| news | articles & reviews | poll |
The Parafone module pairs communication with your information, letting you just tap on a number in your address book to make a call. Or in the same device take notes, while on the phone. It's an idea that's already making its way in the wireless market.
The VisorPhone, the Kyocera Smart phone, Microsoft's Stinger - are all methods to pair your information to communication. The Parafone does this, but instead of on the go, it does it in the comfort of your living room.
For $119, you get an Analog 900 MHz cordless phone, a replacement
cradle/base station (powered by a included AC adaptor), and a standard clip-over-the-ear headset. Even though many good decisions were made in the development of this product, there are some that weren't, and in some ways, it can outweigh the benefits of bridging information with communication.
Hardware
Even though you most likely have never heard of Arkon Networks, you probably have heard of the brands that they OEM for: Sharp, Pacific Bell, Vtech, and many others have sold phones which were originally made by Arkon Networks.
They have some good manual writers, because out of the multitude of PDA related items that I have bought or received, the Parafone was the best documented. In the 46 page printed manual you will find step by step instructions on how to do everything from setting up speed dial to 3 way calling. Of course, every step has complete screenshots to go along with it. Right on page 2, they have a picture of everything that's in the box - The Parafone Springboard module, the Base station, that also acts like a USB cradle, the AC adaptor (for base station), the headset, and a telephone cord. Also included is the removable NiMH battery that powers the phone. This battery should last for three and a half days of Standby, and up to three hours talk time. I found that I got about the exact same results when I tested battery claims.
The Parafone is a rather large module - It sticks out the back of the visor by 3/8 of an inch, and adds almost one and a half inches to the visors height. Nevertheless, the extra height makes it so that when holding the Visor to your face, the speaker is at your ear, and the visors' built-in mike is near your mouth.
The Parafone base station is designed to be used both as Visor cradle and charging station for the Parafone, however neither the Edge nor the Prism can use the base as a cradle for synchronization. All other existing Visor models can sync using the base.
The Parafone module can still be recharged on the base cradle while attached to the
Prism, but must be detached from the Edge before recharging is possible.
The drawback is that the Parafone isn't in the Visor, so no incoming calls can be answered
without first inserting the module back into the Visor.
Software
When you plug the Parafone into the Visor, two applications are installed. The first is a replacement address book which
adds a very helpful features: tap on a phone number in the address book and it will
automatically be dialed.
The other application is Parafone's core application "Parafone". Parafone is a fairly robust application, and here you will find everything you need to configure settings, and dial numbers. There are three main screens in Parafone. The first is speed dial, which not only looks exactly the same as the VisorPhone, but in fact it shares the same database, making it a lot easier to use both the Visor Phone and Parafone.
There are two pre-marked buttons, one for Voice Mail, and one for Calling cards.
The second main screen is the keypad. You can either dial a number on the large easy to press buttons, and then have it call - like a cell phone, or do "off hook" dialing, which really means you hear the dial tone while pressing the numbers.
I found that when I pre-typed the number in, the call often would not go through, I assume because it would start dialing before it made its connection to the base. Also, the Parafone does not check for a dial tone, before it starts dialing - with many people in the house, and several different phones around, I interrupted conversations or the internet sometimes.
The last main screen of the Parafone app is your call history. The call history is simple yet powerful. It can hold up to 1000 entries, and will record the length, the time and who called, of every incoming, outgoing, and missed call. If you have caller ID the name of the person who called will be displayed. For outgoing calls, if you tapped it out of your speed dial, it will just put the name on the speed dial, or if you dialed normally, it will display the phone number dialed. If you would like to call a number again, you can just tap it and press dial. On an incoming call, with one tap you can either add the phone number and name of the person to speed dial, or your address boo. (Pending that you have caller ID).
Once you have dialed a number, you will get a screen that will display the number called, and 4 easy big buttons. Hang Up, Switch Call, 2nd Call (for 3 way dialing, very easy!) and a Keypad. Also along the top there are smaller icons, for mute, change channel, and volume level. Press the up and down keys on the visor to change volume.
Speaker troubles
When a phone call comes in, the Parafone will ring (unbelievably soft compared to a 1940 rotary phone), and if it's in the
Visor a box will pop up asking if you want to Answer or Ignore. If the phone is not in the Visor, it will ring, and you can then plug it in to your
Visor to take the call.
The module is virtually useless without a headset because the phone's speaker really isn't a speaker per say. It's a buzzer, just like what's in the Visor, and does not allow a quality of sound at which you can easily understand someone speaking. The buzzer also makes the ring not very audible.
Furthermore, without a headset you can't take notes while talking, and the module in combination with the Visor is fairly heavy, making it uncomfortable holding it up to your head.
I would say, based on others advice (The Today Show, Lockergnome) that the Jabra headsets are some of the best.
The Parafone is quite expensive for it's category of phone. For the same price I can get a pretty nice 2.4 Ghz, digital phone. But there's the mix of communication and information, one that I found cool. Here is what I thought was missing.
For longer calls headsets are useful, but for shorter calls I prefer holding a phone up to my head. However, since the Parafone doesn't perform very well without a headset, and most phone calls I make tend to be shorter, the Parafone never really came off for me as being worth the money.
I really looked forward to this
module, but to tell you the truth I used it for three
days and threw it in a drawer, till about a week before I started writing this. I had to force myself to use this; it wasn't like most things I've tested. Let me say here at the end though, that the User Interface for the Parafone software is awesome.
Hopefully the upcoming G24 will keep this great UI,
and fix the problems that I have found. As for making
information join up with communication successfully?
When I could get myself to talk on the phone I thought
it was very cool to be able tap any address book entry
and have it call the number. I also liked being able
to use other apps; taking down a short note or a phone
number was very simple. My pen and paper were with my
phone, all integrated into one device.
Pros:
- Lets you talk while using any app.
- Rings when not in Visor
- Base Station acts like a cradle
- Easy to dial, great UI
- Removable battery
Cons:
- Pricey
- Non upgradeable
- Fair quality sound
- "Speaker" in the phone is hard to hear
- No way to hang up while in another app
Design: 3
Usability: 4
Setup: 4
Cost/Benefit: 3
Average: 3
© 2000 VisorCentral
All Rights Reserved.