Caller ID Boxes

This survey of British Caller ID boxes accompanies my Computer Caller ID FAQ at http://www.ainslie.org.uk/callerid.htm.If you have come here via an external link such as a search engine, I recommend that you have a look at the FAQ first. This list of Caller ID boxes is pretty rudimentary at the moment - I've just started it to try and take the pressure off the FAQ, as this is not what the FAQ is really about. However, it seems to be of interest to some people, so I'll try and make it more comprehensive at a later date; I don't own any of these boxes so I welcome any corrections. Inevitably, most of the boxes in this list are designed to work with the British Telecom standard. Unfortunately, aside from Rocom, the most informative online shops for these things are no longer with us, so I'd welcome news of anywhere with a good choice of these boxes.

Audioline CLD50

Price : £10 from The Link;£ 13 from Rocom
Standard : BT
Memories : ?

This is a new cheap box that seems to be replacing theSWB CL2D - comments welcome. Qv the CLD60phone.

Bang & Olufsen BeoTalk 1100 Website : http://www.bang-olufsen.com/default.asp?id=323 Price : £125+ Standard : BT and others? Memories : 50 call log
Not a Caller ID box as such, but an answerphone that also has a Caller ID display. Lots of nice features like a line busyindicator and an adjustable display. It's a shame that they don't throwin a phone as well, like any other manufacturer, but I guess that would just disrupt those sleek lines. I know it's not the point, but I have to point out that for the price you could get a decent digital cordessphone with Caller ID and answerphone. <g>

Betacom Preview 2 Price : Rocom have them for £10,£25 from Argos, Rocom; widely available Standard : BT, Bellcore Memories : 99 Display : 3 line
This used to be the only widely available multi-standard Caller ID box, so cable subscribers had to use it. Even now that most of the BT boxes seem to have caught up in that respect,this has lots of memories, is easy to use, and you can dial stored numbers. The only problem is the display, which is hard to see unless you're atexactly the right angle; BT boxes are a lot more flexible in this respect. On the other hand, the display only lights up when you hit a key or ifthe line is in use, which can be handy for seeing if another extensionor your PC is using the line. I'd try this in preference to any BT box bar the CD-60 or 2000 - if you have problems seeing the Betacom's screen,take advantage of Argos' 14-day money back guarantee. <g>

Binatone

Binatone Clip80

Website : http://www.binatonetelecom.com/clip80.html
Price : £15 from Rocom
Standard : BT???
Memories : 80 numbers
Display : 2 line

I've only seen this on the Rocom site, but it looks OK.
It's probably a good choice for those who have problemswith small buttons. Any other comments?

British Telecom

In chronological order, BT have brought out the CD-50, CD-30, CD-20/CD-60 and various free ones.

BT Freebie Price : Free with Select Services from BT Standard : BT Memories : 0
Every summer, BT run a promotion offeringa free Caller ID box, to those who haven't got Caller Display, if you signup for one or more Select Services. All it does is show the number- no memory or anything, but for most purposes that's all you need. Thanks for the pic go to David Holder of Promotion & Display Technology who make them.

BT CD-20 Website : http://www.shop-athome.bt.com/athome/plsql/ show.determine_template?atoz=true&catno=400762&keyno=201555 Price : ~£25 from BT, John Lewis, Rocom Standard : BT Memories : 30 numbers + time Display : 2 line
Little brother of the CD-60, in the same upright case. Personally I'd go for either the cost of the free one or the features of the CD-60.

BT CD-30 Price : ~£25, widely available Standard : BT Memories : 55 Display : 1 line
Successor to the CD-50, the CD-30 was a retrogradestep in many ways. You can't delete individual numbers from the memory,and you can only view them in one direction. The single line display requiresyou to hit the button to see the time of the call. On the other hand,they are considerably more reliable. ?Now being replaced by the CD-20 andCD-60, which are the better buys.

BT CD-50 Price : ~£10 from computer fairs etc. Standard : BT Memories : 50 (or ~30 if names + number)
People have had all sorts of problems withthese - the early ones at least were polarity dependent and they do likefresh batteries. On the other hand, they've been discontinued and can bepicked up for a tenner or so from computer fairs, and are more user-friendlythan the CD-30. The CD-50 stores 50 numbers, which can be deletedsingly or severally and the full record is on screen at any one time. Youcan go up and down the list. Like later BT boxes, the CD-50 has name andnumber capability (unlike BT phonelines ;-) ); unlike later boxes, theCD-50 can be switched between "name and number" mode, and "number only"mode, but can store more in "number only" mode. Some CD-50s had special firmware containing sample names(of real BT employees) for demo purposes. These and possibly some of thoseused in the name and number trials found their way into the retail marketand surprised some people by occasionally spitting out random names. BTseem happy to swap them, especially as they tend to be the older, lessreliable ones and the employees were getting hacked off with the phonecalls they received from curious CD-50 owners!

BT CD-60 Website : http://www.shop-athome.bt.com/athome/plsql/ show.determine_template?atoz=true&catno=400762&keyno=201556 Price : £40 from BT, Rocom;~£35 from John Lewis Standard : BT Memories : 30 numbers ; 10 name + number address book Display : 2 line
The ultimate in UK Caller ID boxes for theprice of a decent phone. The CD-60 has all the bells and whistles,including a dialling facility and most importantly, Call Waiting ID. AFAIK it is the cheapest route to CWID available, and is worth buying forthis alone. I don't like the casing, which it shares with the CD-20.

BT CD-2000 Website : http://www.shop-athome.bt.com/athome/plsql/ show.determine_template?atoz=true&catno=400762&keyno=201723 Price : $pound;57 from Rocom, £60 from BT - I thought the CD-60 was pricy! Standard : BT Memories : ?30 numbers; 20 name + number address book Display : 2 line
The main justification of this box's extortionateprice is its huge (6") backlit display - ideal for those who have problemsseeing conventional displays. It can be wall-mounted as well. Gadget freakswill like the built in thermometer; like the CD60 it has Call Waiting ID,but the address book is bigger. It appears to have very limited distribution, so you'reunlikely to find it cheaper unless it makes it onto Tottenham Court Roador similar.

Easicom TV1, TV3 Website : http://www.shop-atwork.bt.com/atwork/plsql/ display.page?page=product&keyno=201795 Price : £60 from BT Standard : BT Memories : 20 name and number address book
For the couch potato who doesn't want a CD2000or a DECT phone for the same price, BT can now show you your calls on yourTV. According to a recent catalogue from The Link, there will soon be a TV3 version with infraredkeyboard. The 10/10 Marketing Messenger (formerly Trinexus) is similar.

Fanstel

Fans Telecom, Inc. (a.k.a. Fanstel) claim that their kit is 'Designed to work with Bellcore FSK, ETSI FSK, and every DTMF CallerID interface in the world.' Despite this, they feel the need to offer special European versions of most of their boxes with multi-language support and the correct date format. I've not seen them in this country, but they areone of the few manufacturers recommended by Telewest. The boxes are a littlegarish but well featured. All have 3 line displays and sport voicemail waiting indicators, but I doubt this will work in the UK?
The range seems huge, but in fact it is just a few options multiplied together, as can be seen when you analyse the model names :
The names of the basicmodels start with a 'B' followed by the number of memories - 30, 72,80, 99. The number is followed by a letter indicating the type of casing(nothing or B for base models, S for slimline, D for ...different?), -EURfor the European versions (only the B30and B80)and CW for Call Waiting ID (only the B30CW and B72CW - both these seemto be in the 'D' case).
Recently they seem to have adopted a new, curvier casingand modernised the internals. The European version, the D55-EURnow has a (unique?) 24 digit display for international Caller ID, and afew extra features like Ring Back Caller ID. This looks a very neatdevice if you can find it and if the price is reasonable - anyone seenit in the UK? The North American version, the G72,is also multilingual, has a Call Waiting ID version, and has a large (80mmx37mm)backlit display.
The 'F' models are their 'Feature'boxes. The F60Dcan tell if you have email waiting - I assume this is an ADSI featureas found on the Easicom 1000; if this works in the UK, it's the only boxI know of that can do this. In addition, it appears to be the only Fanstelbox with a name-to-number matching facility - this is only 30 memoriesand the call list is only 30 long as well. The F121Palso has half the call memories you would expect, but it can page you withdetails of missed calls. It also has a button for one-touch calling ofa pager.

Olympus Olycom CL200 Price : £20 from Dixonsgroup, £40 from Innovations;cat no MX0559; £ 50 from Rocom Website : punch Olycom into the Innovations site, orsee Incom Standard : BT, Bellcore Memories : 99 name + number address book
Before the BT CD60 came out, this box attracted a lot of attention for being multistandard and having Call Waiting ID. Someone claimed it can speak the number, but I don't know if that was aconfusion with the high end Olycom product. However, it is not asuser-friendly as newer boxes - numbers come up in the order they were saved,rather than alphabetically, and entering names is a pain. Long-term reliabilityis questionable and it eats batteries - get the mains adaptor. Seethis thread for more comments.

SouthWestern Bell CL2D Price : £11.10 from Incom,£12 from Staples, £15 from Rocom,£20 from The Link Standard : BT and Bellcore Memories : 50 or 80? number log Display : 2 line
This SWB unit has been around for as longas I can remember. It's distributed by Audioline, so Incom sell it as anAudioline and I guess we'll see it being replaced by the CLD50.I don't know much about it, other than the fact that it's multi-standardand the white plastic always looks grubby and scuffed in shops.

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Caller ID Boxes

Audioline CLD50

Bang & Olufsen BeoTalk 1100

Betacom Preview 2

Binatone

Binatone Clip80

British Telecom

BT Freebie

BT CD-20

BT CD-30

BT CD-50

BT CD-60

BT CD-2000

Easicom TV1, TV3

Fanstel

Olympus Olycom CL200

SouthWestern Bell CL2D