End-user perspective on small office tools & technology

Ike Elliot Agrees About VoWifi…but recommends an ATA

Ike Elliott has an often interesting blog. Today he is agreeing with Garrett Smith about how VoWifi has been dissappointing. I’ve echo’d this same sentiment many times previously.

Ike recommends an ATA and traditional cordless phone. That combination will certainly be more reliable that most Wifi SIP phones. I’ve used a Sipura SPA-2002 and a Panasonic 5.8 GHz cordless phone to good effect in my home. Since Smith’s original post referenced Vonage no longer providing a VoWifi offering I suppose it does target home users specifically.

However, SOHO users who are looking for more business class features (hold, transfer, conferencing, etc) or integration with local or hosted IP-PBXs should also consider SIP DECT solutions like the new Snom M3 that I’ve been using for the past week or so. Polycom also has the Kirk SIP DECT systems.

This Post Has 3 Comments

  2. Siemens Gigaset has a range of SIP-based DECT phones for home use around $100-$150. They’ve really taken over during the last year and a half or something. Their latest model is quite good with wideband (g722) and jabber.

    Using an ATA and an analogue DECT is silly compared to that. It’s at best marginally cheaper and the Siemens gives multiple lines and some other functionality analogue phones don’t have. It’s nice to have both your PSTN provider and FWD in the same phone.

    The DECT from Snom looks interesting but it’s twice the price of Siemens. I’m sure it offers additional functionality but that doesn’t matter in the end user / consumer section.

  3. Thanks for the tip about the Siemens phone. I don’t see them much in retail stores in my area (Fry’s or The Micro Center.) The G.722 capability is interesting enough that I may have to buy one.

    I’m not certain what the US price of the Snom phone is going to be. My two came from the very first shipment to land in the US and I basically talked my way into a deal with the distributor. I suspect what I paid is not going to be the asking price. I need to nail down MSRP over the next couple of weeks before I complete my written review.

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