Reporter Wireless Intercom System - About As Good As You Can Get

The Reporter RWIS wireless intercom system is quite an impressive two-way communicator. It offers crystal clear reception, really long battery life, and a standard set of features that are sure to please most every consumer. Just 4 AA batteries are claimed to power these devices for a year or better. Just four months if left in monitor mode though. I recommend getting a 12V power adapter for any device that you are willing to mount near an a/c outlet. This eliminates the worry of using up the batteries and it also produces slightly better performance from the Reporter RWIS intercom system. When just powering from batteries, the unit runs in a power conservation mode; causing some minor delays in sending and receiving audio when the talk button is pushed. Running the unit with a power adapter completely eliminates this delay. The intercom also features a monitor mode, so you can listen to what is going on in the room from a remote unit. There is also a VOX mode, which produces voice activation of the Talk mode, without the need for someone to actually push the Talk button. There are three volume levels to choose from (low, medium and high), which are toggled from the push of the volume button. I cannot tell you if the 1,000 ft. claimed range is accurate, but I can tell you that I have four of these units placed throughout my home, some even near computer equipment, wireless routers, a 5.8 GHz cordless phone and even one near a countertop microwave oven. They all work flawlessly, producing crystal clear vocal reception. I really enjoy the paging feature, which allows you to broadcast a message to all of the intercom radios at the same time.

OK, those are my "Pros" for this intercom system. Now for the cons:

The manual that comes with this system is so vague that it is sure to frustrate anyone that wishes to customize the use of their intercom system. For example, there are two dip switches on the back of the radios. The manual speaks of flipping one of the switches to enter "conference mode" but nothing is mentioned about what the other switch is for. Having to flip a dip switch on all of the radios, any time you wish to have a conference communication between several radios, is not a very convenient option. You also cannot simply monitor a specific room from another radio without first putting the radio of the room you wish to listen to into monitor mode. So, if you wanted to listen in to hear if one or more of your children were playing around instead of going to sleep, you cannot call up this feature without first going into your child's room and placing the intercom in that room into monitor mode. Kind of frustrating I think. As others have mentioned, there is also a sometimes annoying "beep" every time you push the Talk button. I realise this is looked at, by the manufacturer, as a positive feature, but during a conversation the beeping gets on your nerves a bit. The 3-stage volume adjustment is a little lacking as well. I find that even at the lowest setting the audio output is a bit loud at times. Not very nice when there are people sleeping nearby when you are using this intercom. Also, you want to make sure that you speak at natural volume with these intercoms. Do not place your mouth extremely close to the unit or at increased volume, otherwise it produces distorted sound, sometimes accompanied by a loud popping noise. Lastly, the manual does not specifically state how you can prevent the intercom from paging all radios in the network when you first push the talk button to call someone. Again this is not very good if you are trying to call a particular child in one room while trying to keep things quiet for children sleeping in another room. Although the radio lets you select a specific channel, it still seems to page all radios the first time you broadcast a message. Once that person responds to you then only those two radios communicate between each other, leaving the other radios silent. I would like to be able to call one specific intercom radio at times, rather than barking out a message to all radios on the network. And what about the outside intercom radios (sold separately)? If you call from one of the inside intercom base radios, will your voice also be broadcast through those external devices, possibly being overheard by neighbors? I would like to know that this will not happen before I consider purchasing the external remote intercom radios.

Overall this Reporter Wireless Intercom system is a really great product. Setup couldn't be easier. Just insert 4 AA batteries, push the "Learn" button on all of the intercom radios you wish to connect to your network (all must be done within 10 seconds of each other), and within a few seconds each radio will produce a beep, which indicates that the radio(s) has been joined to the intercom network. They are small, lightweight, easy to mount on the wall or simply sit on a counter, and it is claimed that the AA batteries will power each intercom radio for over a year, even when left on 24/7.

I almost couldn't be happier with my new wireless intercom system. A leading on-line merchant provided a spectacular price and the initial setup was a breeze. I just wish the manual was more thorough and gave details of all of the features. I would like to purchase two more of these intercom radios; giving me a total of 6 radios on my network. However, there is no information about how the additional units will work. Since this is a 4-channel system, I would like to know more about adding more than 4 radios to the network. This wireless intercom system is one of the best reviewed systems on the market today. If only there was better documentation of its setup and use. It could also use a few added features. Still, this system will fit the bill for most home owners. I am giving it 4 stars (would consider it more like 4 and 1/2 stars). If I were rating it on sound, clarity, build quality, style/design/looks, and ease of setup, I would certainly give it 5 stars. But with the few annoyances and lack of some fairly important and simple features, I cannot give it a perfect score. I am very pleased with my purchase and I highly recommend this system to anyone that is looking for a reliable means to communicate between two or more locations in or around your house or business.