It’s only the base that differs from country to country, and the menu-language on the phone. The exception would appear to be the US which uses a different transmission frequency for cordless phones.
There is a special tool that has to be used. This is because there are several pressure points that must be triggered in order to remove the cover. Not exactly a specialist job, but a nightmare if you either use the wrong tool or don’t know what you are doing. Best left to an expert – but here are some pictures of the tool anyway!
To put the phone into service mode:
Press :
(Older phones)
9#9#9*DOT7
(Newer phones)
9#9#9*INT
You can scroll through various menus here.
It has been discussed many times on this forum about the many confusions surrounding BeoCom 6000, BeoCom 2 & their relevant PSTN Base Stations and compatibility.
Let us try and explain!
The BeoCom 6000 was launched in 1998 and had a charger that also contained the PSTN transceiver. This charging unit (also known as the PSTN ‘Pyramid’ base) allowed you to register up to 6 handsets to it, giving you freedom of placement around your home for other handsets and at the same time creating your own home telephone network.
In 2001 the BeoCom 2 was launched which already contained a dedicated PSTN base in the wall or table charger it was sold with. This base would only communicate with the handset that it was sold and indeed paired with, which of course prevented the user from adding additional handsets or indeed adding this BeoCom 2 to his/her existing BeoCom 6000 system.
By the end of 2002 somebody somewhere must have seen the light, and a new separate and dedicated PSTN Base was released. The BeoLine PSTN was a separate unit that connected to the phone line and mains power, and this meant that the table and wall chargers for the BeoCom2 became exactly that – a charger only.
The BeoCom 6000 pyramid chargers lost their little ‘indication light’ and BeoCom 2 had somewhat of a re-launch. This time the phone worked in the same manner as the BeoCom 6000 and could be registered to the BeoLine PSTN, so you could now have a phone system that comprised of both BeoCom 6000’s & BeoCom 2’s working off one PSTN Base unit.
This then provided the opportunity to add the BeoCom 2 telephone to the original combined PSTN/’pyramid’ charger unit of the BeoCom 6000, but what about the original version of the BeoCom 2 with the paired base? Well this was dealt with by a simple software upgrade to the PSTN/charger which allowed you to add the new BeoCom 2. As for the ‘older style’ BeoCom 2, a software upgrade to the phone and a modification to the base unit (where the cable splits to mains and phone line, you simply cut the phone line off) was needed.
For a period of time this upgrade for the original BeoCom 2 was done free of charge by Bang & Olufsen. However, these days most dealers are equipped to do this in their showrooms and will carry it out for a small charge or possibly free of charge if you are buying more phones, or are a regular customer.
Now, we take a leap to 2005 and the introduction of the BeoCom 6000 MkII. The new version had some minor physical changes to the button pad and had the option to add the headset designed originally for the BeoCom 4 – called the ‘Earset Home’.
The menu structure changed slightly also but perhaps the most important change was that, although you could add it to older systems including the very first generation (a SW upgrade to version 2.5 in the base station would be required) you could not use them with chargers manufactured before May 2003. Bang & Olufsen changed the base of the phone slightly so it will not sit in those early chargers, the reason being for this is that the bases changed from a 7.5v to 5.6v input.
The MkII BeoCom 2 was introduced early 2006 and had the same menu structure as the MkII BeoCom 6000, there were no physical changes tho the phone and once again was fully backwards compatible, pending software updates. The really confusing part starts with the introduction of BeoLine EU MkII in 2006, this was the new PSTN base station, much smaller than its predecessor it allowed a network of up to 8 handsets and is only compatible with the MkII handsets.
Only the new PSTN Base has compatibility issues, that is, it will only work with the MkII handsets. However all handsets will work with the both older style BeoCom 6000 PSTN/charger and seperate PSTN base station, the original BeoCom 2 PSTN/charger was never able to connect more than 1 handset.
Servicing the BeoCom 6000 is very straight forward and most dealers are equipped to do it, and all parts can be easily replaced with minimum fuss. The only really costly part is the main PCB otherwise it is a relatively inexpensive repair should you require it.
However the same cannot be said for BeoCom 2. Other than software related issues and a battery change, dealers have no way of servicing it and should you damage your BeoCom 2 it will be necessary to order an exchange handset – this is not cheap!
The BeoCom 2 MK2 release was at the end of 2005. Take a look at the picture to the right which shows where to find the differences.
If your IP telephony system meets the standards of the telephone system in the country where your Bang & Olufsen telephone was purchased and is used, your telephone can be used for IP telephony.
The IP box (also called an ATA box) is used in large parts of the world and offers various setup possibilities. Normally, setup is performed by the IP telephony provider. Errors may often be caused by the setup.
If you experience problems after having switched to IP telephony, a way to ease the troubleshooting is to only connect one telephone or one handset base to the IP box at a time.
