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Great Gadget: Linksys CIT310 Cordless Phone

January 31, 2007 on 12:05 pm | In Voice | 22 Comments

I was looking over my phone bill from the holidays and thought the phone company had messed up. My long distance charges were lower than usual.

It’s probably because my calling habits have changed since I installed the Linksys CIT310 Dual-Mode Cordless Phone for Yahoo! Messenger on my PC. It sits right next to my computer, and I use it to make low-cost PC-to-phone calls and free PC-to-PC calls through Messenger.

Because the CIT310 is dual-mode, I can also run my standard phone line into the phone to make and receive calls on it. The best part is that it’s cordless, so I can walk around while I talk. Now I don’t suffer from that same headset problem that Toula had in “My Big Fat Greek Wedding.”

Other cool features of the phone:

  • Your Yahoo! Messenger contact list shows up right on the phone. So if a contact is online in Messenger, you can call the person PC-to-PC using the phone, and it’s free.
  • Yahoo! Local Search is integrated. Type in a search term like “pizza 94089” and you get a list of pizza places with phone numbers that you can click to call.
  • The CIT310 uses a different wavelength from the common 2.4GHz and 5.8GHz frequencies, so it doesn’t interfere with my wireless network.

What’s my favorite thing about this phone?

That it’s easy. Easy to set up (15 minutes from opening the box to making my first call) and easy to use. I even have my mother making calls on it. I don’t think she realizes she’s using a computer to make calls, but why go into the details with her?

Sarah Bacon
Product Manager

UPDATE: Here’s a review of the CIT310 from PC Magazine.

More info:
Linksys CIT310 info page
Buy it on Amazon.com

22 Comments »

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  1. sweeeeeeeet, i want that phone!!

    Comment by monny — January 31, 2007 #

  2. Dear Sarah Bacon,
    Concerning your mother and the use of a computer.
    I am not sure if you are really a female, but let me tell you that as a 64 years old mother I am perfectly capable to make phone calls over the Internet and so are my friends and probably your mother too.

    Comment by Helene Metaiguer — January 31, 2007 #

  3. Hi Helene – Yes, I really do have a mother who uses the phone – she’s 64 too! She’ll kill me for posting that (sorry Mom!). And she’s more than capable too. I just meant that the nice thing about the phone is that it isn’t complicated and to enjoy it, she doesn’t need to know about how it interacts with Messenger behind the scenes to make the low-cost calls. She just uses it like a regular phone.

    Sarah Bacon

    Comment by Administrator — January 31, 2007 #

  4. That comment from Helene is funny Hahah Outraged mothers join forces against Yahoo! >:)

    I’m just kidding Great post.

    Comment by Lucky — January 31, 2007 #

  5. Hi…Im a Y! messenger user… At the place I use That.it is filtered to join chat rooms…Whta Can I do?

    Comment by Shahab — February 1, 2007 #

  6. Oh!….. .I’m in Iran, too, Mr.Shahab.In this country all websites were filtered……

    Comment by Amir — February 1, 2007 #

  7. Mr. Shahab
    You can see the sites, that they were filtered, with the best anti filter:
    http://www.milad-master.6x.to

    Comment by Amir — February 1, 2007 #

  8. How can we use that in our business? Is it for chatters only? What are some of it’s useful features that can be used in business other than the fact that it saves you money? If it really does.

    Comment by Cooler45 — February 1, 2007 #

  9. Hi Cooler45 -
    The Linksys phone, when used in conjunction with Phone Out on Yahoo! Messenger, can be used just like any regular phone. Phone Out rates are very low (go to http://voice.yahoo.com/phone_rates.php to see complete rate list) so if you want to use Messenger to make your business calls, you can. If you make a lot of international calls, the savings can be very good. Hope that helps.

    Sarah Bacon

    Comment by Administrator — February 1, 2007 #

  10. I would like to know more about this product if anyone can tell me.
    Any thoughts , concerns ?

    Comment by Corey Lewis — February 7, 2007 #

  11. I bought one of these for my parents and one for my sister this past Christmas. They work as advertised. Easy setup and sound great.

    Now, if you could just get the next Mac client released so I could talk to my girlfriend…

    –Bill

    Comment by Bill — February 9, 2007 #

  12. This phone rocks. We call China alot and its creat when China calls it it rings and we just answer it like a normal phone ) However I wish those Apple developers would get off their butt’s I have to keep an only Winblows box running just to use voice with yahoo. the Mac client doesnt support voice.

    Comment by Michael — February 10, 2007 #

  13. I’m disappointed with how Yahoo phased out “Yahoo Phone Card.”

    i had money left on my phone card , but for a while could not even check my balance or recharge the card… because http://phonecard.yahoo.com/ now redirects to the Yahoo Messenger homepage, leaving users like me out in the cold.

    i received no warning; nothing.

    luckily, i was able to just use up the rest of my card money, via an 800 number and Pin.

    what’s more, http://phonecard.yahoo.com/ advertised that you could use the phone card money via Y Messenger to make calls. but, when Yahoo Voice was unveiled, my Voice balance was rolled back to $0.00, and the connection between Phone Card and Messenger was broken- they were now incompatible.

    for a while i had around $20.00 of credit just sitting there, almost inaccessible…

    Comment by jon144k — February 23, 2007 #

  14. [...] “I don’t want to be tied to my computer to make calls” – Late last year, Linksys released the CIT310 Cordless Phone for Yahoo! Messenger. Plug the USB cord into your computer and the other into your phone jack, then use it to make VoIP calls over Messenger or to make regular landline calls over your phone line. It’s cordless so you can roam free! [...]

    Pingback by Yahoo! Messenger Blog » You make the call — April 10, 2007 #

  15. $80 seems to be a bit expensive for me.

    Comment by The Dog Clothing Company — August 21, 2007 #

  16. This phone sucks. Stopped working with Y!Messenger after 6 month. Works fine as a regular phone.

    Comment by Yuriy — September 18, 2007 #

  17. I know this is an old thread but I am looking for some instruction on how to get the Yahoo Messenger contacts to load in my CIT-310 phone. Is there a more in-depth manual available (other than the factory guide)?

    Do the YM contacts only show up if the person is online?

    Also if I load phone numbers manually in the phone book can I use them to make calls through YM? Or are they just for landline connection?

    Comment by Paul McAndrew — April 19, 2008 #

  18. hi i just ordered my cit310 phone so ive not got it yet my question is can i still recive analog calls threw my phone provider and do i need a rj11 adapter to use my phone and i already have a yahoo account and phone out and phonein account how do i set my phone up when i recive it ill send feed back after i get the phone and see how it works

    Comment by brenda breedlove — September 4, 2008 #

  19. I can’t tell you how disappointed I am that I cannot use my CIT310 with my Mac OSX. I made enquiries prior to buying it & was told I could. however there is no software & apparently none I can download either. The HappyToHelp contacts don’t answer queries so to date I can’t access many of the features of the ‘phone all I can use it for is a cordless landline & I could have bought 1 of those anywhere! Any suggestions?

    Comment by Thelma — December 3, 2008 #

  20. i want here in france this phone please help me

    Comment by saleem — December 15, 2008 #

  21. i’ve had my phone for about two years now and i think that its the best and cheapest thing i coulf have invested in especially since my wife uses it like i use my tools in the building out back,. i dont even use the land line side why pay 30 $ a month for a landline when i can just use this for free except for when my wife calls all over the world but not even she can talk that much so i come out alot cheaper i only recharge my minutes about once every 2 to 3 months where i would have payed about 70 to 80 bucks for land line i come out only paying about 30$ bucks for 3 months that saves my pocket. grreat!

    Comment by decoy — February 20, 2009 #

  22. I am station overseas and I am so trying to get this phone, sent to my APO address I have went to every possible sight and every time I get to the billing part, it will not ship overseas, I am tired of waiting in line to use the phone to call him and I am tired of yelling in the those little headsets. Can someone please help me and send me a website that will ship this phone overseas. Thanks in advance for any and all consideration on this matter it will be greatly appreciated…..

    Comment by Pam — April 18, 2009 #

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