First Look: Polycom SoundStation Connect

Since their first conference phone in 1992 the Polycom product catalog has expanded to include video conferencing, telepresence, VoIP phones among other products but with over 4 million conference phones shipped and an 80 percent share of the conference phone market place (Polycom Ships 4 Millionth Conference Phone) they haven’t forgotten their roots. This week Polycom announced the latest addition to the SoundStation conference phone family with the release of the Polycom SoundStation Connect.

What Is It?

The Polycom Connect is a USB conference phone that is targeted towards Unified Communications (UC) users. The Polycom Connect can be used with any UC softphone application and can be connect via the included USB cable to computers (Mac, Windows or Linux) without the need for drivers making it easy to install and starting using.

The Polycom Connect has a familiar starfish design with 3 cardioid microphones for a 360 degree microphone pickup of up to 7ft. There is also a 3.5mm headphone jack that can be used with headphones for privacy on a call or for audio pass-through by connecting desktop computer speakers.

Since it is designed to be used with computer based softphone applications the number of keys has been stripped down to the essential keys for call and volume control. There also is no display on the phone but there is one LED for call status.

This SoundStation conference phone features many of the same audio enhancements that you get from other Polycom conference phones including automatic gain control, dynamic noise reduction and gated microphones with intelligent switching.

Who Is It For?

The target audience for the Polycom Connect is UC users in a small to medium room setting. The smaller microphone range makes it a good match for up to 8 people but might not be suited for larger groups or rooms. My thoughts are small offices or home offices with be a good match. The relatively smaller size, 9 inches, also makes it quite portable and a good match for road warriors.

Another possible use for the Polycom Connect is for handling the audio on video conferencing calls for individuals or small groups at a PC or laptop.

In his review on . . . and I thought I saw a 2, Greig gives a nice 10 word summary, “think of it as an upgraded version of the CX100,” in addition to a very good hands on review.

Pricing?

The Polycom Connect has an MSRP of $299.99.

Availability

While there is no firm date the scheduled release date is currently scheduled for late April 2013 and VoIP Supply is currently taking pre-orders.

Update: After having it’s release date pushed back several times it was announced that the Polycom SoundStation Connect will not be released.