Polycom Soundpoint IP320, IP330, IP550, IP650 First Look
Tuesday, July 3rd, 2007Polycom is gaining ground on Cisco as it continues to define the “sweet spot” for SIP based desk phones in terms of price versus features and performance. Updating the popular Soundpoint series product line, Polycom has recently released four new IP Phones:
Polycom has eliminated the need for a seperate, external cable assembly/dongle in order to power the phones via PoE, and is now providing 802.3af PoE capability built into the handset. Full-duplex speakerphone audio is also standard on all models, as well as dual switched ethernet ports.
Polycom has also updated the look and feel of the handsets a bit with this new product release. Line appearance support ranges from 2 lines on the IP320, to 12 lines using the IP650 with expansion console.
The Polycom Soundpoint IP550 and IP650 also offer support for Polycom’s new HDVoice Wideband audio codec, which advertises “Twice the clarity of ordinary phone calls for life-like, vibrant conversations”. As of this article release date, support for HDVoice has not yet materialized on popular open SIP platforms such as Asterisk or Trixbox, but I imagine Polycom and the Asterisk community at large are endeavoring to see HDVoice supported in the near future.
