Graves On SOHO Technology

You may recall that in the spring of 2011 I reviewed the Plantronics Voyager Pro UC Bluetooth cordless headset. Even after it was replaced around the office by the Sennheiser DW Pro2 this little Bluetooth headset was a welcome travelling companion. That is, until our younger Labrador chewed it to bits a few months back.

At the time of the unfortunate incident I wasn’t exactly flush with cash so I decided to make due with the wired headset that came with my Galaxy Nexus. That headset has proven irksome. Last week I was compelled to order a new Plantronics Voyager Pro HD .

Occasionally manufacturers will provide sample gear for evaluation. While I might write a positive review about such a device, nothing underscores that opinion like spending from my own pocket to replace the when it’s lost. Such is the case with this headset.

Hopefully, in the coming week or two I can find some time to setup the Gigaset DX800A and find out if the VP HD handles HDVoice calls as well as the VP UC.

Grandstream has today introduced a pair of new cordless SIP/DECT phones. According to their press release the DP715 is the basic system, including the DECT base/charging stand and one handset. The DP710 is an additional handset with a simple charging stand.

Looking into the details I see specifications typical of the current generation of consumer DECT systems. A DP715 base supports five registered handsets and up to four concurrent calls.

The claimed cordless range is also typical of DECT systems…that is very good indeed. I’d expect excellent battery life as well.

The handsets have a built-in speakerphone, which can be handy in a home office.

They are described as having three ring-modes:

“Linear Mode, all phones ring sequentially in the predesignated order

Parallel Mode, all phones ring concurrently and after one phone answers the rest phones may place new calls

Shared Line Mode, all phones ring concurrently and always share the same line, similar to an analog phone”

The system supports remote configuration via a web portal or provisioning server. That last part is critical for uptake by ITSPs who want hands-off provisioning at an end-user site.

What I don’t see in the specifications is any support for HDVoice. They list support for all the usual suspects (G.711, G.723.1, G.729A/B, G.726 and iLBC) with respect to narrowband codecs.

The company’s web site lists support for TR-069, IP v6 and Skype as “pending.”

Grandstream has long been a price/performance leader. Priced at $85 and $49 respectively, these new devices extend that pattern. They should prove interesting to SOHO users on a budget.

Some weeks ago Gigaset sent me a a couple of their newer US offerings to try. The first of these that I’ve unboxed is the new C610A Cordless DECT phone with the L410 Hands-free Clip.

Unlike the various Gigaset systems I’ve considered in the past, the C610A is not an IP-capable system. It sports just one old school analog line interface. Normally I wouldn’t even trouble myself to take such a phone out of the box.

The C610A itself is a pretty basic phone. The DECT base includes voicemail capability, with a small speaker on the base so that you can listen to voice messages at the base even if the handset is elsewhere. The VM system can also be used to record a call in progress.

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Some time ago I made it clear that I actually prefer a headset with a boom mounted microphone. The Etymotic ETY.COM is an example of such a device, as is the now defunct Plantronics .Audio 615m. It’s also true that the current trend in Bluetooth wireless headsets leans towards designs that are much less conspicuous.

Some months back I became aware of Zelher, a small company that offer a pair of what appeared to be very interesting Bluetooth headsets. I emailed the company inquiring about the products, specifically whether they supported HDVoice. Their response indicated that the company was going to offer a stereo headset for music use later in the year, but said nothing about support for wideband voice in the existing products.

I looked on Amazon to see that the Zelher P20 listed at $99, but was typically offered for around $60. At that price I wasn’t about to buy one just to satisfy my curiosity. A few weeks later I found the P20 offered by a daily deals web site for just $40. That was a bit more tempting.

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We’ve had the Gigaset C610A in the house for quite some time. It’s long been on my list of devices for review. However, it’s difficult to find the time to commit to such tasks when the current model of Gigaset is so much like one of the prior models. There’s just no getting around the fact that the C61H handset is very like the C59H, which we’ve had for over two years.

That said, the C610A does offer a few niceties that were suggested to the company when they launched the line in the US back in 2009. Earlier today a new thread in the DSL Reports VoIP Forum prompted me to take just a little time to explore dialing by SIP URI on the C61H handset.

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Earlier this week the Gigaset C610A-IP that I’ve had for the past month reported that there was a new firmware release available. Glancing over at the Gigaset web site I see that the C610A-IP is not yet listed in the US version of the site. Nor is the related firmware in the download section. That means no release notes to help make the decision about installing the new firmware.

I know that Michael White at E4 Technologies has been awaiting a shipment from Gigaset. Visiting Amazon.com I see that the C610A-IP remains listed as not currently available. I expect that the US arm of Gigaset is eagerly awaiting literally a boatload of product.

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