Requiem for a VoIP Phone – Aastra 6757i CT and Aastra 9480i CT

August 8, 2012 by Tom Costelloe

Too often we get caught up with the newest releases from manufactures but fail to show products that are discontinued their due respect. Since there isn’t a budding market for vintage VoIP phones or antique analog telephone adapters, most are destined to be unceremoniously phased out and scrapped without a second thought. With this in mind I thought I would take a step back to take a look at two phones that were recently discontinued.

The Discontinued

Aastra 6757i CT Aastra 9480i CT Aastra has announced that they are discontinuing the popular Aastra 6757i CT and Aastra 9480i CT VoIP phones. The reason for the phones being discontinued is a supply issues with one of the critical components related to the CT handset. This issue only affects the CT versions and not the non-CT versions (Aastra 6757i and Aastra 9480i) which are still available.

What separated the CT phones from the non-CT versions and other VoIP phones was the cordless DECT handset that added increased mobility. While common among analog phones, nobody had added this functionality to a VoIP phone before Aastra. With the CT handset you could answer an incoming call on either the desk phone or if you were away from your desk on the CT handset. The CT handset featured most of the standard features of a desk phone so you could also make calls, put people on hold, use a headset etc. Another nice feature of the CT phones is you could pair additional handsets to the base phone for even more mobility.

The paired DECT handsets made the CT phones popular for use in everything from doctors’ offices, warehouse, homes, really everywhere were people wanted mobility. While the phones are going away the demand for the combination of a desk phone and mobility isn’t.

The end of DECT from Aastra?

The discontinuation of the Aastra 6757i CT and Aastra 9480i CT doesn’t mean that Aastra is pulling out of the DECT handset business. The supply issue seems to be tied specifically to a part required to make the CT units and in the coming weeks we can expect to see a lot more in the DECT phone market from Aastra. Whether there is a replacement in the works from Aastra for either the 6757i CT or 9480i CT is yet to be determined but I personally hope there is.

Why Buy a Multimedia VoIP Phone?

August 7, 2012 by Garrett Smith

With many different kinds of telecom solutions available to homes and businesses, today’s buyer might be wondering why they should invest in a brand new multimedia VoIP phone.

These new products actually have many specific benefits for today’s market, some related to user-friendly design and others offering specific opportunities to bring down costs for commercial operations.

Here are some of the main reasons why so many buyers are jumping on the bandwagon and making a play for a new multimedia VoIP phone with many of the capabilities of a conventional 3G or 4G enabled smartphone.

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What is a Multimedia VoIP Phone?

August 4, 2012 by Garrett Smith

With the emergence of multimedia video phones, audiovisual phone calls have finally become a mainstream part of the consumer tech world.

For those who remember Dick Tracy’s famous videophone wristwatch, new multimedia VoIP phones usher in a new era of video enabled talk, making what was previously a science fiction literary device an actual available technology.

What’s a Multimedia VoIP Phone?

Essentially, a multimedia VoIP phone is any kind of device that adds visual or multimedia functionality to a conventional VoIP phone line.

Multimedia phones came about with the emergence of advanced cell phone technologies, new VoIP phone systems, and as the market share for traditional landline phones continues to ebb away (and public payphones near extinction).

Multimedia VoIP phones are part of a new range of alternatives. Just like technologies like Skype, the multimedia VoIP phone allows for both visual and audio connections through broadband networks.

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Sennheiser VoIP Headsets for Noisy Call Centers and Offices Now Available at VoIP Supply

August 3, 2012 by Nathan Miloszewski

VoIP Supply is happy to announce the addition of Sennheiser VoIP Headsets to our VoIP headsets catalog.

For 65 years Sennheiser has been focused on perfecting the way sound is recorded, transmitted, and reproduced. Founded in Germany, Sennheiser USA brings German engineering to the VoIP headset market with a variety of options perfect for busy office workers and call center environments.

VoIP Supply now carries the latest:

Sennheiser Corded Headsets
Sennheiser Wireless Headsets
Sennheiser Accessories (including Quick disconnect cords and EHS cables)

Headset Happiness

Sennheiser understands that comfort and sound quality are key elements for headset happiness. Whether it’s the single-ear (monaural) or dual-ear (binaural) headsets, the wearer is assured of a perfect fit from adjustable ear cups and all day comfort from ultra lightweight designs and generous padding where it’s needed.

Sennheiser VoIP headsets are offered in over-the-ear or over-the-head models that feature wideband voice, HD audio, noise cancelling microphones, and eardrums will appreciate ActiveGard technology for acoustic burst protection.

Wireless Features

In addition to the features above, Sennheiser Wireless VoIP Headsets feature long battery life and ultra-fast charging, PC connection via USB, and a wireless range of over 500 feet that works through walls and ceilings.

“Sennheiser VoIP headsets are perfect for call centers and those noisy offices with open floor plans,” said Garrett Smith, Chief Marketing Officer at VoIP Supply. “Sennheiser’s top quality noise-reduction, HD audio, and comfortable designs do their part to help cushion the wearer from their environment.”

ATAs, More Than a Butter Knife

August 2, 2012 by Tom Costelloe

It’s not a sentiment that I share but in many people’s eyes analog telephone adaptors (ATAs) are the butter knife of the VoIP world.

Beyond the purpose they are designed for people don’t think there is much else that you can do with them; one spreads your butter and jam on toast, while the other connects an analog device to an IP network.

In both cases, if you do a little thinking, there are other great uses that they can be used for.

Take the butter knife, for example. From personal experience I know that in times of need it can fill in as a pretty functional flathead screwdriver.

But, this isn’t the Butter Knife Insider so let’s put down our knives and pick up our ATAs to take a quick look at two alternative uses that you may or may not have thought of.

ATA Alternative Use #1

Extending Dial Tone – This is a quite common application but a lot of the time people don’t know that they can do it.

The one example is to use two ATAs to extend the POTS line over the internet or a LAN to a remote location such as a hunting cabin or guard tower.

Another example is to avoid long distance calls using two ATAs and routing the calls out on the regional POTS line. You can read a more detailed explanation in this older VoIP Insider Post, Product Spotlight: Linksys SPA3102.

ATA Alternative Use #2

Home Alarms – One of the industries that has had to adapt to the move away from traditional analog lines is the home security business.

My facts are a little fuzzy and might not be the absolute truth but my understanding is that the alarms use the phone line to send out the signal and call when the alarm was trigged.

As more and more people drop their POTS lines the alarm companies are in need of a new plan of attack. Rather than ripping out and replacing all their equipment what a lot of security companies are doing is placing an ATA in and sending the calls and alarm signal out over VoIP.

Faxing From an El Camino?

As far as alternative uses for VoIP adapters goes, these two examples are just the tip of the iceberg. I’d be interested to hear what examples others can think of or have done; so feel free to leave a comment with other applications or uses for ATAs.

Maybe you successfully used a combination of a mobile phone with WiFi hub capabilities, a wireless Ethernet bridge, and an ATA to send faxes from your El Camino.

If you have please send photos!

First Look: AudioCodes 420HD VoIP Phone

August 1, 2012 by Tom Costelloe

When I say AudioCodes you say Gateways . . . AudioCodes . . . Gateways . . . AudioCodes . . . Gateways . . . but there is so much more to AudioCodes then gateways and the latest announcement from AudioCodes proves that point.

Today they announced the latest addition to their family of VoIP phones with the AudioCodes 420HD.

What Is It?

The AudioCodes 420HD is a two line HD VoIP phone available in both black and white and has a 128×48 graphical LCD display.

The 420HD features:

A full duplex speakerphone.
Dual LAN/WAN 10/100 RJ-45 ports.
PoE enabled but, does not ship with an AC power supply.

Who Is It For?

Seeing that it is a 2 line phone that supports HD voice and, as described by AudioCodes, packaged “at an affordable price,” my guess is that the phone will be targeted at employees in call centers and telephone sales. The 420HD has all of the standard feature keys for voicemail, transfer, redial etc and has larger ergonomic keys.

While it doesn’t shake up the VoIP phone market with its appearance or interfaces it does check all the boxes from a features side to be a good reliable business VoIP phone.

The press release does state that they are coming out with a 6 line phone with a larger display which will be more suited for receptionists and executives.

Availability?

At the time of writing there hasn’t been a release date given for the 420HD VoIP phone. Additionally there is currently no pricing available.

Microsoft WPC Roadtrip – Home Before the Postcards

July 16, 2012 by Tom Costelloe

I used to send postcards to people when I’d go on trips with pictures of monuments, sculptures and landmarks from whatever city I was in.

But my trips were usually short and I’d be home, unpacked and subjecting everyone to my photo slideshow before the postcards even made it to the mailbox.

In recent years, things have changed with the ease of social media and blogs; you can post a photo and before you have taken 25 steps away from it, someone has commented.

As the trips get more hectic and meetings start to pile up, not everything goes up on the internet and there are still things to show and write about when I get home.

Here are my last few observations from the 2012 Microsoft Worldwide Partner Conference.

Sangoma (Booth #256)

On display in the Sangoma booth was the Sangoma Lync Express, the all in one Lync appliance.

The Lync Express is pre-installed with all of the software for a Lync deployment and doubles as a Lync Gateway with PRI and FXS connectivity.

It is targeted towards the SMB user and branch offices. During my time in the Sangoma booth the overall reaction towards the Lync express was, “We’ve been looking for something like this” from installs up through employees at Microsoft.

LifeSize (Booth #1629) and Logitech (Booth #1626)

LifeSize was displaying their range of video conferencing solutions for connecting the desktop to the conference room with live feeds between their cameras and their offices.

Across the aisle, Logitech had their Logitech BCC950 on display.

I’ve had a chance to use the BCC950 a little before and for personal desktop and small office video conferencing there really isn’t a more

feature rich product for the price.

Patton (Booth #131)

A booth getting a lot of buzz at the Microsoft WPC was Patton.

Patton carries a line of FXS/FXO, BRI and T1/E1/PRI gateways that have been certified for Lync.

What was creating the most buzz was their gateways that allow non-compliant devices to be used with Lync. This allows existing equipment such as SIP phones and paging systems to be used with a new Lync deployment.

Final Thoughts

Having never been to Microsoft WPC before it really was a good trip and nice to meet with so many different people from end users, to integrators, to manufacturers.

But for all the sales pitches and product endorsements I heard over the four days, the most memorable line from a manufacture was, “Do I look like a lady who doesn’t carry a flask of vodka?”

Day 2 at the 2012 Microsoft Worldwide Partner Conference

July 10, 2012 by Tom Costelloe

Editors Note: VoIP Supply Product Manager, Tom Costelloe, is blogging from Toronto at the 2012 Microsoft Worldwide Partner Conference. Click here for his Day 1 recap.

Day two at Microsoft WPC has been put to bed and it felt much busier from where I was standing in the Sangoma booth and walking the floor.

Maybe for the first day people walked the floor to take everything in and today, folks were about meetings and greetings with exhibitors and manufacturers.

The one takeaway I have from the people I have met is that, this really is an international event. Over the last two days, I have meet people from several countries for the first time.

After diving into Lync headsets on day one, I thought that I would take a look at some of the Lync phones that were here on display.

Polycom (Booth #719)

On display from Polycom were the Polycom VVX 500 and 1500 phones as well as some of the CX phones. Polycom offers a variety of phones for both USB connectivity and traditional Ethernet.

The one piece of information I learned from Polycom is that the camera for the VVX 500 will be released before the end of the year (Video: Skip to 1:20 mark for camera demo) and that to expect a lot more to come from them in the Lync endpoint market.

The booth also featured their Lync optimized Video conferencing options but more on that to come tomorrow.

snom (Booth #457)

snom has their complete suite of snom phones as well as their Lync and Lync qualified phones.

The snom 300, snom 370, and snom 821 all can work with Lync installations and SIP based installations. This gives them flexibilty across a variety of installations.

Aastra (Booth #436)

Over at the Aastra booth, featured devices include SIP phones and video solutions.

Pictured here is the Aastra 6725ip IP phone that’s optimized for Microsoft Lync giving users full integration with Outlook, for example, plus PC desktop control of the phone’s standard features.

Additionally, Aastra SIP DECT handsets are featured to highlight their wireless mobility options.

HP (Booth #1319)

The bulk of the HP booth is their laptop and computers but HP does carry two lync phones HP 4110 and HP 4120.

The HP 4120 desktop phone has a 3.5″ color LCD display and two line appearance while the HP 4110 common area phone has the same display and one line appearance.

Both models have been optimized for use with Lync.

Altigen’s Interesting Placement (Booth #336)

AltiGen_2012 Microsoft WPC The one phone on the EXPO floor that seems a little out of place is the Altigen iFusion.

The iFusion is a Bluetooth docking station for the iPhone that gives your iPhone the feel of a traditional desktop phone.

A great product but a little out of place at the Microsoft Worldwide Partner Conference.

Next Up for Day 3

Tomorrow we’ll review the video conferencing options with Lync.

Digium Phones – A Smart Choice with Switchvox

by Christina Smith

Nobody likes being told that if they want to use “x” phone system they have to use “x” phones. When a decision maker hears that they have no choice in what phones they use, they seem to want a different type of phone just out of spite. It’s like going to a restaurant and seeing the words “No Substitutions” on the menu…

Luckily, Switchvox by Digium is an open sourced platform with an Asterisk core which allows you to use just about any SIP phone that will work with Asterisk. However, for people who breathe a little easier when their entire solution is single-branded, now Digium offers their own brand of phone that works seemlessly with Switchvox (and any other Asterisk deployment, too, but here I am talking about installing the phone with Switchvox).

So if you are deploying Switchvox for the first time, or are looking to add new phones to your current Switchvox deployment, there are good reasons to consider Digium phones. Time is money, so the most important reason would be how fast you can be up and running.

Ease of Deployment

This is the most obvious reason you should consider Digium phones with your Switchvox system. Here at VoIP Supply, we have been running Switchvox for years. When Digium released their phones, I brought 3 of them in house for testing. I have a Digium D70 here at my desk. If you have read my other posts you know that I am by no means technically gifted. However I was able to connect and configure my Digium D70 phone in less than 5 minutes.

When I removed the phone from the box, I attached the handset and the desk mount. I am pretty sure that attaching the desk stand was the hardest part of installation. I am not on a PoE switch, so I also ordered a Digium 5v power supply which I plugged into the D70. Then I unplugged the LAN connection from my Polycom IP550 and plugged it into my Digium D70.

At that point the backlit screen went to work. First it searched the network for a Switchvox server. Since we only have one, it defaulted to our server and said “Hey, is this the server you want?” – well, that’s not really what it said, but that’s what it meant. Of course I told it “yes”.

Then my entire company directory came up on the screen and the Digium phone asked me to choose my extension from the list. Easily enough, I scrolled down the list, found CHRISTINA SMITH, and hit SELECT. From that point the phone went through a firmware update that took about 3 minutes. The screen flashed and just like that I was up and running. My phonebook from my Switchvox Switchboard was showing up on the rapid dial keys on the right hand side.

Then I had a little fun and reset my ringer from the ample choices that Digium gave me to assure maximum annoyance to my neighbors here in the office. From my Switchvox menu on my PC, I even uploaded a picture of my dog to use as the splash screen on the Digium D70 phone so when I am not on a call I can see something besides the Digium Logo. All in all, I was up and running without the support of an IT person in less than 5 minutes.

When doing a mass deployment, imagine the work hours that can be saved when each user can plug in and get up and running themselves without an IT person coming to each desktop. In addition, the Switchboard gives your users maximum flexibility over what extensions occupy their rapid dial keys without having to type in the IP address of the phone, have an admin password, and know how to configure a phone. Even an entry level associate who knows how to use their Switchvox Switchboard can easily navigate preferences on their Digium phone.

Some Snags You May Encounter

Installation of the Digium D70 was super fast and easy, even without an IT person nearby…. once the Switchvox server was ready to accept new Digium phones.

Here are some snags you may come across and how to fix them.

Phone does not find a Switchvox Server – Make sure that your Switchvox server is up to date on the current firmware which is 5.5.3.2. If you are not running the most current version, your phone may not find your Switchvox server.
Phone is asking for an Assignment Code – Your IT person can find this code in the Admin Suite on the main Switchvox console. To get there, your Switchvox administrator should log in to the Admin Console, click on SETUP, then on Digium Phones, and then on Phone Assignment Options. They can give the user the shown assignment code, or open the authentication for auto-discovery of attached phones (much easier when installing a bunch of phones at one time).
Switchvox Admin Suite is ‘grayed out’ – so your phone is asking for an assignment code, your IT person goes to the Admin Suite, but it is grayed out and no info is available. In this case, the Switchvox Admin need to reset their Admin rights. To do this on the Switchvox Admin Console, go to ADMINS and then MANAGE. Find the person who is opening the authentication to register the phones (See Assignment code question above) and make sure that person has read/right capabilities under PHONES.

Above are the few snags I ran into while installing and configuring my Digium phone with Switchvox. It was literally so easy that I was able to connect, configure and use the Digium D70 in less than 5 minutes.

VoIP Supply Road Trip – 2012 Microsoft Worldwide Partner Conference

July 9, 2012 by Tom Costelloe

Lync Headsets at 2012 Microsoft Worldwide Partner Conference For the next couple days Toronto Canada is going to be the center of the Microsoft world as it hosts the 2012 Microsoft Worldwide Partner Conference; four days of all things Microsoft in the shadow of the CN Tower and the Hockey Hall of Fame.

VoIP Supply will be spending all four days in the Sangoma booth (#256) to help promote the Sangoma Lync Express all-in-one appliance and walking the expo floor to see what’s new in the Microsoft and Microsoft Lync world.

Rather than trying to copy the Louvre scene from Bande à Part and running through the conference, I thought I would slow down and take it piece by piece.

Today, Day 1, I took a look at the Lync headsets manufacturers booths.

Sennheiser (Booth #551)

Sennheiser started WPC with a press release announcing two new USB headsets for Lync, the Sennheiser SC 30 USB ML and the Sennheiser SC 60 USB ML.

Each of the headsets has been optimized for Lync and includes inline controls. These two new headsets expand on the family of wired and wireless headsets from Sennheiser.

Jabra (Booth #1437)

The two key products for Jabra at WPC are the long awaited Jabra UC 750 and the Jabra Supreme UC. The Jabra UC 750 is the newest and highest end of their UC USB headsets.

The Jabra Supreme UC is a Bluetooth headset that is targeted at the mobile work with the ability to be paired with a cell phone and a laptop using the included USB dongle.

Plantronics (Booth #344)

One of the most visual and quite possibly popular swag items that have been handed out by any of the exhibitors has been the Plantronics fedoras.

Besides the fedoras Plantronics had on display their selection of wired and wireless Lync headsets.

Unrelated to headsets but one of my favorite sites from day one at WPC was the Tim Hortons cart in the Canadian regional lounge.

Next Up for Day 2

On Day 2 I’ll be scoping out Lync Phones.