Telecoms glossary • D
DECT (Digital Enhanced Cordless Telecommunications)
Cordless handsets on the business phone system, running on their own radio band instead of fighting the office Wi-Fi.
What is DECT?in VoIP and business telephony
1. DECT is the radio standard cordless business telephones use. A base station plugs into your network and registers with the phone system, and the handsets reach that base over a dedicated licence-exempt radio band rather than over Wi-Fi, so calls do not compete with office data traffic or suffer when the wireless network is congested.
2. The band is the part that matters when you buy. In South Africa and the rest of the EMEA region DECT occupies 1880 to 1900 MHz. North American hardware sold as DECT 6.0 uses 1920 to 1930 MHz and will not work here.
How a DECT system is put together
A DECT installation is two devices and a radio link between them. The complexity, and the cost, sits entirely in how much floor area you need to cover.
- The base station
- Plugs into the LAN, often over PoE, and registers to your phone system with SIP credentials exactly as a desk phone would. The platform sees extensions, not radios.
- The handsets
- Pair to the base over DECT radio. A single-cell base such as the Yealink W73P takes up to ten handsets and up to twenty simultaneous calls, with 35 hours of talk time and 400 hours of standby on the manufacturer’s figures.
- Coverage
- One base covers roughly 50 metres indoors and 300 metres outdoors in ideal conditions. Racking, cold rooms, brick and steel all cut that hard, so measure rather than assume.
- Multi-cell
- Larger sites chain several base stations into one system so a handset hands over between them mid-call, the way a mobile moves between towers. Handover is the feature you are paying for; a stack of independent single-cell bases does not do it.
Because DECT has its own spectrum, adding twenty cordless handsets adds nothing to the load on your Wi-Fi. That is the entire architectural argument for it over a wireless softphone on a mobile handset.
The band is the buying trap
DECT is a regional standard wearing one name. The same model number ships on three different frequencies depending on the market it was built for.
| Market | Band | Usable in South Africa |
|---|---|---|
| EMEA, including South Africa | 1880 to 1900 MHz | Yes, and this is what ICASA type approves |
| United States and Canada, sold as DECT 6.0 | 1920 to 1930 MHz | No |
| Thailand | 1902 to 1906 MHz | No |
ICASA’s type-approved equipment register carries DECT handsets at 1880 to 1900 MHz, and section 35(1) of the Electronic Communications Act makes it unlawful to use, supply, sell, lease or hire electronic communications equipment in South Africa unless the Authority has approved it. A DECT 6.0 base bought from an overseas marketplace is not a bargain, it is a paperweight that also happens to be illegal to sell on.
Verified street price, sampled 13 August 2026: a Yealink W73P base and handset bundle listed at R2,139 on EFT at a South African supplier. Treat that as one data point rather than a market range, and quote your own reseller.
Where DECT earns its place
The test is simple. If the person needs to be reachable on the business number while away from a desk, and a mobile app is not acceptable, DECT is the answer.
- Warehouses and workshops
- Staff move constantly, Wi-Fi coverage across racking is patchy and expensive to fix, and the handsets take a beating that a smartphone will not.
- Clinics and practices
- Consulting rooms, treatment rooms and reception on one extension range, with the handset staying on the practice number rather than a personal mobile.
- Retail floors
- One or two roaming handsets beat a desk phone nobody is standing next to when a customer calls.
- Where DECT loses
- Desk-bound staff, where a wired IP phone is cheaper and does more, and fully remote staff, where a softphone or the provider’s mobile app is the right tool. DECT covers a site, not a workforce.
Codec support is worth checking on the datasheet. Handsets that carry G.722 give you HD voice on internal calls; older cordless stock is narrowband only.
Check these before the order goes in
Confirm the exact SKU is the 1880 to 1900 MHz variant and that the reseller can produce an ICASA type-approval number for it. Ask in writing. Grey imports are the usual failure point and the cost lands on you, not the seller.
Then walk the site with a demo handset before committing to a single-cell base. Coverage claims are quoted in ideal conditions, and the difference between one base and a three-base multi-cell system is the difference between two quotes that look nothing alike. If you need handover between zones, say so up front: it is a system-level capability, not something you add later by buying a second base.
About this entry
Definitions are written for South African business buyers and checked against primary sources – provider documentation, standards bodies and ICASA – not vendor marketing. Reviews are independent and sponsors are always disclosed. Read our editorial policy and scoring methodology.
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