Product FAQs

A. The Cellular Docking Station is a cell phone cradle that links your wireless phone to your existing home phones. The Cellular Docking Station allows you to make and receive cellular calls on all of the standard phones throughout your house or home office. It creates an additional phone line – without additional cost. Of course, it charges your cell phone batteries as well.

Q. Can The Cellular Docking Station be used with any cell phone?

A. Since a cell phone must be inserted into The Cellular Docking Station, and The Cellular Docking Station must communicate with and recharge the cell phone through the contacts on the phone, there must be a specific model of The Cellular Docking Station for each cell phone family. Furthermore, The Cellular Docking Station software must be tested with each cell phone model within the family.

Q. What about other brands of cell phones?

A. We are working to support other phone families as well. Watch this site for announcements of new cell phone support.

Q. Wouldn’t it be expensive to use a cell phone rather than a landline phone to make calls at home, especially for long-distance?

A. Quite the opposite. Most cellular providers offer attractive deals these days for free calls on nights and weekends, and many of them include long-distance calls for no additional charge. Many calling plans charge 10 cents to 15 cents per minute and some even less. This compares favorably with traditional wire line services.

Q. Why is using The Cellular Docking Station better than just carrying my cell phone around the house with me?

A. Typical home and office phones have better ergonomics than small cell phones. Cell phones simply weren’t designed so you could hear – and be heard – clearly at the same time. The Cellular Docking Station also recharges your cell phone so it is always fully charged and ready to go when you are.

Q. Why is The Cellular Docking Station better than just forwarding my cell phone number to my home or office phone number?

A. With The Cellular Docking Station, you won't ever forget to do it, or to reverse the forward when you leave. And with The Cellular Docking Station, you can take advantage of your free minutes and low-cost long distance that might be included in your cellular calling plan.

Q. My cell phone service is often frustratingly bad – lots of static and dead zones. Will The Cellular Docking Station improve the quality?

A. No. The Cellular Docking Station does not improve service quality, but cell phone service is getting better all the time. Chances are, yours will improve significantly soon as more companies put antennas into service. Note that when using a The Cellular Docking Station, the only location that matters is where you position the Cellular Docking Station unit – no more wandering around the house searching for a better cell zone.

Q. My cell phone calls sound better with The Cellular Docking Station. How does The Cellular Docking Station improve the quality?

A. The Cellular Docking Station does not, itself, improve service quality, but cell phone calls through The Cellular Docking Station sometimes sound better because the home or office telephone you use has a better speaker and microphone and generally better ergonomics.

Q. Can I use an external antenna with The Cellular Docking Station?

A. Yes, but only when the phone has a connector for an external antenna that is accessible when the phone is docked in the Cellular Docking Station. Some cell phone families, such as Nokia (51xx and 61xx), have a connector for a cable to an external antenna on the back, just under the built-in antenna. Some Ericsson phones are designed so that the built-in antenna can be unscrewed and replaced by a cable to an external antenna. Motorola cell phones do not have a connection for an external antenna that is accessible when the phone is docked.

External antennas can improve the signal received by your wireless phone. Improvement depends on the location of the phone and antenna, the type of antenna, and the original signal strength. External antennas may be purchased anywhere wireless accessories are sold.

Q. How will I know which phone is ringing?

A. Calls to your cell phone service (number) will play a distinctive ring on all phones. If you have more than one cell phone – and more than one The Cellular Docking Station – you can create different rings for each. The regular phone service (number) still rings with the normal ring.

A. Yes to both questions, but you must have one of two things: either a multi-line phone or a line selector to adapt a single-line telephone for two-line use. The selector can be purchased from the same retailers and wireless providers that sell the Cellular Docking Station. In most installations, select Line 1 to connect to the regular phone line or Line 2 for your cell phone service through The Cellular Docking Station.

Q. Do I need two-line phones to use a The Cellular Docking Station?

A. Two-line phones are most convenient when you want to access both your wireless and traditional wire line service from the same phone. You can do the same thing with a one-line phone by adding a simple, automatic line selector between the phone and the telephone wall socket. They can be purchased at office superstores and over the web.

Q. If someone else is on a standard phone, how will I know which line they are using – the cell phone or the standard phone?

A. The In Use light on the Docking of the Cellular Docking Station Docking station shows when it is in use. Like with any two-line system, if you pick up a phone connected to a line that’s in use, you’ll join the conversation. If you want to make a separate call, select the other line.

Q. Is The Cellular Docking Station complicated to install in a home?

A. Not at all – for a desktop installation, just plug it into a Line input in any standard phone and an AC wall outlet. For a full-home installation in most homes, just plug it into to any wall phone jack and you’re ready to go. The Cellular Docking Station can drive either Line 1 or Line 2.

Q. What if I already have two traditional phone lines? I use one for Internet access.

A. If your computer’s line is a separate run from where phone service enters your home, installation is no different. If not, you may need to make some simple wiring changes. The Cellular Docking Station User Guide explains how to handle this common situation. If you are uncomfortable doing it yourself, there are several local and national service organizations that specialize in coming to your home to do it for you.

Q. Is The Cellular Docking Station complicated to install in an office?

A. Not at all – For an office installation or any installation in which you will use your The Cellular Docking Station with only one phone, just plug it into an AC wall outlet and connect it to the any Line input if it’s a multi-line phone, or with a line selector if it’s a one-line phone.

Q. Can The Cellular Docking Station be used with a multi-handset cordless phone system like the Siemens Gigaset and the Panasonic KX-TG2000 system?

A. Yes. One or more The Cellular Docking Stations may be connected to a multi-handset cordless phone system via its line input jacks. The Cellular Docking Station configuration is the same as with multi-line phones. The advantage of these phone systems is that they provide multiple, multi-line, cordless handsets with no home or office wiring issues. The phone system may be programmed to route incoming calls from the Cellular Docking Station line to a particular extension or to just answer them as a normal line. Note that when dialing out on a The Cellular Docking Station line, the dialing sequence must be terminated by a # key.

Q. Can The Cellular Docking Station be used with a PBX?

A. Yes. One or more The Cellular Docking Stations may be connected to a PBX as lines (CO trunks). The PBX may be programmed to route incoming calls from the Cellular Docking Station line to a particular extension or to just answer them as a normal line. The dialing sequence of outbound calls over The Cellular Docking Station lines must be terminated by a # key.

Q. What happens if I buy another type of cell phone after I already bought a The Cellular Docking Station?

A. If your new phone is in a compatible family with your previous phone, you can continue to use your same The Cellular Docking Station. For example, if you change from a Nokia 5120 to a Nokia 6160, the same The Cellular Docking Station will work. See the question, above about cell phone model support.

Q. How does The Cellular Docking Station affect my home answering machine and the answering service on the cell phone?

A. An unanswered call that comes in on your cell phone will automatically be routed to whatever voice mail message service you have set up for that cell number. An unanswered call that comes in on your home or office phone will feed into your regular answering machine or telephone messaging service – just as it has before.

Q. Can I use a standard phone with The Cellular Docking Station and my cell phone to access voicemail systems?

A. Sometimes, after a call is connected, keypad digits you enter from a remote phone may not be recognized by a voicemail or auto-attendant system. This depends mostly on your cell phone's connection strength and the equipment at the other end of the connection, and sometimes on the telephones you use.

If you have this problem, one workaround is to locate the Cellular Docking Station where you make most of your calls, such as your home office, and enter any post-connection numbers directly on the cell phone keypad. Simply entering numbers in this fashion won't upset the Cellular Docking Station, and is an exception to the warnings about not pressing buttons on the phone while it's docked. (With Nokia phones, press the END key when done with the call to clear the phone's display.)

Another strategy would be to use the Cellular Docking Station and cell phone primarily for incoming calls, and use a regular land line for outgoing calls. You could thus publish your cell phone number as your business line, for instance, and always have the phone with you (mobile or docked) for clients to reach you. This would also reduce your use of airtime, and possibly allow you to subscribe to a less expensive cell plan while retaining the benefit of giving callers a single number to contact you.

Q. Can a modem or fax machine be used with The Cellular Docking Station?

A. No. Standard analog modem operation over your cellular phone is too slow and error prone.

Q. What about call waiting?

A. With the Cellular Docking Station models for Nokia and Motorola cell phones, call waiting operates normally, both on your cell phone service and traditional wire line service. With Model 121 for Ericsson cell phones, you will hear the call waiting tones, and must decide whether to continue with your current call or end the current call and pick up the new one.

Q. What about caller ID?

A. With The Cellular Docking Station, caller ID information is displayed on the cell phone display.

Q. It sounds like some people won’t even need the traditional phone company anymore.

A. That's right. Some people, in one or two-person households where both use The Cellular Docking Station, could drop their traditional phone service. Then they could use just one cell phone number each. They would receive all their calls, whether at home or on the go, and would have all their messages handled in one voice mailbox. The Cellular Docking Station is also an excellent solution for vacation home phone service. Why pay for year-’round traditional phone service when nobody is living there? Some people use The Cellular Docking Stations for their teen-agers’ cell phones. It’s like giving them a private line