I want to know this too, so I'll hop into your thread and hope for good answers
We have 2 cordless phones. 1 is a GE, which is so insensitive that unless you talk DIRECTLY into the mic, that is, angle the phone so that the earpiece is away from your ear, the other person cannot hear you, and the battery on it only lasts for 15 or 20 minutes of talking (it's only 1 year old
). The other is some no-name brand with a built-in answering machine. It is so sensitive that all you can hear from the other end is the person breathing. It seems to normalize all sounds above a mouse farting to the same level, so if a mouse farts in the next room they miss what you are saying.....
So, somebody please reccomend a good phone that is still available today. I don't care if it has an answering machine, but additional handsets would be nice (only one phone plug in the house).