In today's world, communication is everything. People non-stop have e-mails coming in, phone calls, faxes - you're always in contact. Information is everywhere, and it's spread out even more. 

The Parafone module pairs communication with your information, letting you just tap on a number in your address book to make a call. Or in the same device take notes, while on the phone. It's an idea that's already making its way in the wireless market.

The VisorPhone, the Kyocera Smart phone, Microsoft's Stinger - are all methods to pair your information to communication. The Parafone does this, but instead of on the go, it does it in the comfort of your living room.

For $119, you get an Analog 900 MHz cordless phone, a replacement cradle/base station (powered by a included AC adaptor), and a standard clip-over-the-ear headset. Even though many good decisions were made in the development of this product, there are some that weren't, and in some ways, it can outweigh the benefits of bridging information with communication.

Hardware

Even though you most likely have never heard of Arkon Networks, you probably have heard of the brands that they OEM for: Sharp, Pacific Bell, Vtech, and many others have sold phones which were originally made by Arkon Networks. 

They have some good manual writers, because out of the multitude of PDA related items that I have bought or received, the Parafone was the best documented. In the 46 page printed manual you will find step by step instructions on how to do everything from setting up speed dial to 3 way calling. Of course, every step has complete screenshots to go along with it. Right on page 2, they have a picture of everything that's in the box - The Parafone Springboard module, the Base station, that also acts like a USB cradle, the AC adaptor (for base station), the headset, and a telephone cord. Also included is the removable NiMH battery that powers the phone. This battery should last for three and a half days of Standby, and up to three hours talk time. I found that I got about the exact same results when I tested battery claims.

The Parafone is a rather large module - It sticks out the back of the visor by 3/8 of an inch, and adds almost one and a half inches to the visors height. Nevertheless, the extra height makes it so that when holding the Visor to your face, the speaker is at your ear, and the visors' built-in mike is near your mouth.

The Parafone base station is designed to be used both as Visor cradle and charging station for the Parafone, however neither the Edge nor the Prism can take advantage of the cradle since they wont fit properly.

However, the module can charge by itself in the cradle, with the drawback that the Parafone isn't in the Visor, so no incoming calls can be answered without first inserting the module back into the Visor.

Software

When you plug the Parafone into the Visor, two applications are installed. The first is a replacement address book which adds a very helpful features: tap on a phone number in the address book and it will automatically be dialed. 

The other application is Parafone's core application "Parafone". Parafone is a fairly robust application, and here you will find everything you need to configure settings, and dial numbers. There are three main screens in Parafone. The first is speed dial, which not only looks exactly the same as the VisorPhone, but in fact it shares the same database, making it a lot easier to use both the Visor Phone and Parafone. 

There are two pre-marked buttons, one for Voice Mail, and one for Calling cards. The second main screen is the keypad. You can either dial a number on the large easy to press buttons, and then have it call - like a cell phone, or do "off hook" dialing, which really means you hear the dial tone while pressing the numbers.

 I found that when I pre-typed the number in, the call often would not go through, I assume because it would start dialing before it made its connection to the base. Also, the Parafone does not check for a dial tone, before it starts dialing - with many people in the house, and several different phones around, I interrupted conversations or the internet sometimes.

The last main screen of the Parafone app is your call history. The call history is simple yet powerful. It can hold up to 1000 entries, and will record the length, the time and who called, of every incoming, outgoing, and missed call. If you have caller ID the name of the person who called will be displayed. For outgoing calls, if you tapped it out of your speed dial, it will just put the name on the speed dial, or if you dialed normally, it will display the phone number dialed. If you would like to call a number again, you can just tap it and press dial. On an incoming call, with one tap you can either add the phone number and name of the person to speed dial, or your address boo. (Pending that you have caller ID).

Once you have dialed a number, you will get a screen that will display the number called, and 4 easy big buttons. Hang Up, Switch Call, 2nd Call (for 3 way dialing, very easy!) and a Keypad. Also along the top there are smaller icons, for mute, change channel, and volume level. Press the up and down keys on the visor to change volume.

speaker troubles

When a phone call comes in, the Parafone will ring (unbelievably soft compared to a 1940 rotary phone), and if it's in the Visor a box will pop up asking if you want to Answer or Ignore. If the phone is not in the Visor, it will ring, and you can than plug it in to your Visor to take the call.

The module is virtually useless without a headset because the phone's speaker really isn't a speaker per say. It's a buzzer, just like what's in the Visor, and does not allow a quality of sound at which you can easily understand someone speaking. The buzzer also makes the ring not very audible.

Furthermore, without a headset you can't take notes while talking, and the module in combination with the Visor is fairly heavy, making it uncomfortable holding it up to your head.

 I would say, based on others advice (The Today Show, Lockergnome) that the Jabra headsets are some of the best. 

Disavantages

• The Parafone is quite expensive for it's category of phone. For the same price I can get a pretty nice 2.4 Ghz, digital phone. But there's the mix of communication and information, one that I found cool. Here is what I thought was missing.
  
• 900 MHz Analog - My current phone right now is a 2.4 GHz Digital. It's a pretty big drop to go down to 900 MHz analog. I noticed that if I was in the yard, using the phone without a headset was impossible; static made it so you couldn't hear anything. If I was using the headset, it was much better, abet a little fuzzy.
  
• No hardware buttons - I wish The Parafone had a small button, which would launch the Parafone app - like the VisorPhone has. Yes, I could map one of my precious 4 hardware buttons, but I really couldn't give one of those up.
  
• Hanging up - The cool thing about the Parafone is that you can go into other apps and still talk. The problem is getting back. Say I'm typing something up using WordSmith; my friend and I have been talking, and the conversations over now. He hangs up, but it will take awhile for me to hang up. The problem is that to hang up, you have to go back to the Parafone app and push hang up. It would be nice if Arkon adopted what Card Access does with their thin modems. You tap the corner, and wherever you are you get a status screen, or you could use my above mentioned hardware button to hang up.
  
• No Graffiti - On the keypad, you can't graffiti in your number you want to dial. On the speed dial, when entering a new number, say a calling card, you can't enter 1-800-CALLATT. You have to know the number equivalent and put it in. A small feature, which could save somebody 30 seconds of time. Just making things easier.
  
• Does not use Springboard charge pins - To my total surprise, this module does NOT utilize the pins that the Springboard provides for charging. Even though this module wasn't optimized for Visor models like the Prism (because of the base station), I think it would have been better to take advantage of the pins like the VisorPhone does. Users could then just buy a charging cable, and they could charge the Parafone without using their cradle.
  
• No flash memory - It's a pretty big disappointment to me. It cuts costs, but I believe springboards should be upgradeable. I believe that many Springboards can always add more and better features - look at the Thinmodem! 
  
• No modem function. - On the VisorCentral boards, it appears that many users were surprised that this module cannot act like a modem. I think this would have been VERY cool if it did - you could surf the web anywhere in your house using a dialup connection. At a hotel, you could set the base by the hotel phone, and move and sit anywhere on the bed. Even better in a suite. Arkon didn't include this, apparently due to trying to keep costs down. Oh well, I guess I'll have to wait for their G24, which should hopefully fix all everything mentioned above, and work with broadband.

Conclusion

Overall the Parafone does its job. It's worthless to use it without a headset, but if you don't mind using the bundled headset (it uses a standard 2.5 mm jack) than this can be pretty cool. As for quality/usage, I like it and I don't like it. Some days I get really good quality, other days something interferes with it and it sound horrible. 

For longer calls headsets are useful, but for shorter calls I prefer holding a phone up to my head. However, since the Parafone doesn't perform very well ithout a headset, and most phone calls I make tend to be shorter, the Parafone never really came off for me as being worth the money. 

I really looked forward to this module, for more than a year actually, but to tell you the truth, I used it for three days, and threw it in a drawer, till about a week before I started writing this. I had to force myself to use this; it wasn't like most things I've tested. Let me say here at the end though, that the User Interface for the Parafone software is awesome. 

Hopefully the G24 will keep this great UI, and fix the problems that I have found. As for information joining up with communication?

When I could get myself to talk on the phone, I thought it was very cool to be able to type, play games, etc. But I could get the same info/communication bond while watching the TV and talking on the phone, or reading the newspaper, or writing on just a plain post-it note. But, than your juggling devices again, holding the phone up to your head with you neck, as you franticly try to find a pen. Technology is moving away from that; becoming more integrated, but when will it work is the question.

Overall = 3
Design = 3
Useability = 4
Price/Performance = 2

Pros
Lets you talk while using any app.
Rings when not in Visor
Base Station acts like a cradle, removing clutter on your desk.
Easy to dial, great UI
Removable battery

Cons
Pricy
Non upgradeable
Heavy
Fair quality sound, for $119 I would accept at least digital 900 MHz.
"Speaker" in the phone is hard to hear
No way to hang up while in another app.