Cutting The Cord A look at digital cordless phones.

Running a small business by yourself or with a small staff oftenmeans you have to cover a lot of ground around the office. Takingalong a cordless phone ensures you don't miss importantcalls--until you walk out of range or get static on the line. Lackof clarity, restricted range and interference are among the mostfrequent complaints about cordless phones. It isn't unusual toeven hear other people's conversations or phones ringing onyour line. Frustrated with these limitations, some businesspeoplehave resorted to installing phone extensions everywhere, a costlysolution.

Fortunately, the latest cordless phones have moved to the nextlevel, where static has been virtually eliminated and range greatlyextended, thanks to digital technology and powerful frequencybands. Digital cordless phones have much wider bands to accommodatemore channels, resulting in almost static-free transmissions. Forexample, Lucent Technologies' phones, the bestselling phones onthe market (formerly sold under the AT&T logo), provide userswith 173 channels. Thomson Consumer Electronics' digitalcordless phone (sold under the General Electric logo) provides 100channels.

All digital cordless phones in our chart are on the 900 MHzradio band frequency, providing ranges of up to 4,000 feet (aboutthree-quarters of a mile) and high-quality voice clarity. Standardcordless phones use the 43 to 46 MHz frequency and have a range ofup to 500 feet. Don't judge a phone only by its range, though;buildings, weather and terrain can affect sound quality andreception. A longer range, however, means you can move farther awayand receive a clearer signal as the phone automatically switches toa better channel on the band.