End-user perspective on small office tools & technology

Grandstream Introduces New SIP/DECT Cordless Phones

Grandstream has today introduced a pair of new cordless SIP/DECT phones. According to their press release (broken link removed) 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.

This Post Has 11 Comments

  1. Hi,
    if there any similiar set but for 10 phones, i currently use Snom M3 with 2 extenders… i want to upgrade. i found RTX system, but it’s unavaliable for SOHO.

    Any advise?

    1. Ten handsets is beyond the scope of anything but the enterprise DECT systems. Systems from Polycom and Aastra come to mind. These are going to be much high priced than any consumer product. If you really want 10 handsets that’s the only real option I’m aware of.

        1. Six is the most the I see ever offered in consumer products. That leaves you needing two systems. Some ITSPs allow multiple devices registered to the same SIP credentials, which allows all 12(!) handsets to ring on the same number. Perhaps with some difficulty transferring between certain handsets.

          1. i got the RTX – amazing system.
            you 2 directrory – one global, one local per phone.
            full house coverage(i have bricks house), i have 4 floors – i have installed 4 bases…via one POE switch…
            amazing….

          3. What’s the difference technologically between a consumer DECT product and an enterprise DECT product? 

            Different DECT chips?Most ‘consumer grade’ DECT products support 3-4 simultaneous calls, and if you call between handsets that counts as 2 calls, which obviously isn’t ideal. But I think that’s because of some radio regulation in North America? I’ve looked everywhere and it’s pretty unclear what’s happening.  

            But… Enterprise grade products support up to 12 simultaneous calls (Looking at Polycom KIRK here) so if the 3-4 simultaneous channel regulation exists, why doesn’t it apply to these enterprise grade products? 

          4. I’ve not heard that the matter was one of regulations. Historically the available DECT chipsets only supported 2-3 simultaneous call over the air. For consumer use this was thought adequate. More recently this has been increased to 4 in products like the newer Gigasets. That’s merely a case of a new generation of silicon offering increased capacity.

            Enterprise DECT solutions are designed from the start to scale up. KIRK systems can encompass hundreds of handsets. Where consumer systems may leverage a simple DECT repeater (range extender) enterprise systems accommodate multiple DECT bases with managed hand-off of ongoing calls as a user moves between zones. 

            They also provide sophisticated authentication of users onto the DECT system, allowing handsets to roam between facilities. The authentication may be linked to larger IT systems.

            In SMB space they may appear to be similar, but very large DECT systems are very
            different thing.

    2. You are in enterprise territory now, but check out the Siemens SIP/DECT systems. The entry level products are very affordable and should the need arise, it’s all compatible upwards. I’ve installed one a couple of years ago and haven’t heard back so I think it’s been reliable.

    1. No, I have not tried that. Bear in mind that only a limited subset of Gigaset hardware is adapted to meet North American regulation then imported into the US or Canada. There’s a much larger selection of Gigaset hardware offered in the rest of the world which share common DECT frequency allocations.

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