KX-TA824

The Panasonic KX-TA824 is a phone system for a small business or residence. It is one of the easier phone systems to set up. The instructions are straight forward and relatively simple to follow. You can skim through the instructions and set up the basic system, then come back to it and enhance the system as your needs grow.

The KX-TA824 phone system comes configured with 3 lines and 8 extensions. This basically means that you can call out from you phone on 3 lines and you could have 8 phones in your home or business. The Panasonic KX-TA824 can grow up to 8 lines and 24 extensions. The way you can do this is by putting cards into your KX-TA824 system. The best card to use is the Panasonic KX-TA82483. This expansion card grows your system to 6 lines and 16 extensions. The KX-TA82483 is called a 3x8 card because it has 3 lines and 8 extensions. The other card you can use to get your system to maximum capacity is the Panasonic KX-TA82481. This expansion card is 2 lines and 8 extensions.

The Panasonic KX-TA824 comes with caller ID, intercom, conferencing, musical hold, power failure transfer, and if you have an installer he/she could program and service the system remotely (you need to install the Panasonic KX-TA82496).

The Panasonic KX-TA824 phone system has several options for voice mail. The first option is to take the voice mail that comes with the phone system. The voice mail that the KX-TA824 comes with is called DISA. What this does is it can answer the phone for you. For example when you call a business and the automatic voice (Automated Attendant) says “welcome to the world of Disney. For Mickey Mouse press 1; for Donald Duck press 2, etc….).” The KX-TA824 system will then transfer the call to any of the 24 extensions that you may have. The only downfall to this is that there are no message mailboxes. For example if you get transferred to Donald Duck, and he’s not at his desk, you cannot leave him a message. There are several ways to remedy this. The first option is to get a simply $30 answering machine. This will let the person calling to leave a message with 1 extension only. So if you have either a residence or a very small business and only get messages for 1 person, this method will suffice. Another option is to get the Panasonic KX-TA82492 voice message card (about $270). The voice message card for the KX-TA824 adds the ability to leave messages for 2 extensions. The card gives you 60 minutes of message time. The final option is the most sophisticated and gives you the peace of mind to never worry again about voice mail. The Panasonic KX-TVA50 voice mail system is about $500 and has a plethora of features. It is initially equipped with 2 ports (ports are lines OR extensions). What this means is that if someone calls the business, the KX-TVA50 will transfer them to someone’s voice mailbox to leave a message. If some else is calling at the SAME TIME, then the KX-TVA50 can handle them as well. But what port means is that if someone at the company is checking their messages and someone calls and leaves a message for another extension at the same time, then both ports will be occupied. But this does not mean that the phone lines will be busy, it just means that a person calling will not be able to leave a message.

Purchasing a phone system can often be quite an intimidating endeavor to undertake. The Panasonic KX-TA824 is a phone system that a nominally tech savvy person could install by themselves. It comes with software that is easy to understand and self-explanatory. Panasonic phone systems usually last a decade or more with few problems.

The Panasonic KX-TA824 is the control unit that is only compatible with certain phones. The Panasonic KX-T7700 series phones are compatible with the KX-TA824 phone system. The Panasonic KX-T7730 is the most popular version, as it is compact, sleek, and has an LCD display. The only thing the the KX-T7730 lacks is the back-light for the LCD display. The Panasonic KX-T7730 and KX-T7731 have single line caller ID, which means that you can either see the name or the number of the person who is calling. The Panasonic KX-T7736 has a larger display than the KX-T7730 and KX-T7731 and has 2 line caller ID, which means that you can see the name and the number of the person calling. The Panasonic KX-T7730 is the most economical phone of all 3, and we found the lowest price on the Internet at PanateDirect.com. They specialize in Panasonic, and if you can traverse their website, you can find some great package deals on the Panasonic KX-TA824 with the KX-T7730 and KX-T7731 phones.