asterisk users - Nov 2006 - Which IP phones have best voice quality, preferably under $150

Hi all,

I have to buy some IP phones. Previously I have used Grandstream GXP-2000,
Budgetone 101 and Linksys SPA-841. I always had problems with sound quality
with all of them, and I was always of the opinion that it were the phones
which were not good. In GXP-2000 deployment of about 50 phones, some work
good, some have sound problems like words missing, clicking sounds when
talking, and some don't work at all (probably defective).

What good phone are out there which will work perfectly and will not be
expensive. Should be $150 or maximum $200.

-- 
Zeeshan A Zakaria
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Zeeshan Zakaria wrote:
> Hi all,
>  
> I have to buy some IP phones. Previously I have used Grandstream 
> GXP-2000, Budgetone 101 and Linksys SPA-841. I always had problems with 
> sound quality with all of them, and I was always of the opinion that it 
> were the phones which were not good. In GXP-2000 deployment of about 50 
> phones, some work good, some have sound problems like words missing, 
> clicking sounds when talking, and some don't work at all (probably 
> defective).
>  
> What good phone are out there which will work perfectly and will not be 
> expensive. Should be $150 or maximum $200.
> 
> -- 
> Zeeshan A Zakaria
> 
Zeeshan,

	Anything from Polycom - IP 301, IP 430.

--
Kristian Kielhofner

The quality issues you describe may not be the fault of the individual 
phones!  The quality of the PSTN connection, and the hardware through 
which it's connected can play as big a part in this scenario.  The 
quality of the internal network with 50 IP Phones could also be part of 
the problem.

It sounds like cost is a leading factor in purchasing decisions, so if 
the same factors applied to building wiring and network equipment, you 
could have much bigger problems than just the quality of the individual 
phone sets.  Has there been a network study using tools such as Qcheck 
to determine whether the LAN is capable of handling 50 IP phones?

What about the server on which Asterisk is running?  Again, with cost 
being a factor, is this server capable of supporting the load? Does it 
have sufficient memory and capacity to run efficiently?

I would evaluate my infrastructure before I spent more money replacing 
50 phones.  I certainly wouldn't want to be in front of the boss's desk 
trying to explain why we spent all this money on new phones and the 
voice quality still sucks!

Good luck!

Zeeshan Zakaria wrote:
> Hi all,
>  
> I have to buy some IP phones. Previously I have used Grandstream 
> GXP-2000, Budgetone 101 and Linksys SPA-841. I always had problems 
> with sound quality with all of them, and I was always of the opinion 
> that it were the phones which were not good. In GXP-2000 deployment of 
> about 50 phones, some work good, some have sound problems like words 
> missing, clicking sounds when talking, and some don't work at all 
> (probably defective).
>  
> What good phone are out there which will work perfectly and will not 
> be expensive. Should be $150 or maximum $200.
>
> -- 
> Zeeshan A Zakaria
>
>------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
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Zeeshan Zakaria wrote:
> Hi all,
> 
> I have to buy some IP phones. Previously I have used Grandstream GXP-2000,
> Budgetone 101 and Linksys SPA-841. I always had problems with sound quality
> with all of them, and I was always of the opinion that it were the phones
> which were not good. In GXP-2000 deployment of about 50 phones, some work
> good, some have sound problems like words missing, clicking sounds when
> talking, and some don't work at all (probably defective).
> 
> What good phone are out there which will work perfectly and will not be
> expensive. Should be $150 or maximum $200.
The total cost for Cisco phones is fairly high.  The phones can be found 
for about the same price as Polycoms, but if you want to be LEGAL, the 
SIP firmware can cost over $100.  If you do not want to be legal, then 
you can get the firmware for under $20.  Cisco phones generally support PoE.

I recommend Polycom phones.  You can find them for well under $200, they 
include SIP firmware.  PoE adapters can be purchased for $20 - $40 each 
if you need PoE.  Polycom does not provide firmware to end users, you 
need to get it from the place you bought your Polycom from.  There is at 
least one web site that you can get "greymarket" firmware for Polycom 
phones.

Polycom SoundPoint 301 has a low quality display, no handsfree 
microphone (for speakerphone).  But it works just fine as a basic phone. 
  People have said that the 301's sound quality is less than the other 
Polycom phones.  You can also get the 430, which is supposed to have a 
handsfree microphone and a better display.  I've not used them.  Also 
look at the 501s for a higher end phone.  You should be able to get the 
301s for well under $150 (I've heard people say they have gotten the 
301s for $120)  and the 501s for well under $200.  I assume the  430s 
are somewhere in between.

I strongly recommend you upgarde to the latest firmware for the GXP 2000.
I have been using them for almost a year now and while the early firmware
was poor they are now very stable and working fine (from 1.1.1.9) onwards.



Henry L.Coleman CEO
*VoIP-PBX* 1-866-415-5355
Toronto Ontario
Canada

> Hi all,
>
> I have to buy some IP phones. Previously I have used Grandstream GXP-2000,
> Budgetone 101 and Linksys SPA-841. I always had problems with sound
> quality
> with all of them, and I was always of the opinion that it were the phones
> which were not good. In GXP-2000 deployment of about 50 phones, some work
> good, some have sound problems like words missing, clicking sounds when
> talking, and some don't work at all (probably defective).
>
> What good phone are out there which will work perfectly and will not be
> expensive. Should be $150 or maximum $200.
>
> --
> Zeeshan A Zakaria
> _______________________________________________
> --Bandwidth and Colocation provided by Easynews.com --
>
> asterisk-users mailing list
> To UNSUBSCRIBE or update options visit:
>    http://lists.digium.com/mailman/listinfo/asterisk-users
>