Announced in December of last year, the GXV-3175 is Grandstream's latest entry into the multi-media phone arena. Reading the companies press release I thought the phone to be, in principle, a very ambitious undertaking. The GXV-3175 is a kind of…
This past week Junction Networks phone lab posted a review of the Polycom VVX-1500 Business Media Phone. They make note of the devices' many fine qualities. The VVX is truly a joy to use. It's build quality is outstanding, and you…
Just a couple of days ago I received an email asking about side-tone. Marshall Wilgard asks;
“A VoIP expert has written that he would never buy an IP phone that did
not have “sidetone” in the handset because he would want to hear a
little of his own voice when he talked. The Grandstream phones I use
do “not” have sidetone. Do you believe that sidetone is important? And
if so, which brands of IP phones have sidetone?”
As you note, sidetone is the mixing of a little of the users voice into the earpiece such that they can hear themselves as they speak. I believe that sidetone is critically important to comfortable user experience with a phone.
It’s very unnatural to not hear yourself, or hear yourself from another acoustic perspective, as you engage in conversation. Without sidetone you sound like you are very far away even though the other party sounds very near. It’s an inversion of acoustic perspective that can be discomforting.
It has been said that, “the devil is in the details.” It has also been noted that I’m fussy about such things. After all, it usually takes little or no extra effort to get something right, often with much benefit moving forward.
Cast in this light I would like to revisit the Freetalk Everyman Headset being offered by InStore Solutions through the Skype online store. You may recall that I reviewed this device a while ago. I found it to be a decent product at a very attractive price. I’ve recommended it to a number of people, and none have come back to complain.
I think that USB attached audio devices, whether headset or speakerphone, are exceptionally convenient. They isolate the low-level analog signal handling from the harsh electrical environment inside a computer, often allowing for improved noise performance. They also save us from the painful prospect of loading unique device drivers.
The folks in the phone lab over at Junction Networks / OnSIP earlier this week posted a review of Counterpath's Bria v3.1 release. They note a number of improvements, including more reliable support for video and G.722 based wideband calling.…
This past week I made a quick trip to Las Vegas. The vast majority of people in Vegas were attending CES 2011. My time there was short. My primary reason for the trip was to attend the HDVoice Summit organised by Dan Berninger. That meeting was held in a suite at the Aria Hotel where are array of HDVoice, capable products were on display, including the latest Gigaset offerings.
Gigaset issue a press release detailing the new product offerings. As expected they were launching a couple of new desk phones aimed squarely at SOHO & SMB applications. At the HDVoice Summit there was a DX800A setup and connected to David Frankel’s ZipDX wideband conference bridge.