TMCNet Reviews snom m3
This morning I see that TMC Net’s Tom Keating has posted a review of the snom m3. Tom says;
The snom m3 SIP wireless (DECT) phone is one of my favorite VoIP phones. I’ve been testing and reviewing it for a few months but haven’t had time to write up the review until now. First, let me point out that the problem with IP-PBXs is they typically give you a desk phone or a softphone with no real mobility options to walk around, which is critical in some vertical markets, such as retail and manufacturing. Even sales professionals want the flexibility to take calls while roaming the office. In the past, I have used analog telephony adapters to connect my cordless phone to my SIP-based IP-PBX, but the cordless phone lacks multiple lines, call transfer, call conference, call waiting, or even a message waiting indication (MWI).
This exactly mirrors my experience, from the initial statement of the snom being a favorite, right to the expression of frustration with using ATAs and traditional cordless phones. I’ll have more to say about that shortly.
It took some effort to get the little phones from ABPTech, one of snom’s US distributors. I was fortunate enough to get two back in February from the initial shipment. These have now been through three firmware upgrades (described here, here and here) and are working well.
I expect to purchase the snom DECT repeater shortly, as well as a third handset.
My original review remains online here and at www.smallnetbuilder.com.
Comments are closed.
I’ve actually been looking at these and trying not to pull the trigger. They’re so tempting. I bought Snom phones for the office, and I use a Snom 320 at home as well as a Uniden multi-handset config with a Linksys ATA.
While I love the 320, it makes a very good stationary phone, but not incredibly flexible around the home (hence the Uniden/ATA combo). While I am quite content with the Unidens, the Linksys ATAs have their own little issues. Hence my fascination for the Snom M3.
What’s the battery life like? How’s it feel in the hand?
And wouldn’t it be nice if stores in the US, Canada, or even the Bahamas (the three places I reside) carried IP phones that weren’t either Skype- or Vonage-only. Sometimes, I just like to go into a store and pick up a handset and feel the buttons and the weight of it and get an idea of whether or not I like it.
I’ve drafted a couple of long posts about ATAs but I’m not quite ready to pull the trigger on them. I feel that ATAs are remnants of a prior era in VoIP. With only a couple of exceptions I’d go for the SIP hard phone every time.
Battery life on the m3 is good. Mine last over 72 in standby and I’ve never had them run down while in use. I’d say talk time is >6 hours. It’s a Li-ion battery, not NiMH.
Some have said that they feel a little cheap in the hand. They are certainly light.
My wife just today said that she prefers our old Panasonic handsets because of the button spacing and rubbery buttons. The snom m3 has hard plastic buttons.
I really do like them. They may not be perfect, but they’re they best I’ve used thus far.
I have discovered one new complaint. It’s too easy to accidentally turn off the handset. I’d like to see the off button require a 4 second hold before it turns the handset off. This may be an artifact of the latest beta firmware that I loaded.
I’ll be very interested in trying Polycom’s IP200W, which is based on the same hardware, if it ever gets released.