Graves On SOHO VoIP

End User Perspective On IP Telephony In The Home Office
  • rss
  • Home
  • About
    • Contact
    • Disclosure
  • Guides & How-To’s
  • Product Reviews
  • Raves
  • Personal Blog

USB Audio Interfaces: Mac vs PC Applications

mjgraves | February 28, 2010

audio615m 53x96 USB Audio Interfaces: Mac vs PC ApplicationsIf you’ve been reading here for a bit you’ll know that I like my Plantronics .Audio 615m headset. I heartily recommend the Plantronics .Audio lineup for people who need a headset for use with a soft phone.

Since back when this review was published I’ve heard a couple of times that people have had issues with the Plantronics .Audio line not working correctly on Mac systems. Most recently this comment was posted to the review:

Read the rest of this entry »

Comments
No Comments »
Categories
Audio, VoIP, Wideband
Tags
Audio, hdvoice, headset, Mac, OCS, plantronics, sip, skype, USB, VoIP, Windows
Comments rss Comments rss
Trackback Trackback

Thinking Outside The Box: SIP Hard Phone + External Speakerphone

mjgraves | January 31, 2010

chat50splash 120x96 Thinking Outside The Box: SIP Hard Phone + External SpeakerphoneI find that I’m simply drawn to novel and innovative approaches to problems. In the VUC post-call ramble this past week Michael White of E4Technologies described something that’s stuck in my mind as being pretty cool.

He was working with a large-company-who-shall-remain-nameless on a very significant installation. It was going along well. They had selected a line of SIP hard phones from a large, well-known  manufacturer, and were generally happy with the results. That is, happy with one exception; they didn’t like the performance of  the speakerphone on their chosen model of desk phone.

Read the rest of this entry »

Comments
5 Comments »
Categories
Audio, VoIP, Wideband
Tags
analog, Audio, chat 50, ClearOne, E4Technologies, speakerphone, USB
Comments rss Comments rss
Trackback Trackback

Review: Yamaha PSG-01s Personal USB Speakerphone

mjgraves | January 30, 2010

yamaha speaker phone s Review: Yamaha PSG 01s Personal USB SpeakerphoneA few months back I received a sample of a new USB attached personal speakerphone device made by Yamaha. It arrived about the same time that I started looking for a better solution for ad-hoc conference calls in small rooms, like hotel rooms. You may recall that I felt this need after the experience after hearing Zeeek trying to conduct a VUC call from the host hotel at Astricon 2009.

As is my usual strategy, I tossed the little PSG-01s into my suitcase thinking that I make use of it for a while and see how it handles the road. It’s been on the road quite a while now, and doesn’t seem to suffer the travel a bit. The device is a rugged little aluminum tube. It’s built to last.

Yamaha has a long and enviable history in pro audio products, many of which I’ve used in TV and recording studios over the years. The little PSG-01s is a more consumer oriented offering, but it seems like a well-considered design.

Read the rest of this entry »

Comments
No Comments »
Categories
VoIP, Wideband
Tags
G.722, hdvoice, PSG-01S, skype, speakerphone, USB, wideband, Yamaha
Comments rss Comments rss
Trackback Trackback

Review: The Ipevo X1N6 Internet Conference Phone

mjgraves | December 5, 2009

IPEVO x1n6 ga c03 125x96 Review: The Ipevo X1N6 Internet Conference PhoneMy quest for a portable USB conference phone started just after Astricon this year. I’ve previously described the logic behind the search. When I found that Ipevo had a related product offering in this area I admit that I was hopeful.

Several of my UK-based associates have used Ipevo USB handsets in conjunction with Skype, some for several years. In fact, these have become a standard item in our packing for trade shows. Our booth has a Polycom Soundpoint IP430 and an Ipevo USB handset. The Polycom phone integrates with our US hosted IP-PBX (OnSIP) to provide calling to anyone and provides a handy, high-quality speakerphone. Alternatively, the Ipevo handsets supports free calling to those back at the home office that use Skype, including co-workers, friends & family.

Read the rest of this entry »

Comments
10 Comments »
Categories
VoIP
Tags
eyebeam, hdvoice, ipevo, onsip, skype, speakerphone, USB, wideband, X1N6
Comments rss Comments rss
Trackback Trackback

Review: Plantronics Savi Go Bluetooth Headset

mjgraves | November 23, 2009

LeatherBox-200 copyThere’s a little leather-covered box that sits at the back of my desk. It’s the recipient of small items of technology that for some reason I can’t really use but also can’t stand to just throw away. It held until recently an impressive selection of Bluetooth cordless headsets.

Seriously, I bet I’ve purchased eight of those little beasts over the years, ever hopeful that each would be the one that was actually usable…possibly even a pleasure to use…but I was always disappointed. This cycle has gone on for long enough that I’d pretty much written off Bluetooth devices as a pointless waste of time.

Read the rest of this entry »

Comments
11 Comments »
Categories
VoIP, Wideband
Tags
astricon, bluetooth, hdvoice, headset, plantronics, Savi Go, USB, VoIP
Comments rss Comments rss
Trackback Trackback

Portable Conference Phone for 4, Please?

mjgraves | November 19, 2009

I’ve got the first serious candidate in my previously outlined quest for a portable conference phone solution. This is the Ipevo X1N6 Internet Conference Station.

IPEVO x1n6 ga c03 Portable Conference Phone for 4, Please?

This afternoon I bought one at Fry’s Electronics for the modest sum of $139. I’ve only just taken it out of the box. I’ll post some details about it once I’ve given it a try over the next few days.

Comments
No Comments »
Categories
VoIP, Wideband
Tags
conference, Ipevoa, speakerphone, USB
Comments rss Comments rss
Trackback Trackback

USB Speakerphones: An Observation

mjgraves | November 7, 2009

Over a period of years I’ve used quite a number of these portable USB attached speakerphone devices. A while ago I summarized my experienced with them, but as a couple of new models have recently emerged so I find that they have my attention yet again. These new devices, if I should be lucky enough to try them, will be the focus on some future posts. For the moment I have another observation to share based upon a recent experience.

Six USB Speakerphones

All of these portable speakerphones I find well suited to individual use. That is, they work well enough for an individual who sitting at their PC and doesn’t like to wear a headset. They’re also sufficiently portable to please a road warrior. One of the nice things about this kind of device is that they often support HDVoice when paired with a suitable soft phone.

Read the rest of this entry »

Comments
2 Comments »
Categories
VoIP, Wideband
Tags
astricon, ClearOne, hdvoice, konftel, polycom, portable, sip, SNOM, speakerphone, USB, VoIP, VUC
Comments rss Comments rss
Trackback Trackback

New Gadget Alert: Yamaha PSG-01S Personal Speakerphone

mjgraves | November 5, 2009

yamaha speaker phone s New Gadget Alert: Yamaha PSG 01S Personal SpeakerphoneDifferentiating personal speakerphones from small workgroup devices is something that I’ve been pondering a bit lately. You may remember that just after the close of Astricon Randy used a ClearOne Chat 50 USB speakerphone to host a VUC session from his hotel room in Phoenix. That little device was not quite up the task of what was really the equivalent of a small conference room environment. That situation was well beyond the intent of it’s design. It has served me well as a desktop and traveling speakerphone for many months.

In related news,  last week a new gadget arrived from the folks at In-Store Solutions. It’s a newly released entry into the USB personal speakerphone marketplace, the Yamaha PSG-01S. As such little USB devices have proven useful in the past I think I’ll be giving it a try for a few weeks to see how it compares those that I’ve used previously.

Comments
No Comments »
Categories
VoIP
Tags
PSG-01S, skype, speakerphone, USB, Yamaha
Comments rss Comments rss
Trackback Trackback

« Previous Entries

Search Me?

My Tweets

  • If I didn't know better I'd say that today was Monday. Such a blur.
  • Mossberg & Jobs On The iPad: I wasn’t going to post this…but what the heck. It’s just too funny…and true to life. http://bit.ly/bVpTlB
  • @DaveMichels Time to cut & run...
  • OK, that last tweet proves that I have my Twitter RSS feed flowing into an HD graphics system and crawling on-air in less than a minute.
  • This is simply a test, had this been a real tweet I'd have come up with something much more interesting. #fb

Recent Posts

  • Android In Desktop Phones From MSI
  • Point-CounterPoint: Hosted Voice vs. CPE
  • Point-Counterpoint: An Introduction
  • ONSIP Becomes First Hosted PBX Service Provider to Support HD Voice for All On Network And Conference Bridge Calls
  • USB Audio Interfaces: Mac vs PC Applications

Recent Comments

  • qwe on Gigaset News: New Beta Firmware Release
  • qwe on Gigaset News: New Beta Firmware Release
  • Neal Gilbert on Point-CounterPoint: Hosted Voice vs. CPE
  • Matt on Gigaset News: New Beta Firmware Release
  • mjgraves on Point-CounterPoint: Hosted Voice vs. CPE

Series: Making Use of HDVoice Right Now!

  • Series Introduction
  • HDVoice Using Skype
  • HDVoice Using Gizmo5
  • HDVoice Using SIPGate
  • HDVoice Using OnSIP

Make a difference.


Change a life.

VoIP Users Conference

Think About It

RSS From My Personal Blog

  • The Who’s Baba O’Reilly Performed On Gear From ThinkGeek
  • What’s in a name or a title?
  • We Now Have Vacancy
  • Just A Thought
  • Knowing Your Limits

RSS mgraves' shared items in Google Reader

  • Speaking of the Hosted vs. Premises Debate
  • Save the Date!
  • The Secret Origin of Windows
  • FreeSWITCH In Action: Handling Thousands of IVR Calls
  • BMW pulls off an old tablecloth trick
  • SKY to Demonstrate 3D Service

Tags

Asterisk Astlinux astricon Audio blog Broadband cell cellular codec conference cordless DECT digium DSL FWD G.722 gateway Gigaset gsm HD hdvoice headset hp ip M3 music onsip phone polycom QoS router siemens sip skype SNOM soft phone Squeezebox technology USB Video VoIP VUC wideband wifi zipdx

Archives

  • March 2010
  • February 2010
  • January 2010
  • December 2009
  • November 2009
  • October 2009
  • September 2009
  • August 2009
  • July 2009
  • June 2009
  • May 2009
  • April 2009
  • March 2009
  • February 2009
  • January 2009
  • December 2008
  • November 2008
  • October 2008
  • September 2008
  • August 2008
  • July 2008
  • June 2008
  • May 2008
  • April 2008
  • March 2008
  • February 2008
  • January 2008
  • December 2007
  • November 2007
  • October 2007

Meta

  • Register
  • Log in
  • Entries RSS
  • Comments RSS
  • WordPress.org
rss Comments rss valid xhtml 1.1