Microsoft Cordless Phone System

Whatever happened to the Microsoft cordless phone system? If you blinked at the wrong moment in 1998 you would have missed it. It was briefly the most advanced cordless telephone on the market. Within twelve months it vanished never to be seen again.

The Microsoft cordless telephone was a 900 MHz device that was said to combine the features of a PC with bleeding edge telephone technology (or visa versa). Calls could be made directly from the phone or via a PC running Windows 95/98.

Advanced Features

The Microsoft cordless phone system enabled users to set up multiple individual and shared voicemail boxes, each with it's own custom greeting.

In anticipation of features that didn't become available on Panasonic cordless telephones until almost a decade later, it supported talking caller ID or call announcing and call blocking. Alternatively calls could be automatically routed to a phone answering system.

A voice command capability enabled users to dial stored numbers by telling the phone to "call Mary" or whoever. It was an early hands free device that could dial contacts by verbal command.

Call logging is not usually a feature we associate with cordless home phones, but in the 90's there was no such thing as a cheap home service. Apparently someone at Microsoft saw a need to introduce these tools to assist in managing home finances; or keeping tabs on who was calling whom. The Microsoft phone could log the time and duration of the most recent 1000 incoming and outgoing calls. We are yet to come across any other home phone with this feature, and no one seems to miss it.

An interesting omission was the absence of a speakerphone both on the cordless handsets and base unit.

Vintage Telephones

It's very unlikely that any Microsoft cordless telephones are still in use. The underlying Call Manager software did not survive Windows 95/98. On the other hand there are bound to be collectors who will pay a premium if you happen to stumble across one in the attic.

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