are each within a couple of feet of the speakerphone.
Features Ease of Use
Overall, I have found the 6408D+ very intuitive and easy to use. All of the buttons are clearly marked and they each make a little “beep” sound when depressed. This is helpful to me because it confirms that each button pressed has actually been registered by the phone. In addition, when you are dialing a number, each number you dial is displayed on the LED display as you are entering it. This is also helpful to me because I can confirm that I have dialed the correct number.
Of the 6 common function buttons above the keypad, the three that I use most often are MUTE, HOLD and CONF. I use the mute button quite often when I am on conference calls with multiple parties because it eliminates the possibility of my environment causing background noise on the call. The mute button has a little red light above it so that you know, once it is pressed, that you are on mute and no sound is transmitted through the handset. This is helpful because it is otherwise easy to forget whether or not you have your phone muted during a conference call.
I have found that it is easy to use the 6408D+ for 3-way calls using the HOLD and CONF buttons. When you have one person on the line, you simply press HOLD to put them on hold, then select an open line, dial the other person’s number, and then press CONF to bring both of the calls together into a 3-way call. This method for conferencing in two callers has worked reliably for me and I have never had a problem where the phone has malfunctioned and dropped either of the calls.
One of the other useful features for the 6408D+ is the adjustable volume button for the ringer tone, the sound volume while on a call and for the sounds that are made when you press the buttons. I’ve found it easy to use because there is only one volume control button that has an up arrow and a down arrow, and this one volume control is used for all three volume levels. You don’t have to go into any “program mode” or anything to adjust the volume – it is simply intuitive. Whenever someone calls you and the phone is ringing, you simply press up or down and the volume level of the ringer tone is adjusted. If you are on a call, you simply press up or down and the volume level of the other callers is adjusted. If the phone is not in use at all, pressing up or down on the volume level adjusts the sound level for the “beeps” that are made each time you press a button.
Along the right-hand side of the phone are 8 user-programmable buttons. Fortunately for me, these buttons were all pre-programmed by our telecom department prior to installation of the phone at my desk. The first 3 buttons are all associated with a different telephone line so that I can create a 4-way conference call using 3 different telephone lines. The last 3 buttons were programmed to “Send Calls” (automatically sends all of my calls to voicemail), “Voicemail” (automatically dials our voicemail number) and “Directory” (brings up a phone directly on the display that I can use to search for colleague’s telephone numbers). Each of these user programmable buttons is easy to use and did not require any training or searching through the user manual to understand how to use them.
The last feature that I have found useful on the phone is that the LED display can be tilted up so that it is easier to read without leaning over the phone. I have my LED display tilted at about a 30 degree angle so that I can easily see the display while sitting in my chair at my desk. Tilting the display also is helpful for keeping the glare from the sun from obstructing your view of the display. It can also be folded flat if you are mounting the phone to a wall, so that it is easy to read when looking directly at the phone.
Reliability
As I mentioned earlier, this phone has traveled with me through multiple office moves and has been used for literally hundreds of hours. Throughout the 3+ years of use, the phone has proved to be completely reliable and has not malfunctioned at all. I can not tell any difference in the sound quality or in the overall appearance of the phone even after all of the use it has seen. The handset is a bit dirty and scuffed, but I think a good cleaning would restore it to like-new condition. The outer casing of the phone, as well as the LED display, if very resistant to scratching and has not picked up any scratches, dents or scuff marks in the last 3 years.
Conclusion
Overall, the Avaya 6408D+ has proven to be a very capable and reliable workplace phone. The sound quality has always been excellent and I have never had to resort to using email to contact our telecom department to report a problem with the phone. It has been easy to use and I have never had to refer to the user manual to learn how a particular function works. While I cannot speak specifically to the effort involved with programming the phone or setting it up to work with voicemail, I can say that it is an extremely user-friendly phone that I would recommend to any of my colleagues.
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