Emergency/Phone/Intercom

[Adam]

I noticed Frank saying his SWMBO wanted him to install an intercom - which is something I planned for when burying wires under the garden path - up to the workshop.

Due to laziness , and lots of other things to do, I never quite got round to wiring it up. When I bought the tablesaw, it occured to me I needed a better "emergency" solution, so bought a couple of DECT phones (three actually).

I have one in the workshop, and two in the house.

Well, what can I say - they are fantastic!

I feel safer - I can dial 999 should the need arise :shock:

I can take calls in the workshop - even if SWMBO is not in the house - I can use it when I'm in the garden, it works as an intercom - so we talk without any phone bills, and we can transfer calls from one handset to the other, if I answer and it's not for me :wink:. SWMBO likes this as she doesn't have to trudge down the garden in the rain to tell me I have got a call!

This beats the previous solution of having a "gong" in the kitchen near the door which she used to bang :shock: :shock: :shock: , and the follow on solution which was a buzzer :evil: which sounded when she pressed a button in the house.

This must be one of the best things I bought, they are so useful.

What does everyone else do? Do you have an intercom/gong/emergency plan?

 

[gidon]

I usually take a walkie talkie up the shed with me. Mainly to discuss what's for dinner. But also for emergencies. Not ideal because the thing runs out of charge pretty quickly when I forget to take it back in with me (and has recently developed a small fault).
I had considered the DECT idea - but our DECT phone only has intercom when you have more than one handset (ie not to the base) - and don't fancy spending any money on more handsets!
Considering the price of walkie talkies it's not a bad method. Not as secure (well not secure in any way) as DECT - so your neighbours may hear your dinner plans.
Cheers
Gidon

 

[Alf]

We've got an intercom that lets you hear what's going on in the workshop from the house without anyone having to press a button. Great if you're lying on the floor in a pool of blood and can't get to the intercom. (I haven't actually tried that mind you, and hope it remains that way) About a tenner from Tandy a couple of years ago IIRC.

Now can somebody inform this techno-ignoramous what a DECT phone is please?

Cheers, Alf

 

[woodshavings]

I also have a DECT phone in the workshop. Works well, but have to remember to clean off shavings and sawdust - just to remove any possible fire risk since it remains on its charging base.

 

[Adam]

DECT = Digitally Enhanced Cordless Telephone

You know the cheap "cordless" sets you can get in Argos? That means you don't have to stand within a wires length of the BT wall socket? Well the problem with them is that they are un-secure - i.e. your neighbours can easily listen to your conversation with the correct equipment, they suffer fading (the signal gets weak so you drop/can't hear the call), as you walk round the house, and you can't use them as intercoms. DECT are basically the "digital" equivalent (and you get secure conversation). The advantages are, clearer speech, improved range, the ability to talk between handsets individually, or collectively, i.e. you can use it as an intercom, and having answered an incoming call, and finding it's not for you, you can "forward" the call back to the other handsets - for SWMBO to pick up, and vice versa.

They ain't cheap, but if you get one, for those who know who I work for, you'll be contributing to my pension fund :lol: :lol:

Thought I'd better give 'em a good write up!

It was the lacerating a hand on the tablesaw, and fainting in the workshop/ by the time I got to the back door scenario, which made me want a phone in the actual workshop. The intercom was a bonus.

 

[Alf]

Ta muchly, Adam. Sounds good; might point out the benefits to TPTB and see if we can help with the pension :wink:

Cheers, Alf