Due to popular request, ESI has developed and made available backlit and full-duplex phones for use with its ESI Communications Server systems.  The compact 24-key phone comes with a backlit display, making it easier to read in various lighting conditions.  The larger 48-key phone now has a backlit display and full duplex option.

For anyone who may be unaware of what “full duplex” means, it simply means that when you use the speakerphone, both you and the other party can talk at the same time without anyone’s voice getting choppy or cutting out.  High-end conference phones normally have this feature by default.  ESI’s standard digital desk phones are half duplex like most digital phones from other manufacturers.  Because ESI phones switch quickly back and forth between the two parties in a conversation, most people find that the standard option is fine.  But if you notice a difference, or if you use your speakerphone frequently, the small difference in price is well worth the upgrade to the full duplex option.

The backlit/full duplex option is available both for the 48-key digital phone and the 48-key IP phone models on any Communications Server model (ESI-1000, ESI-600, ESI-200, ESI-100, or ESI-50/50L).  The 24-key model, for now, has the backlight option only.

ESI recently released its Media Management product, which combines several technologies into one interface for easy phone and building monitoring by an administrator.  As of today, it includes the following four components:

• Recordings of selected phone calls (call logging)
• Video camera viewing and recording
• Detailed per-call information (also known as SMDR data)
• Building access events

We will break these capabilities into separate posts to treat them in more detail.  Suffice it to say here that ESI’s goal seems to be enabling business owners to reduce their overall risk from a security and liability standpoint.  You can get a good overview of Media Management by watching the following video:

ESI Media Management Video

We are very excited about the way ESI has implemented this product.  It uses the recently-developed Applications Services Card, or ASC.  This is the same card that handles Mobile Messaging, ESI’s email-to-voicemail solution.  The ASC is a flexible powerhouse, and we wouldn’t be surprised to see additional applications take advantage of the ASC, which will surely enable business owners to take advantage of multiple applications without outlaying large equipment expenditures.

Awhile back, We posted on ESI’s Presence Management, which features a special device called a Presence Management Reader that has multiple functions.  It can act as a door phone, as security access for building personnel (using RFID-based security cards or fobs), and more.

ESI presence Management Reader

We are pleased to announce that ESI has developed an IP version of its Presence Management reader.  We think this is exciting, because it allows for owners of all-IP ESI Communications Server phone systems to have Presence Management capability.  It also removes the limitation of 1,000 feet that exists with the original Presence Management reader (this was the maximum distance it could be installed from the phone server, or KSU).  In fact, a remote IP Presence Management reader can even be installed in off-site locations!  This does present interesting possibilities, like the ability to unlock a door remotely for example (after verifying the caller’s identity, of course, by talking to them via VoIP right through the reader itself).

We got a chance recently to take ESI Mobile Messaging for a spin.  This is ESI’s new voicemail-to-email solution, available on all ESI Communication Server phone systems (the ESI-50L model must be upgraded to an ESI-50 to take advantage, which we are told is a painless process that does NOT require reprogramming the phone system; existing ESI-50, ESI-100, ESI-200, ESI-600 and ESI-1000 phone system owners can participate without a model upgrade).

ESI Mobile Messaging requires the addition of an ESI Applications Card to the phone system, as well as a Mobile Messaging license, which is site-wide and allows any normal phone user or Guest mailbox user to participate. The card itself incorporates two RJ-45 Ethernet connections, only one of which is required for this application (also unused for now is a USB port on the card; it should be interesting to see what all ESI comes up with as uses for these extra connections).  After plugging the card into our LAN and doing the initial configuration (which included telling the system about our ISP and email SMTP settings), we found we were able to go in through any of the office phones and specify for each user where to send email notifications to.  Of course, not all users require this feature, so we were able to specify on a per-user basis who was to get Mobile Messaging functionality. We noted that each user can have up to two email addresses set up, one of which can be active at any given time.  For each email address, we were able to specify whether to send an email notification only that a voicemail was received in the office, or to actually attach the voicemail message itself to the email.

We were pleased with the performance of Mobile Messaging.  In our tests, we left several voicemail messages for office users, and received a copy of the voicemail in our email literally a couple of minutes later.  The voicemail attachment itself is a WAV file (standard computer format), and played easily using software that was already on the computer.  The WAV files must be compressed in some way, because they are approximately the same size as an MP3 file, which is normally about 1/10th the size of a WAV file.  Despite the compression, the audio quality was great.

This application strikes us as perfect for people who are on vacation or who are often on the go and who have smart phones or check their email through a laptop computer.  It would also be great for those people who often need to archive voicemail messages, or forward them to individuals outside of their organization.  We’re pleased to see this tool in ESI’s arsenal, and it serves to cement our belief that ESI is the best business phone system manufacturer there is.  We undertand that, while Mobile Messaging is the first application that the Applications Card supports, it certainly won’t be the last.  We look forward to trying out new applications as they become available.

ESI (our manufacturer of choice for business phone systems) announced recently that ESI has achieved interoperability with Broadvox GO! SIP trunking.  SIP trunking, for those who may not know, is a relatively new type of dialtone that is delivered via an IP network by an ITSP, or Internet Telephony Service Provider.  It’s far more efficient than Plain Old Telephone Service, and it appears to be where dialtone technology is headed.  Like ISDN PRI, it offers both DID (Direct Inward Dial) capability so that individual phone users can have their own phone numbers, and Caller ID name and number service is available.  In addition, SIP trunking allows businesses to be geographically diverse by obtaining phone numbers outside their normal calling area, if desired.  Additionally, ITSP service providers tend to charge less for their services than the traditional dialtone providers (sometimes substantially less).

While ESI has not yet formally released SIP trunking capability as a feature on its phone systems, clearly such capability is in the works.  According to the press release, ESI Communications Server phone equipment is what is being used to achieve this interoperability, and we anticipate that ESI will make this capability available to both new and existing users of its Communications Server phone systems.

We think this is great news.  It will not only give ESI Communications Server owners additional flexibility when choosing what dialtone type makes the most sense to them, but we are excited about SIP trunking in general, because it can give businesses more flexibility and allow them to save a substantial amount of money on their phone bills.  We’ll post more as more details are released.

ESI recently announced another great application available to users of Communications Server phone systems: ESI Mobile Messaging, a voicemail-to-email solution.

ESI Mobile Messaging combines the advanced capabilities of an ESI Communications Server phone system with the convenience of users’ existing e-mail accounts. When one receives a voice mail message at an extension or guest mailbox, the person also receives an e-mailed notification to which a .WAV (standard computer audio file) of the voice mail message is attached. The email’s subject line contains information about the voice mail message - the Caller ID name and number, as well as the call’s date, time, and duration.  ESI Mobile Messaging also allows users to quickly do the following:

• Listen to a voice mail message on one’s PC or “smartphone” - Play back a voice mail message on one’s PC or “smartphone” by simply double-clicking the attachment.
• Share voice mail messages - Forward important voice mail messages to interested individuals, even if not on the user’s system.
• Choose which voice mail messages to handle and how to manage them - A user with numerous voice messages can directly access any message right away.
• Remotely manage voice mail messages -A user can manage voice mail messages using Web mail from: a home PC or laptop; a personal (or alternate) e-mail account; or a “smartphone.”
• Store important voice mail messages - Save a voice mail message attachment to a hard drive, CD or DVD, or USB Flash® drive.

ESI Mobile Messaging requires the addition of an Applications Services Card, which can be added to any new or existing ESI Communications Server phone system (except the ESI-50L; but the ESI-50L can be easily upgraded to an ESI-50, which does support the card).  The Applications Services Card is being developed to have multiple capabilities, and applications for this card will be added over time.  We look forward to reporting on these additional applications as they are released.

When choosing a phone system, small business owners have traditionally had to settle for less when it comes to features and capabilities.  Things like ACD (Automatic Call Distribution, or “holding for the next available agent), PRI (digital dialtone) support, Service Observe (ability to monitor staff calls for quality assurance or training), and more have been out of reach of many small businesses, because manufacturers tend to develop these types of capabilities for larger (and more costly) systems.  This is true no longer with the arrival of the ESI-50, a truly capable small business phone system.

ESI-50 digital business phone system

When ESI (our phone system manufacturer of choice) designed its newest line of Communications Server phone systems, it chose to use a common code base throughout its product line.  This means that, in theory, the smallest Communications Server system (the ESI-50) can do most or all of the same things that even ESI’s largest system (the ESI-1000) can do; the primary difference is capacity.  Like ESI’s other systems, the ESI-50 takes a converged approach, meaning that it can support both digital and IP phones with ease.  And like other ESI phone systems, you’ll get a simple-to-use but powerful system that will make using the phones a breeze rather than a chore.  ESI phone systems have been designed from the ground up to be user friendly (for example, by offering a built-in verbal HELP button on every phone), intuitive (no more scrolling through a series of menus or memorizing feature codes just to get something done), and tightly integrated–because the voicemail and phone system functions are handled through the same processor and use the same storage space, responsiveness is instantaneous and you can do some really great things (like view the Caller ID of each voicemail message and call them back by pressing one button, view a visual indicator of old and new messages, view a countdown timer so you can see how long each message is, etc).  Another example: if I want to create a new voicemail message for several recipients on the fly, I can pick up my phone and press the VOICE MAIL button, followed by the direct station button for each of the users I want to receive my voicemail message.  No hunting through menus.  No dialing of extension numbers is required.  This is one of many features that ESI is able to accomplish due to its patented, all-in-one design.

There are many more things that the ESI-50 supports that small business owners will love, including full auto-attendant capability with up to 100 branches that can go several levels deep if needed; 16-party conferencing; a message Recycle bin that stores the last 10 deleted messages (for retrieval in case of accidental deletion); a Caller ID button for each phone that shows the most recently received calls and whether they were answered, went to voicemail, or were redirected or missed.  The ESI-50 also supports other ESI-exclusive products, including its award-winning VIP PC software for unified messaging, call control, station programming, and more; Presence Management (RFID capability that is tightly integrated with the phone system to provide door phones, security access, and time clock/time and attendance functions); and Cellular Management, which is ESI’s unique solution to taming your cell phone when you’re in the office.  The ESI-50 additionally supports the latest in wireless handset technology, DECT 6.0.  If you have multiple locations, you can even place an ESI-50 Communications Server or higher at each location and tie them together seamlessly via Voice Over IP, and they will act as if they’re one large system (alternatively, if you have sites that don’t require a full phone system, you can also place one or a few Remote IP phones at the remote location or locations).

All the benefits of the ESI-50 are too numerous to list here (you can get a brochure on the ESI-50 here, or view some introduction videos on ESI phone systems), but suffice it to say that small businesses no longer need to settle for a stripped down version of a phone system, missing features that would benefit them.

And the best part is, the ESI-50 is still in an active development cycle.  In the next few months, even more capabilities and features will be announced that will further separate ESI from the pack and more firmly establish it as a leader in the industry.  Stay tuned!

Occasionally, you’ll see the word “convergence” come up in regards to phone systems.  But what does it mean?  In a word, flexibility.

Traditional, “old school” phone systems have always had two different types of ports: one type to support phone lines (dialtone), and another type to support the phones.  Since all phones used to be analog phones, this second port type would also handle fax machines, credit card machines, and cordless phones, all of which have analog interfaces.

Over time, phone system manufacturers realized that they could increase flexibility and features by making digital phones rather than analog ones.  Today, most phone system manufacturers who have been around for awhile offer digital phones.  Because each manufacturer has its own idea of what would make for the best features in a phone system, its own “killer apps”, and implementation of features, these digital phones are proprietary and cannot move from one phone system type to another.  Phone companies (dialtone providers), as well, realized that there were certain advantages to going digital, and began to offer digital phone lines.  By far the most common of these is a T1 line, which can carry up to 24 conversations simultaneously.  One flavor of T1 called ISDN/PRI is now the most popular due to it’s support of Caller ID (which a “plain” T1 does not support), and its enhanced signaling and troubleshooting capability (this is accomplished by having messages on the setup, progress, and teardown of calls take place on one of the 24 channels, leaving 23 available for voice conversations).  Most phone system manufacturers now support T1/PRI.

In the last few years, we’ve seen the emergence of VoIP (or IP) phone technology, which promises to offer certain advantages over regular digital phones.  The greatest of these is the ability to effortlessly move phones from one desk to another and keep the same extension, and the ability to use a phone off-premises and participate as if you were still in the office.  This last item is significant, as it gives businesses flexibility to allow remote workers the ability to handle office calls just as if they were there in person. (There are actually several “flavors” or different types of VoIP, which is treated in a separate post.)

Even with the marvelous capabilities that IP phones enable, digital phones are here to stay for the foreseeable future.  The reasons include, but are not necessarily limited to, IP phones being more expensive than their digital counterparts, and more potential for quality issues with VoIP.  Some manufacturers have decided to keep their digital phone systems and IP phones separate, meaning that if you decide digital phones are best for you now, but would like to have IP phones in the future, you’ll need to upgrade the whole phone system.  Other companies, typically ones who began life as data-driven companies such as Cisco, don’t offer digital (non-IP) phones.  They mask their lack of experience and R&D in this arena by claiming that IP phones are the best solution in every situation.

Other companies, such as ESI (whose phone systems we sell), have decided to take a converged approach, meaning that their phone systems will support either digital or IP phones equally well, in any combination.  If it makes sense for you to have digital phones inside the office (as we argue here is generally a good idea), and IP phones outside the office, you can do that.  If you’d only like digital phones now but would like to add IP phones later, you can do that as well.  In fact, ESI Communications Server phone systems support everything I’ve mentioned, including digital, IP or analog phones/devices, as well as analog lines or T1/PRI.  It’s a great day we live in, and flexibility is the name of the game.

In the open-source PBX world, one platform is king: Asterisk.  Asterisk is an open-source software PBX platform originally created by Mark Spencer of Digium. Because of the open-source nature of Asterisk, many companies have used the Asterisk code as a base for their product and modified the code to suit their needs. There are a host of products built on top of Asterisk, such as Fonality’s products PBXtra and Trixbox, IntuitiveVoice’s Evolution PBX, etc. This post applies to all of them to some degree. Also, there are other PC-based PBX solutions out there that run on Windows, such as 3CX or NCH’s Axon product. These share many of the same pitfalls as described below (but have the additional problems associated with Windows-based instability and security issues).

Open Source.
Asterisk is open-source software. It is controlled by a company named Digium, which issues periodic updates and bug fixes to the code. Because it is open-source software, this means that (1) Asterisk is free to anyone and can be downloaded without charge; (2) Anyone with the proper skills is able to view the original programming code and modify it for their own purposes. There are a number of companies that have grown up around this model and are selling their own “take” on Asterisk.

Hardware.
Most Asterisk builds use off-the-shelf PC hardware. Because there is so much to consider in regards to PC-based phone systems (whether tower-based or rack-based), I can‘t enumerate it all here.  Suffice it to say, PC-based phone systems suffer from a slew of drawbacks, including longevity, expandability, security, complexity, migratability, and recoverability issues, and they are more of a headache than they’re worth.

There are also a number of appliance-based Asterisk systems out there. Many of these are PCs in disguise. Others, that are truly appliance-based (you’ll often see the term “embedded” when seeing references to these systems) are generally for the smaller-end market. They feature hardware that has specifically been engineered for that specific product. Many times there is a single circuit board inside that replaces the functionality of multiple boards in other systems. The reliability of these products varies, but is generally good. If something needs to be replaced, however, the whole system usually needs to be swapped out.

Telephony cards.
In the case of PC-based implementations, and some appliance-based installations, the box will require certain telephony cards in most cases. This is to provide support for dialtone (analog lines or T1/PRI lines), as well as other analog devices such as cordless phones, credit card machines or faxes. These cards can be purchased from Digium, but the majority of these are purchased from third-party vendors, such as Sangoma, Rhino, OpenVox, ZapMicro, etc. With all of these choices comes different implementation issues, as each card has its own drivers, idiosyncrasies, implementation, support, reliability, and integration with Asterisk. Some cards are supported better than others. Some companies will only allow certain cards to be used with their implementation.

A note on echo. One of the pervasive challenges with Asterisk is that of echo. This generally happens when a digital signal (like IP) is being converted to an analog signal, or vice versa, and there is an impedance mismatch on the line (there usually is-it’s just the nature of the beast). This causes one or both parties to hear their own voice echo in their ear. While software-based echo cancellers are standard and tend to cut down on this, many users have reported serious echoing issues. The only proper way to minimize echo with Asterisk-based systems is to make sure the cards have HARDWARE based echo cancellation (the Echo Cancellation, or EC, version of any given card is more expensive). The advantages of hardware-based echo cancellation are (1) it can take care of some echoing that software sometimes cannot; (2) it is faster (although you may still have a couple of seconds of echo at the beginning of the call; (3) it frees up precious CPU resources from having to do the echo cancellation.

Telephones.
Digium does not make the telephones for its Asterisk software, nor do the other vendors whose PBX products are based on Asterisk. These are third-party phones from various manufacturers, such as Aastra, Grandstream, Cisco, Snom, and others. Each phone model from each manufacturer has a different look and operation than the others.

While “freedom of choice” is touted by Asterisk proponents, this disparity between phone models, and the integration of phones with Asterisk, is actually one of Asterisk’s greatest drawbacks. By not having proprietary phones, integration with the phone system is looser. Some of the phone manufacturers illustrate some “whiz-bang” applications that can be done on their phones, but the reality is that it’s difficult to incorporate into the Asterisk platform (more on this in a moment), and most IP phones used on Asterisk-based phone systems function little better than plain old analog telephones.

Getting the phones to work with Asterisk in the first place has traditionally been a challenge, although many strides have been made in this respect.

One thing that anyone who has been looking at Asterisk for any length of time will notice is that the phones in general are severely restricted in the number of buttons available for lines and features. This requires people to remember and dial feature codes manually for most anything they would like to do feature-wise, or work their way through on-screen menus.

Features.
Now for a paradox on Asterisk. Asterisk is, admittedly, a platform with perhaps the greatest potential for flexibility, and yet, in practice most people find that they are locked into the features provided out-of-the-box. It is true that because their code is open-source that in theory someone who knows how to program can make it do special things. It is also true that Asterisk has a scripting language that allows for special things to be accomplished. By going into special, text-based configuration files, one can, in theory, open up the flexibility potential. Here are some of the configuration files:

amportal.conf; asterisk.conf; autofs_ldap_auth.conf; capi.conf; cbmysql.conf; cdr_mysql.conf; conman.conf; dhcpd.conf; disa-1.conf; enum.conf; extensions.conf; extensions_additional.conf; extensions_custom.conf; extensions_hud.conf; extensions_override_freepbx.conf; ez-ipupdate.conf; features.conf; features_applicationmap_additional.conf; features_applicationmap_custom.conf; features_featuremap_additional.conf; features_featuremap_custom.conf; features_general_additional.conf; features_general_custom.conf; fxotune.conf; globals_custom.conf; gpm-root.conf; grub.conf; gssapi_mech.conf; host.conf; iax.conf; iax_additional.conf; iax_custom.conf; iax_custom_post.conf; iax_general_additional.conf; iax_general_custom.conf; iax_registrations.conf; iax_registrations_custom.conf; idmapd.conf; indications.conf; initlog.conf; jwhois.conf; krb5.conf; ld.so.conf; ldap.conf; lftp.conf; libaudit.conf; libuser.conf; localprefixes.conf; logger.conf; logrotate.conf; manager.conf; manager_additional.conf; manager_custom.conf; meetme.conf; meetme_additional.conf; mke2fs.conf; modem.conf; modprobe.conf; modules.conf; mtools.conf; multipath.conf; musiconhold.conf; musiconhold_additional.conf; musiconhold_custom.conf; my.cnf; nscd.conf; nsswitch.conf; ntp.conf; oddjobd.conf; op_astdb.cfg; op_buttons.cfg; op_buttons_additional.cfg; op_buttons_custom.cfg; op_lang_de.cfg; op_lang_en.cfg; op_lang_es.cfg; op_lang_it.cfg; op_server.cfg; op_style.cfg; pam_smb.conf; pear.conf; phone.conf; phpagi.conf; privacy.conf; queues.conf; queues_additional.conf; queues_custom.conf; queues_custom_general.conf; queues_general_additional.conf; queues_post_custom.conf; reader.conf; request-key.conf; resolv.conf; rtp.conf; sensors.conf; sestatus.conf; sip.conf; sip_additional.conf; sip_custom.conf; sip_custom_post.conf; sip_general_additional.conf; sip_general_custom.conf; sip_nat.conf; sip_registrations.conf; sip_registrations_custom.conf; smartd.conf; snom.cnf; sysctl.conf; syslog.conf; updatedb.conf; vm_email.inc; vm_general.inc; voicemail.conf; warnquota.conf; wvdial.conf; xinetd.conf; yp.conf; yum.conf; zapata.conf; zapata-auto.conf; zapata-channels.conf; zaptel.conf

Because of this maddening array of configuration files (which are not in one single place on the disk, by the way), several projects (including the makers of Asterisk itself) have developed web-based configuration screens so that you don’t have to delve into all of these. By doing this, however, they are necessarily limiting the number and type of special configurations that can be done.

Asterisk features a special scripting language to tweak the behavior of the phone system. Again, in theory it’s great, but only if you want to learn this:

exten => s,n,Set(FROMCONTEXT=exten-vm)
exten => s,n,Set(VMBOX=${ARG1})
exten => s,n,Set(EXTTOCALL=${ARG2})
exten => s,n,Set(CFUEXT=${DB(CFU/${EXTTOCALL})})
exten => s,n,Set(CFBEXT=${DB(CFB/${EXTTOCALL})})
exten => s,n,Set(RT=${IF($[$["${VMBOX}"!="novm"] | $["foo${CFUEXT}"!="foo"]]?${RINGTIMER}:”")})
exten => s,n,Macro(record-enable,${EXTTOCALL},IN)
exten => s,n,Macro(dial,${RT},${DIAL_OPTIONS},${EXTTOCALL})
exten => s,n,Set(SV_DIALSTATUS=${DIALSTATUS})
exten => s,n,GosubIf($[$["${SV_DIALSTATUS}"="NOANSWER"] & $["foo${CFUEXT}"!="foo"]]?docfu,1) ; check for CFU in use on no answer
exten => s,n,GosubIf($[$["${SV_DIALSTATUS}"="BUSY"] & $["foo${CFBEXT}"!="foo"]]?docfb,1) ; check for CFB in use on busy
exten => s,n,Set(DIALSTATUS=${SV_DIALSTATUS})
exten => s,n,NoOp(Voicemail is ‘${VMBOX}’)
exten => s,n,GotoIf($["${VMBOX}" = "novm"]?s-${DIALSTATUS},1) ; no voicemail in use for this extension
exten => s,n,NoOp(Sending to Voicemail box ${EXTTOCALL})
exten => s,n,Macro(vm,${VMBOX},${DIALSTATUS})

If you do have something custom programmed, you’ll need to do your best to ensure that it doesn’t get overwritten with a software update, or knowledge of it lost if the person who programmed it moves away.

Here is a real-world example of how the practical reality of Asterisk differs from theory. Consider some features that Asterisk-based systems have only recently added in, or that in some cases STILL have not been implemented yet. These are things that traditional phone systems have had for over 20 years:

• Day/night mode button (Fonality just implemented in 2008?)
• BLF, or Busy Lamp Field (Fonality just implemented in 2008?). This is where, by looking at a button on your phone, you can see if another person in your office is on their phone
• Shared Line Appearances (ability to press a specific line button to make a call, and see visually whether that line is in use by looking at the line button). Asterisk just added this capability in the last year, and some Asterisk-based systems still do not have this feature (including Fonality, based on their website).

Support.
Most national Asterisk-based vendors do not hire local support. There is normally an 800 number you can call with the major vendors, some of whom have 24-hour support. Bear in mind, however, that if and when your system goes down, there is only so much that can be troubleshot remotely. If the remote connection is down, then what? Most of these vendors do not have a mechanism in place for same-day parts replacement, let alone getting a body out locally to troubleshoot.

Not too long ago, I posted about ESI’s line of Cordless Handsets.  They were flexible, easy to use, and had a ton of features.  Now, they’re even better.

Introducing the ESI Cordless Handset II.  Like its predecessor, it comes in a digital version, local IP (LAN) version, and remote IP version.  Like the original version, it’s no ordinary cordless phone like you would get at Best Buy; with ESI’s cordless handsets, you have access to features like transfer, hold, conference, call record, voicemail, call page, door unlock and more without having to remember any feature codes.  You can also easily access or view the status of lines and other phone users thanks to several programmable, lighted buttons.  Here’s how the Cordless Handset II improves on the original:

• No more “large” and “small” versions of the phone: the new phone is the smaller size only.  Enhanced design also allows for the external antenna to be absent, further reducing bulk.
• Greatly enhanced battery life versus the original: fully charged, the new model allows for up to 16 hours of talk time, and about 7 days of standby time.
• Advanced DECT 6.0 technology allows for higher security, crystal-clear audio quality, and minimized or zero interference from Wi-Fi or other devices.
• 8 programmable buttons, versus 4 for the original model.
• Built-in speakerphone (the original did not have a speakerphone).
• Optional repeaters to extend wireless coverage over larger areas or between floors in a building.

One thing I love about the DECT 6.0 technology this phone uses is that it is so clear-sounding due to its digital transmission.  It also uses a different frequency band than other phones (1.9 GHz), and when it does encounter another device in that spectrum, it negotiates with it quickly and silently so that the devices do not interfere with each other.

Some of the more knowledgeable readers out there may ask, “Why 1.9 GHz?  Isn’t that taking a step backward from the relatively new 5.8GHz phones, or even the 2.4 GHz phones that came out before that?”  The answer is simple.  Higher frequencies are not always better–in fact, the higher the frequency in general, the harder it is for the signal to pass through solid objects like walls.  To compensate for this, manufacturers of the 2.4 GHz and 5.8GHz phones tend to boost the signal strength of the phone, which takes more power, which shortens battery life (or requires a bigger battery).  By using a lower frequency, DECT 6.0 phones are actually at an advantage in a typical office environment.

In short, DECT 6.0 is the latest, greatest technology, and paired with ESI features and technology, this phone is a winner.  But in order to take advantage of it, it must be used in conjunction with an ESI Communications Server phone system.  Fortunately, even small businesses can benefit from (and afford) a Communications Server.  If you’re in the Phoenix area and thinking about replacing an outdated phone system, give us a call.