wideband

Review: ClearOne Chat 160 USB Conference Phone

In my travels there have been times when I’ve engaged in some very long phone calls. It may be that I’m speaking to my wife while killing time in some far off hotel, or perhaps consulting with an associate on a tech support matter. In such circumstances I’ve come to believe that a USB attached speakerphone and a soft phone can be a very convenient combination.

USB attached audio devices are handy when you have a computer readily available. Being USB attached they save you the trouble of finding a way to provide network connectivity for a traditional IP conference phone.

Read More

HDVoice Deal Alert: Gigaset DE380IP-R Desk Phone

Some time ago the folks at Gigaset showed me their DE380-IP-R desk phone. It was about the time that they were just starting to ship their SIP/DECT products to the US. When they sent me some sample gear for evaluation a lone sample of this little desk phone came along for the ride.

I tried the DE380-IP-R for a short while but never really put it into service. I used it just long enough to confirm that it was truly wideband capable, supporting G.722.

The simple truth is that I found the phone to be just a little too quirky for my tastes. There are things about it that seem too Euro-centric in their design or implementation. Further, with a retail price of around $140 they were simply too odd when compared to the newly released Polycom Soundpoint IP335, which is also wideband capable.

Read More

OnSIP & Android 2.3 (a.k.a Gingerbread)

Earlier this week the Android development team released some news about Android v2.3, aka Gingerbread. This has a lot of people more than a bit excited as one of the new features is a built-in SIP stack.

Some point to this as being a major step toward the integration of Google Voice and Android devices. With a SIP stack included in the OS it will be much easier for people to develop soft phones that leverage the hardware and the data side of Android handsets.

The built-in SIP stack will work with any SIP service provider, giving users tremendous flexibility in choosing who gets their business. It also means that close integration with an IP-PBX will be easier than ever before.

Read More

Answering One More Question About HDVoice

Picking up where I left off some time ago, there was one more question arising from the earlier thread in the VoIP Forum at Broadband Reports. PX Eliezer asks:

4) G.722 is royalty-free. That being the case, and if it is not a bandwidth hog, and if it sounds great, then why do so many Voip providers, and so many manufacturers, not support it? In other words, why has adoption been so slow?

There are many factors that have contrived to slow the progress in implementing HDVoice on a broad scale. So many in fact that just pondering them has delayed my response to your question. I didn’t want to drift around a range to topics and make the matter appear utterly insurmountable.

Read More

VUC 2010 Holiday Gigaset Giveaway

As we approach the US Thanksgiving holiday we are given pause to reflect upon our many blessings. While many of us exist in a wideband realm where clarity of voice leads to universal understanding, there remain a great many who…

Read More
Back To Top