[Asterisk-Users] Re: Which phones are good, or at least acceptable, for home and office

[Michael Graves]

On Sun, 18 Jun 2006 11:03:42 -0400, M.Hockings wrote:

>OK, but I felt that I had narrowed the field down a bit and was just 
>looking for confirmation that there were no severe problems with the 
>choices.

>People like yourself obviously have some experience with the different 
>phone models and that is what I was hoping to learn from.  Yes, I could 
>go buying all sorts of phones to find ones that are acceptable but my 
>life is not telephony, I just want it to work.

Then buy something from a vendor that will take on the headaches for you. Any form of Asterisk implies quite a learning curve. You have to be willing to climb that in one way or another.

>A Porche certainly does the job better than a Chevette but if the 
>Chevette is adequate for the job why not use it. I think that the 
>Polycom 601 is nice but I don't see that it provides anything that I 
>need beyond what the 501 gives and is certainly overkill for the 
>satellite phones.

It certainly depends upon what you're after...and what you feel is important. I don't like the low resolution LCD display on the lesser Polycom models. When I saw the backlit display on the 
Aastra 480 that was enough to compel me to buy one.

Michael

>Mike

>Michael Graves wrote:
>> I can't tell you how many times I've seen broad questions like this 
>> posted to the list..
>> 
>> The wiki (www.voip-info.org) is your friend. Use it. There's a lot of 
>> good advise there.
>> 
>> Google is also your friend. Use it, too. Most especially use it to 
>> search the list archives. There was just a long thread about this a few 
>> days ago.
>> 
>> Finally, you can do what I did...buy some phones, try them for a while 
>> then resell the ones you don't like. Ebay is a great toolo for this. I 
>> bought and sold eight different model of SIP phones before settling upon 
>> what I use today. When you've gained enough experience to have some well 
>> founded opinions add to the wiki.
>> 
>> Lastly, if you're going to buy serious desk phones try the Aastra 480i 
>> CT and the Polycom IP600/601. Life's too short to use a cheap phone.
>> 
>> Michael
>> 
>> On Sat, 17 Jun 2006 20:35:02 -0400, M.Hockings wrote:
>> 
>>  >I am looking to replace all of the old "Bell" (POTS) phones in my home
>>  >and office with IP phones. As you can imagine I don't have a huge
>>  >budget to work with but I want phones that will provide acceptable voice
>>  >quality and durability.
>>  >
>>  >There are basically three categories as I see it
>>  >1. satellite phones (low cost, low function)
>>  >2. primary domestic phone (good quality, POE capable, headset capable)
>>  >3. primary office phone (good quality, headset, speaker phone)
>>  >
>>  >In most places the LAN wiring is already in place so the phone would
>>  >need to be able to provide a LAN port for an existing computer. POE
>>  >would be desirable in a couple of places due to limited power outlets.
>>  >
>>  >What I have considered is the Grandstream BudgeTone BT-102 or BT-200 for
>>  >the satellite phones, a Grandstream GXP-2000 for the domestic phone as
>>  >it has all the requirements and there is a POE device available for it.
>>  >My alternative pick for this would be a Polycom 301. And for my office
>>  >I was considering a Polycom 501.
>>  >
>>  >Are any of these choices known to be bad performers, hard to configure
>>  >with Asterisk, etc. I have read that it is difficult or not possible to
>>  >get the message waiting indicator to show for the BT-102. Is this a
>>  >problem with the GXP-2000 or Polycom phones ?
>>  >
>>  >Also is it possible to use the Linksys POE injector/splitter to power a
>>  >BT-102 ? Or are there other solutions for POE?
>>  >
>>  >Some Web references follow for the keen.
>>  >
>>  >Thanks for any thoughts or input on this.
>>  >
>>  >Mike
>>  >
>>  >Linksys POE Injector/Splitter
>>  >_http://www.insight.ca/apps/productpresentation/index.php?format=print&product_id=LNKPPOE12_
>>  >
>>  >
>>  >
>>  >BT-102
>>  >_http://www.canadianvoipstore.com/product_info.php?cPath=95_105&products_id=40_
>>  >
>>  >GXP-2000
>>  >_http://www.canadianvoipstore.com/product_info.php?cPath=95_106&products_id=331_
>>  >
>>  >Polycom 301
>>  >_http://www.canadianvoipstore.com/product_info.php?products_id=757_
>>  >
>>  >Polycom 501
>>  >_http://www.canadianvoipstore.com/product_info.php?products_id=758_
>>  >
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