Caller ID Box for Landline Phone with LCD Display and Call Blocking Capabilities

R. DONALDSON: This is for blocking callers on land line phone service when you have caller ID service. For cell phones, use an applicable cell phone application. The Amazon description is a bit misleading, as the caller ID function (which is what I need) is not as good as a strictly "Caller ID" box, so if it's caller ID you want, avoid these Blockers. For caller ID with this box, (I used "parallel" connection to phone line), the display is on only while the phone is ringing. After I or answering machine picks up, the caller ID disappears, but it remains in memory to look at after the call. The actual ID is a bit hard to read, as the numbers are tall (a half inch), but only an eighth inch wide. And there is no date or time displayed either during the call, or on the display from memory. Also the actual brand is Pearl, not SBC Snet.

United States on Jun 25, 2022

TrumanTruman: We had a radioshack caller id box for probably a decade. It now has rattling noises when you shake it, and the display doesn't change when a call comes in. We threw it away.

I set this up pretty quickly. My first impression of it is that it looks cheaply made. And that the product page photos didn't show a "CLEAN LINE" text on the top of the product, which is what I have on my received caller id box. I noticed after set-up that the dial tone on my home phone sounds kinda strange, where I should hear a long *doooooooooot*. Instead, it sounds glitchy at first with a series of *doot doot doot*s. No matter; as long as it works. Maybe the signal on my mobile phone and or home phone are just off right now.

The display brightness can be adjusted. This box doesn't show the caller's Name. Just the Phone Number along with the date and time. No matter how many times I set the time in 12-hour format, after an incoming call, the time would set itself to 24-hour format which I find pretty annoying but oh well (I set it to 7 o'clock, but after a call it shows 19 o'clock). The last thing I don't like is that the manual doesn't explain what the 'NEW' 'REP' and MAIL ICON on the left...

United States on Aug 10, 2021

Sam Leandro: Under some lighting situations, the display can be be very difficult to read. Different room lighting, and tilting the unit at an angle, can make a huge difference. The unit is powered by an AC cord that plugs into the wall, which could be a problem if the unit is located in the middle of a room. You will be running the AC wire, and possibly an extension cord, across the room. Some units (but not this one) are battery powered, requiring no AC cord. For wall mounting, the unit does not mount flush to the wall, but sits about 1/2" away, held in place by a lightweight plastic bracket that bends when you push the buttons on the unit. I had to add a small piece of 1/2" plywood between the unit and the wall so the unit would not wobble.

United States on Sep 24, 2018

Keith: This is a product category that doesn't get a lot of attention anymore. There are new call blocker products being offered, but very few simple caller ID boxes. Not too surprising, given that most phones have integrated LCD displays these days. If someone could convince Panasonic that they should put an LED into their base units that would flash for missed calls and digital landline voice mails (stored by the phone company) I wouldn't need a separate caller ID box anymore.

There is a lot to like about this little box. It doesn't require batteries. You don't have to set a clock on it. It displays both the number and the name. The LED flashes green when there is a missed call, and red when there is voice mail waiting. (I really, really, like that feature.) It's very reasonably priced. As others have noted, the display is kind of small, and there is no back-lighting. And yellow? Really? The lack of back-lighting is the only thing that kept me from rating it 5 stars, but it didn't keep me from buying another one to have as a spare a few years down the road.

United States on Jan 20, 2018

Cat Mann: This Caller ID unit I received does NOT have a battery back-up, as was described (and still is) in this item's page. When AC power is disconnected, all Caller ID history data is lost. It works; however, it would have been nice to have the product match the description, so I could have picked another unit that actually HAS a battery or non-volatile memory backup. So if you plug this into a UPS, or don't care if the previous-caller data is lost, this will work for you.

Here's an odd feature: When a call comes in that is *not* blocked at our call-blocker, there are TWO Caller ID entries for that exact name/number. If the call is blocked, there is only ONE Caller ID entry. So I know at a glance if some telemarketer got his call dropped (ha-ha!) It just means that when reviewing calls, I need to delete the duplicates (sometimes both, since we wanted/expected that call) to save space.

PROs: Small form factor. Simple controls. A green LED flashes when there's a new call that you haven't reviewed. Red message-waiting light.

CONs: AC Adapter plugs into wall. No battery backup, all data lost upon unplugging. Unblocked call entries are duplicated.

United States on Dec 05, 2017