• In electronics, we tend to take miniaturization for granted, with zillions of transistors packed into pinhead-size chips. Every year, our toys and tools get better, cheaper and smaller. Still, I was not adequately prepared for an itty-bitty full-featured laptop phone system! Hiding a D308 would pose no challenge to even a moderately-skilled shoplifter, yet it has more magic and more features than the stegosaurus-size systems that took two people to bolt onto a wall not too many years ago.

• The Panawizards didn't have to make this so small; but the fact that they did, and that it works so well and does so much, is a tribute to those folks in New Jersey and Japan who usually manage to stay much more than "slightly ahead of our time."

• Phone systems have gone from file-cabinet-size to medicine-cabinet-size, and now we have first-aid-kit-size. It's a technological achievement, but I really can't think of too many instances when people turned down a phone system because of the size of the control unit. Nevertheless, the small reduces costs for making, storing and shipping the systems.

• This system has great possibilities for places that could benefit from a phone system but never got one: trade shows, temporary offices, conventions, small doctor's offices, retail stores, carnivals, fairs, mobile showrooms, small schools, model homes, political candidate's headquarters, athletic events, small motels, Bed&Breakfasts, and lots of houses.

• Great for product development and demonstrations of modems and faxes.

• Could be a great hub for a bunch of cordless phones at a shopping mall, summer camp, flea market, used car lot, factory, real estate development...

• The low price and full pack of features makes this ideal for a small business that wants to act big.

• The line and phone capacity makes it perfect for a huge number of homes, particularly those that have outgrown simple two-line phones, and want a good way to handle voice, data and fax.

• The D308's combination of price, features and capacity is perfect for most home-based-businesses.

• The one-door intercom limitation should not be a big handicap. Many people who have bigger systems in their home use just one door intercom -- or even none.

• It's  a perfect upgrade for people who now have small Panasonic analog systems and want to take advantage of features like Caller ID, voice mail, and XDP...and don't want to go into deep debt by replacing all their present phones.

• If you are re-using 7000-series analog multi-line phones, keep in mind that they use TWO PORTS EACH (one analog and one digital -- all four wires in a standard green/red/black/yellow phone jack). If you want to use eight 7000-series phones in a D308, you will need the KX-TD 30870 4-port expansion module, and will not have any separate ports availabel for single-line phones and gadgets.

• Like all Panasonic hybrid phone systems, the D308 will work with any single-line analog phone. Single-line phones are not as convenient as multi-line models, but they'll have access to intercom, all lines and most features.

• The D308 could have applications for departments and workgroups "behind" a large PBX system, and might make Centrex systems more useful.

• The big surprise with the D308 is its KX-TD30891 add-on module. It provides Caller ID, automatic fax detection, and "DISA" - - at a small fraction of the costs for the separate modules needed for these features on the bigger systems. (Fax detection and DISA are available on the KX-T206, which is available in Europe and Latin America, but has never been sold in the US. The 206 is the "father" of the 308, and they apparently use the same cabinet and some other components.)

• You'll  save money by skipping the add-on circuitry for door answering and door opening -- they're built into the D308 (but for just one door).

• The D308 is the same size as the  KX-TVS75 voice processing system. It's a "natural" to use them together, and both units can fit in the same wall space where an analog 308 or 616 might be now.

• The small size of the package makes the D308 just a little less user-friendly for the typical do-it-yourselfer. Connections for the door intercom and the phones are on a 25-pair Amphenol connector, like on the D1232 system. Phone Pholks who are comfortable punching a punch-down tool will have no problem getting connected; and the rest of you can get a simple modular jack adapter assembly ("Versa-Block") from AbleComm, to make your installation truly plug-and-play.
  
  The Panasonic KX-TD308 provides an amazing collection of useful, innovative features at a bargain price. It doesn't have the line and phone capacity of its bigger siblings, but does have enough for thousands and thousands of homes and businesses. The KX-TD308 sets new standards for small phone systems, and has features that megabuck systems can't match.

Michael N. Marcus

KX-TD308  comes equipped for three lines, eight digital multi-line phones, four single-line analog phones.

Provides XDPs (eXtra Device Ports) on Panasonic KX-T7200 and 7400 series phones.

[It can also use Panasonic KX-T7000 series analog multi-line phones, and even older KX-T multi-line "system" phones. An analog multi-line phone requires a digital ("data") circuit pair plus an analog ("voice') circuit pair - in a phone jack with FOUR wires.]

KX-TD30870 module adds four more analog ports.

TINY cabinet. Same size as KX-TVS75 Voice Processing System and non-USA KX-T206 system.

KX-TD30891 module adds Caller ID, fax detection, and DISA (Direct Inward Station Access -- simplified Automated Attendant) -- three powerful features on one tiny circuit board.

DISA is an expensive add-on for the analog and digital 1232 systems, but a real bargain in the new D308. You can have one 16-second digitally-recorded message that gives callers an electronic menu, to make a small business look big ("Press two for accounts receivable...")

DISA can also be used for direct access in a home/office environment or a home without a business, to allow selective ringing of telephones (or groups) without disturbing everyone. Dial one for parents, two for Tommy, etc. Late-night calls for teenagers won't disturb parents and little kids. WONDERFUL.

DISA can also be used for after-hours calls in Bed-and-Breakfasts, which usually have just a few rooms and no staff on duty around-the-clock.

Built-in support for one KX-T30865 door intercom speaker, and one electric door strike. Does not require KX-TD160 intercom/opener module like bigger systems.

PC-programmable with built-in DB-9 serial connector. Bigger systems use DB-25.

Jacks for music input and paging output are 2.5mm (approx. 3/32") -- not like jacks on bigger systems.

25-pair female Amphenol-type connector provides connections for phones and door intercom.

Connection to incoming phone lines with internal 3-line modular jack (RJ-25).

Has most of the features of bigger digital 816 and 1232 systems.

Caller ID section can store 100 name-number matches

Off-Hook Call Announcing with KX-T7235 and 7436.

Digital integration with Panasonic Voice Processing Systems.

Bilingual display: English or French.

Absent Message Capability: If you don't answer a call, the caller's screen can show messages like "gone home," "in a meeting," or "out until July 10."

Unattended Conference: connect two other people together for a three-way call, and leave and re-enter the conversation.

Programmable Toll Restriction.

Walking Class of Service (allows for toll restriction override with password).

Fax detection -- senses "CNG" signal on incoming call and directs fax to proper station port. If you answer a call from a non-CNG fax machine, you can tap a few buttons to send the fax to the right place. Eliminates the need for dedicated fax line, or fax/voice switch.

Intercom numbering is two-digit, starting with 11, like Panasonic's small analog systems. If you upgrade from analog 308 or 616, you can keep same intercom numbers for eight phones. eXtra Device Ports are also two-digits, starting with 21.

There are no external paging groups.

You can't use a DSS/BLF panel.

It has program #128 "(CID EXT") not on the bigger systems, to pass Caller ID info from the phone company to an ordinary CID display or phone with CID, or to your computer modem. If your modem supports CID, "ACT!" software can bring up client records, just like big-buck Computer-Telephony Integration. And if you have a computer-based voice mail system, the calling number can be recorded. 

Power Failure Transfer works with Line #1 only, at the first jack only.

There is no provision for remote programming by modem.

When programming a Panasonic KX-TVS voice processing system that doesn't include a setting for the D308, use the setting for the KX-TD816.

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