Graves On SOHO VoIP

This set of screen shots was taken from the web GUI of the Gigaset S675IP, but the web GUI for the A580IP is very similar.

Read the rest of this entry »

It’s now six months since Gigaset Communications announced their intention to release the A580IP and S675IP in the US market. Happily, the wait appears to be nearing an end. Michael White at E4 confirms that they have placed a stocking order and expecting delivery shortly.

Further, Tony Stankus, Product Manager For Emerging Technologies at Gigaset, has agreed to be the guest for the VoIP Users Conference call on July 10th. That date was selected to ensure that there will be product at resellers ready for shipment.

For several years, certainly as long as I have been writing this blog, I have been hunting for a better cordless IP telephony solution for my home office. Cordless mobility is increasingly a critical feature for home office and small business users. While we have a satisfactory solution in place at the moment, there’s certainly room for improvement.

Siemens, a multi-national company headquartered in Germany, has a new subsidiary called Gigaset US specifically to market some of their range of consumer electronics in North America. This new company is headquartered in Dallas, Texas.

Read the rest of this entry »

A few days back I noted that Gigaset had released new firmware that was reputed to have a microphone mute function. This prompted me to put my S685IP back in service. I installed the system on my network and let it install the new firmware. The upgrade installed easily and I was rewarded by the presence of a mute option on the left soft key.

The option is only offered when the phone is actually engaged in a call. I first tried it out today as I joined one of Randulo’s New Wine Consumer calls on Talkshoe. When engaged a text message indicates the mute state very clearly on the LCD display. See photo to the right for an example. Click for larger image.

Since traffic to my earlier rant about SIP/DECT phones has been strong and consistent I think it’s important to point out that both manufacturers, snom and Gigaset,  have listened and acted on some of my complaints. For this I am thankful. I have been recommending both of these devices not only on the merits of the device, but also the willingness of the maker to listen and act based on user feedback.

Suddenly Siemens Gigaset popped up on my radar this week, on two fronts at once. To start with Alan Lord pointed out on a post to the Asterisk Users Mailing List that Siemens have released some new firmware that adds a mute functionality to one of the soft keys when on a call.

Read the rest of this entry »

GigaOm has a nice guest post by FWD’s Dan Berninger. Dan describes the benefits of wideband voice encoding, as well as the obstacles to its more widespread acceptance. He rightly points to internet connected devices as being the only way to reap the benefits of wideband voice.

I’m happy to say that in the past year members of VUC have started adopting wideband telephony. From the time when I first reviewed the Polycom IP550 & IP650 to now more and more people are wideband capable, having decided to invest in the hardware themselves. We will soon have access to the Siemens Gigaset range in the US, which include some wideband capable DECT devices. And finally, we have a fully interoperable soft phone in Counterpath’s Eyebeam v1.5 for Windows.

We are making progress toward wideband IP telephony.

Om Malik suggests that Verizon’s shutdown of their VoiceWing residential VoIP service could be the end of Delta three. When I first started experimenting with VoIP Delta Three was flying high, and I looked at their I Connect Here offering briefly. They managed to land some very interesting deals, including Verizon’s ill-fated Voice Wing and a partnership with Panasonic called JoIP.

Read the rest of this entry »

In all the activity of CES last week one could be forgiven for missing this press release from Gigaset Communications.

Gigaset Communications Announces the Launch of its Popular Gigaset DECT 6.0 Line of Phones in the U.S.

New, sleek versions of the Gigaset A580 and S675 IP, along with the Gigaset SL785, now available in North America

The award-winning Gigaset SL785 embodies the highest level of design and technology innovation seen in a cordless phone. This new design has already been recognized with an international Red.Dot Honorable Mention award, receiving rave reviews for its metal handset frame and charging cradle. The SL785 also includes user-friendly features such as an ergonomic keypad and large, icon-based color display. In addition to its award-winning form, the SL785 is also an eco-friendly phone with reduced power consumption.

Read the rest of this entry »