The PowerTel 980 is a large, robust home phone set, with a lovely optional wrist watch style device which enables you to have an emergency button and know when there is an incoming call – all rolled into one.
Everything is so simple – each piece is packed individually so all you’d need to do is lay everything out in front of you and plug it in. The instructions are printed clearly in large text, which are easy to follow with distinctive pictures for different settings and functions.
The pictures, however, do seem to be easier to see printed in the instruction manual than printed on the handsets themselves. And there are a lot of pictures. And a lot of functions.
But for simple usage of both the corded and cordless handsets, the PowerTel 980 is great. It has a 40dB option for those of harder hearing and also a hearing aid compatibility option. The buttons are large and easy to press.
The weight of the handset is just about right and the display on the cordless handset is clear.
The wrist shaker is an interesting thing – you wear it on your wrist and the band vibrates when there is an incoming call. It also has the ability to set up a connection to a selection of pre-entered emergency numbers.
This activates on the pressing of the large red button in the middle of the band – very useful to have the use of an emergency call system, without having two wristbands on or the cost of the emergency contact system.
The wrist shaker itself is lightweight and comfortable. However the strap – although adjustable – is quite large. Anyone with a less than large sized wrist will have the shaker dangling loosely.
The charging points are also tiny on the wrist shaker. This can make it confusing to know whether it’s actually charging or not, but there is a handy light that goes on when charging properly.
Overall this is a handy piece of kit; it will need the assistance of someone technologically minded to set everything up to start with in terms of the Phonebook and Quickdial numbers, etc, but the handsets have a good range, are hearing aid compatible and have a lot of useful functions.
by Theresa Fisher
