sluiter telecomm. Ask for a home phone

One tapcalls family.

Sluiter Telecomm is a home phone for the kitchen counter. Tap a number and a family member’s iPhone rings like any phone call.

Ask for a home phoneSee how a call goes
The home phone screen at rest: a display reading Kids, The Garcia, a hook button and number keys 1 to 10

This one works. Tap a number key, then the red button to put down.

Tap 1. Their iPhone rings.

No link to find, no meeting to join, no web page to keep open. It is built for a six-year-old, and for someone of eighty.

  1. The home phone after key 1 is tapped: the display reads Calling, The Garcia, and the hook button is red

    Tap a number.

    The display names the person. The call starts a moment later, so a slip of the finger rings nobody.

  2. The home phone while the other phone rings: status Ringing, key 1 green

    Their iPhone rings.

    On the lock screen, through the iPhone’s own call screen, even in a pocket. At home the key pulses green.

  3. The home phone during a call: status Talking with a timer, key 1 solid green

    Talk.

    The key turns a steady green and the display counts the minutes.

  4. The home phone after the call: the display reads Call ended

    Put down.

    One tap on the red button ends the call. The number keys never hang up by accident.

And home rings back.

The iPhone app has one button: CALL HOME.

Try it. Tap CALL HOME here, then PICK UP on the home phone. If the home phone is offline, the app says so before it dials.

The home phone screen at rest: a display reading Kids, The Garcia, a hook button and number keys 1 to 10

Home rings out loud and the caller’s key pulses green. It never answers by itself: someone has to tap.

It always says what is happening.

Every state has words on the display, and a sound where it matters. It is built so the phone is never blank, frozen or silent.

Home phone screen, status Incoming, call from Opa, key 5 green, a green Pick up button
IncomingHome rings out loud. The caller’s key or PICK UP answers.
Home phone screen, status Busy, the display reading Can’t talk now
Can’t talk nowThey declined. The display says so, kindly.
Home phone screen, status No answer
No answerNobody picked up. It says so, then goes back to ready.
Home phone screen, status Not reachable
Can’t reachThe other phone is off or out of range.
Home phone screen, status No line, the display reading Ask a grown-up
No lineThe internet is down, and the display says: ask a grown-up.
Home phone screen, status Setup, showing a pairing code
SetupA new phone shows a code. Type it into Switchboard to pair it.

Ten keys. Ten people.

Switchboard is the web console for whoever looks after the phone.

Pair the home phone with the code on its display. Give each person a key. Invite them with a single-use code they type into the iPhone app. The call history shows incoming, outgoing and missed calls.

The Sluiters Home phone online
  • 1The GarciaPaired
  • 2DadPaired
  • 3MumPaired
  • 4Aunt SueInvited
  • 5OpaPaired
  • 6Add a person
  • 7Add a person
  • 8Add a person
  • 9Add a person
  • 10Add a person
Invitation for Aunt SueH3WN 8RTKSingle use. Expires in 72 hours.
WhenPersonCall
16:05The GarciaIncoming, 4 min
14:05MumMissed
YesterdayDadOutgoing, 2 min

A phone that does one thing.

An ordinary Android handset, locked so it cannot wander off into anything else, in a cover that stands on the counter like a telephone.

Handset
Alcatel A11SE, locked in kiosk mode
Screen
854 × 480, landscape, always on
Keys
Ten people and one hook
Calls
Voice, over the internet
Other end
An iPhone with the Sluiter Telecomm app
The home phone in a graphite cover, in a call
Graphite
The home phone in an orange cover, ringing
Signal
The home phone in a moss green cover, ready
Moss

The cover is a design concept: a stand with a carrying bar shaped like a receiver. The screens are from the kiosk app.

What it is not.

  • Not a telephone service.

    It cannot call emergency services or ordinary phone numbers. Keep a real phone for that.

  • Voice only, family only.

    Calls run over the internet between the home phone and the iPhones its owner has invited. Nobody else can ring it.

  • Not finished.

    Sluiter Telecomm is in development and has not been released. Ask, and we will tell you plainly where it stands.

Ask for a home phone.

Tell us who would use it. We will write back.