You’ve likely heard the ballyhoo after every major cordless phone technology update. This Megahertz and that Gigahertz were all supposed to provide incredible range and amazing clarity. Well, the new-to-the-U.S. DECT cordless phone technology (Digital Enhanced Cordless Telecommunications or 1.9 GHz) really does live up to the hype. Although all DECT 6.0 cordless phones are not created equal, most DECT phone models provide a winning balance between exceptional voice clarity and suitable-to-fantastic range.
Why is DECT so special?
Digital Enhanced Cordless Telecommunications is nothing more than a digital wireless communication technology that operates at 1.9 GHz. It’s popular with manufacturers (a good thing for consumers) because it’s a global standard, enabling them to produce fewer models to satisfy the needs of all countries. In general and all other technology components being equal, the lower the frequency, the longer the physical range you’ll get with your cordless phone. Phones that operate at lower frequencies (remember your old 49 MHz cordless phone from 1988) are also prone to much more interference, which significantly reduces voice clarity. When manufacturers launched phones at the higher frequencies, the opposite occurred as you might expect. Voice clarity improved dramatically with digital 5.8 GHz models, but physical range became a genuine problem…..especially in all the growing number of McMansions in the U.S. Some DECT 6.0 cordless phones can get up to 1000 ft of range from the base outdoors.
Though frequency is only one feature to examine in the search for a cordless phone, a DECT 6.0 phone is the best bet in today’s cordless phone market as long as all included features meet your needs. It’s also dedicated to cordless communication in residential, commercial and public environments, so you’re unlikely to be interfering with other home electronics. Besides premium voice quality and extended range, DECT technology is inherently more efficient with battery life. It’s not uncommon to see some DECT models with up to 12 hours of talk time, which can be ideal for those who work at home.
Which DECT Phone to Select?
First and foremost, look for a global brand you can trust. Because DECT is a global standard – where launching a U.S. product is much less expensive than in the past, you’ll see lots of “import brands” hitting the market. Price points vary depending on brand and features, but most DECT phones are at the same or lower cost than the 5.8 GHz phones they’re succeeding. Consider your usage as well. Will you be using the phone in a home office where you’ll need a headset jack? Surprisingly, only some DECT models have included a headset jack. Will you need multiple handsets? While most models are expandable, be cautious that a few are locked into the one included handset. There are many more features available, but most DECT phones handle core functionality (excellent voice quality and good range) really well. Look for reviews and comparisons online and consider asking your retailer for recommendations.
By: Bill Nagel
DECT 6.0 – Cordless Phones That Meet the Hype
February 5th, 2010 by admin No comments »VoIP Can Change the Way Your Business Communicates
February 2nd, 2010 by admin No comments »
With many individuals abandoning phone lines in favor of a combination of cellular phones and Voice-over Internet Protocol voice communications packages, a number of business owners are starting to consider whether or not the advantages of VoIP calling packages can help their firms in the same manner that it is helping individuals. For many companies, especially service-based firms that are heavily reliant on technology, VoIP calling packages can not only improve the cost of doing business, but can change the manner in which a company does business, dramatically increasing the size of their potential market along the way.
As many people already know, Voice-over Internet Protocol is a voice communications technology that enables users to make phone calls over the internet rather than using traditional phone lines. VoIP phones convert speech into packets of data that is sent over a high speed internet connection to another phone, where those data packets are reassembled back into speech. The phones, the manner in which users operate them and the quality of the sound are virtually identical to that of landline telephone systems, with the exception that VoIP networks use IP phones which are plugged into an Ethernet (internet) jack rather than a traditional phone jack.
The primary and most often cited benefit to switching to VoIP phone service is cost. VoIP phone service costs drastically less than traditional landline phone service and those savings are especially significant in cases wherein a company makes a large number of long-distance and/or international phone calls. This fact is often reason enough for businesses to make the switch, as it opens the possibility of a company reaching out to international markets or partnering with foreign firms without having to worry about a significant increase in communications costs. Given the increasing connectivity of the business world, VoIP savings in this area are often substantial.
These savings make a great deal of sense for high-technology firms, as VoIP phone service requires the use of some internet bandwidth, a resource that technology firms generally need to have in abundance. While cost savings and the utilization of already available resources such as available bandwidth are important, VoIP can also change the way that firms communicate by offering a number of communications features generally reserved for business telephone systems that often times lay far outside the budgetary constraints of small and medium-sized businesses.
Some of the available features of VoIP phone systems include auto attendants and dial-by-name directories, which help route calls more efficiently while at the same time helping small businesses appear more professional than a simple voice-mail system can. Additionally, virtual departments and call queuing make the customer facing presence of a small business much more streamlined and professional, and call group features allow inbound calls from clients to be routed to all available personnel in a given department, vastly improving the customer experience with a firm over traditional voice-mail systems, which can result in annoying games of phone tag.
In addition to the streamlining features outlined above, VoIP phone systems often enable businesses to improve employee efficiency with innovative features such as voice-mail-to-email routing, which converts voice-messages into emails and automatically sends them to the recipient’s email inbox, allowing employees to access voice-mail from any mobile device that reads email. Find-me/Follow-me features allow calls to be routed to other office locations, and businesses need not determine how many “lines” they need with VoIP systems, instead simply determining how many extensions they need, each with an individual phone number.
All of this means that in addition to saving money on calling costs, VoIP phone systems allow small businesses to harness the power of expensive business telephone systems previously the domain of large multi-national corporations. Streamlining call features will reduce the inefficiency involved in manually transferring calls, allowing employees to focus on more important tasks, all the while improving the customer experience. Perhaps best of all, VoIP allows highly mobile businesspeople to access the company communications systems from anywhere, anytime, cutting the chains that tie them to the office. Lastly, with a VoIP system, businesses can start to consider the expansion of their client base outside their region or country, to virtually unlimited global markets without incurring any significant increase in communications costs, meaning that VoIP can completely change not only how companies communicate, but how they do business, and, more importantly, with whom.
By: Sam D Goddard
Innovative Technology Can Implement Faxing Over VoIP
January 29th, 2010 by admin No comments »
The VoIP plays an important role in lowering down the monthly telephone bills. As a matter of fact, voice over IP uses high speed broadband connection instead of coaxial wires that helps to lower down the communication costs. Considering the inherent benefits of enhanced productivity and cost efficiency, the business houses as well as individuals have started to depend on VoIP services for their everyday communication. This packet switching technique helps the users to access video, voice as well as data over same IP networks. Not only this, this innovative technology can be even used for sending fax messages. Faxing over VoIP is now possible and that too at significantly lower rates when compared to traditional landline phone systems.
Faxing over VoIP is slightly different than the more common procedure that one is accustomed to wherein the Public Switched Telephone Networks or PSTN services are used. In this method however, there are certain initial hiccups and generally requires several attempts to accomplish. As a matter of fact, when the fax tone is digitalized into compressed IP packets, there is a packet loss that results in bad fax, error message or even dropped calls. In comparison, the faxing over the Fax Codec generally minimizes the loss of packets as it reaches the destination efficiently. Before, sending a VoIP fax, the users must check out some important aspects such as:
1. The users must set baud rate to 9600 and turn off the Error Connection Mode. As a matter of fact, the baud rate is kept low so that Fax reaches the destination slowly and without carrying the errors.
2. The users must opt for the provider that supports T.38 – T.38 in audio codec designed. The VoIP phone fax with T.38 – T.38 gives more detail and crisp images accompanied with stability as it create redundancy in the RTP stream.
3. The users must set the packetization to 10 millisecond or even less. As a matter of fact, if there are more headers in the RTP stream, the jitter and instabilities are less likely to come in.
The stability in internet connection plays a curial role in determining the success ratio of the fax. To maintain stability in the connection, the users must track the speed tests as well as analyze the detailed links.
In some instances, the users would not be able to deliver a fax over VoIP even after following all the above guidelines. In such instances, it is best to call the solution provider as there could be some issues related to routing that are causing the problem. As a matter of fact, problem in the routing can be fixed up at the solution provider’s end.
While sending a fax, the users must ensure that they are not using satellite or wireless connections as these kinds of connections are very unpredictable. Moreover, such types of connection adds huge amount of latency that would be a deterrent to the proper functioning of the VoIP fax machines being used.
By: Kristen Kiya