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The iPhone In My Office

I’ve said many times that I would never buy and iPhone. Well, true to my word…I didn’t….yet one graces my desk anyway. A co-worker gave me his older 3G after he upgraded his family to a set of shiny new iPhone 4s. Call it an effort at recycling.

In truth I have no interest in the iPhone as a cell phone, but I look forward to having an iOS platform on which to try some of the more interesting apps that have been offered. With its built-in microphone the iPhone 3G is, for me, a better option than an iPod touch.

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VUC Video Calls: A Two Act Play

As many of you may know I’ve been trying to put together a video call for the VUC over the past few months. After a lot of thought, but little action, act one of this little project will get underway this coming Friday, August 13th at 1pm EDT.

The basic idea for the project has been with me for a year, ever since I trialed the Polycom VVX-1500 video phones last summer. It evolved as I was later asked to research video conferencing systems for my employer, a project which was eventually tabled in Q4/09.

There are quite a number of factors to consider when you’re thinking about implementing a video conference solution. At its most basic I needed in some substantive way to grasp the difference between one-to-one video calling using desk phone, traditional video conferencing and “Telepresence.”

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VUC Aug 13th: Blink Mind On Video Calling

This coming Friday, August 13th will be yet another Voip Users Conference double-header. Starting at our usual 12 Noon EDT we have an overview of the Freetalk Connect SMB PBX featuring Skype integration.

Then immediately following, at 1pm EDT, we have Chris Veazey, VP Engineering of Blink Mind, to discuss the current state of the industry with regard to multi-media phones and SIP-based video calling.

Blink Mind has agreed to provide a video conference bridge (MCU) as part of their appearance. Further, as Blink Mind are a Polycom partner, Polycom has graciously provided a pair of Polycom VVX-1500 Business Media Phones on loan. One VVX is at Randy’s location in California, and the other in my home office.

As we aim to explore the capabilities of the VVX-1500 and similar desk phones, the video portion of the Blink Mind call with be limited to CIF (352 x 240) resolution using H.264 compression.

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Gigaset SIP/DECT Handsets For 2010: Part 6 – SL78H

Introduced in early 2009, the Gigaset SL78H is the top-of-the-line cordless handset that they offer in North America.

Like the C59H and S79H, the SL78H is only being offered as an expansion handset with respect to the IP-capable A580IP and S675IP systems. You may see it offered as part of the SL780 or SL785, but these are not IP-capable systems.

As I’ve moved up the product range there has been a natural progression in features and physical attributes. Each better model builds logically upon the previous, but adds certain improvements in hardware or software.

At the top of the range the SL78H is physically a very different device. To start, it’s heavy. Unlike the prior models there is a lot of metal in the SL78H. Even the keypad itself has a brushed-metallic finish.

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Gigaset SIP/DECT Handsets For 2010: Part 5 – S79H

Thus far in this series I’ve looked at things common to all the Gigaset handsets, the A58H, C59H and S67H. This time I’m examining the S79H.

The S79H has actually become my favorite of the five Gigaset handsets that I’ve tried. My challenge now is to describe how it came to earn that honor.

You may look around and find it offered as part of the S790 or S795 DECT systems. These include a DECT base that provide only an analog line interface and are not SIP capable.

Like the C59H, the S79H is only being offered in North America as an expansion handset. It can be used in conjunction with any existing A580IP or S675IP system.

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