April 23, 2010

Yealink SIP-T2x series are high performance and affordable SIP telephones that help businesses leverage the increasing benefits of Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) telephone systems. Yealink SIP phones provide HD voice, a broad range of voice codecs, security protection for privacy, and rich telephony features.

“888VoipStore’s market-leading distribution and reseller education and Yealink’s enterprise IP phones give IP PBX resellers a high quality and cost effective IP endpoint solution,” commented David Chen, the CEO of Yealink . “We believe our products provide the best price-performance combination available in the IP PBX industry. The 888VoipStore and Yealink partnership will deliver our products into the US market.”

“Yealink’s products are easy to use, deliver high quality calls, and are available at a very attractive price point,” said Dan Shurmatz, Director of Business Development for 888VoipStore. “Resellers looking to provide lower price point IP Phone to their customers will now have a very compelling device to offer.”

About Yealink Network Technology

Yealink Network Technology Ltd. is a manufacturer of innovative, affordable, and high quality IP voice and video products for the world-wide broadband telephony market. Its comprehensive products, from IP phones to an IP Multimedia phone, offer unrivaled flexibility, scalability and affordability for the worldwide broadband market. Yealink’s cutting edge portfolio products brings the small to medium enterprises and businesses a solution in an unprecedented value and functionality. For more information, please visit http://www.yealink.com.

About 888VoipStore

888VoipStore (www.888VoipStore.com and www.VoipStore.com), a division of American Technologies, LLC, is a leading source for Voice over IP Business Telephone Systems (IP-PBX) and VoIP Communication products.  In addition to providing cost-effective distribution, sales, marketing, provisioning, and logistic services, 888VoipStore offers business opportunities for manufacturers and resellers through lead acquisition, referral, and management programs.  Through its strong commitment to customer service and technical support, 888VoipStore has distinguished itself as a vital industry leader in IP telephony technologies and solution management for over 10,000 business customers worldwide.

Contact:

Kerry Garrison
VP, Strategy
kerry@voipstore.com
1-888-VOIPSTORE
(888) 864-7786
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Configuring Cisco 7975 IP Phones for SIP @ VoipStore.com

Setting up BLF

From a web browser, go to the IP address of the phone you want to configureand click on the Info tab, if the Software Version is not 6.1.3(a) or higher, you will need to go to the Linksys website and download the firmware for the phone. The update is an executable application under Windows, you enter the IP address of the phone and it will update the firmware for you. If you do not have a Windows-based system, then you will need to put the firmware on a TFTP server and program the phone to go and find the firmware.

Once the phone is on the current version, click on the Admin link on the top of the page, and then click on the Advanced link at the top of the page. Next, click on the Phone tab.

Let’s say we want to setup this phone’s line 4 key to monitor extension 200, we would then go through the following steps:

In the Line Key 4 section, set the options as follows:

Extension: Disabled
Short Name: 200 (or to any text you want)
Share Call Appearance: Shared
Extended Function: fnc=blf+sd;sub=200@$PROXY;ext=200@$PROXY

In the Extended Function field, note that the extension we are monitoring is listed in two areas.

In the next section (Line Key Extended Function section) you need to change the Server Type to Asterisk.

Finally, go to the bottom of the page and click on the Submit All Changes button. The phone will reboot and the display will now show a different icon for the fourth line. If you press the line four key, it will dial the extension you setup. If the extension you are monitoring is on a call, the line key will turn red. That’sd all there is to it.

polycom EXPANDS IP dect PORTFOLIO WITH SOLUTIONS FOR BUSINESSES OF ANY SIZE – from the SOHO to Enterprise

Polycom’s expanded DECT portfolio includes highly scalable wireless servers and a sleek, new Bluetooth-enabled handset

AstriCon, GLENDALE, Ariz. and PLEASANTON, Calif., Sept. 22, 2008 – Polycom, Inc. [Nasdaq: PLCM], the global leader in telepresence, video and voice communications solutions, today announced the launch of its latest KIRK Digital Enhanced Cordless Telecommunications (DECT) solutions. Polycom is the leading independent provider of open, standards-based IP phones, and is furthering its position in the DECT marketplace by expanding its award-winning KIRK product portfolio to meet the needs of businesses of all sizes. Polycom has introduced three new products: the KIRK® Wireless Server (KWS) 300, the KWS 6000, and the KIRK 5040 handset. Polycom’s SIP-based DECT solutions help our customers drive the speed of business by making them always accessible regardless of where they are within the workplace.

“We knew we needed a wireless communications solution at O’Brien, and after evaluating several other options, we realized that Polycom DECT system was the only solution to satisfy all of our requirements. The KIRK wireless system we implemented allows us to always be in touch, no matter where we are on our campus of over 40 acres,” said Dave Stear, IT director of O’Brien Automotive Team. “The value of accessibility is priceless – it means our sales people, management and other key personnel are always available to each other, and most importantly, to our customers. In addition, the KIRK system was the only solution to offer seamless integration with our phone system and a reliable voice signal, and the battery life of the handsets has been surprisingly long.”

“Recent Frost & Sullivan research indicates the DECT market in North America, APAC and CALA is likely to experience considerable growth over the next few years, and with its comprehensive DECT portfolio, Polycom is well positioned to take advantage of this untapped opportunity,” said Elka Popova, global program director, Frost & Sullivan. “For those wanting to keep voice and data on separate networks, DECT offers a secure alternative with guaranteed voice quality. Polycom’s extensive experience in providing both VoWLAN and DECT solutions and its successful track record will likely be a competitive advantage as the company moves to grow its share in this growing market.”

KIRK Wireless Servers

Polycom now offers SIP-based DECT solutions that address the needs businesses large and small – from the SOHO market (KWS 300) to medium-sized businesses (KWS 600v3), and for the largest of enterprises as well (KWS 6000). All KIRK solutions are scalable – both in terms of the number of users as well as the coverage areas supported. The latest additions to the KIRK Wireless Server portfolio include:

• The KIRK Wireless Server 300, a SIP-based wireless telephony system, is ideal for smaller sized businesses, by scaling support from one to 12 handsets The KIRK Wireless Server 300 is a single-cell solution that can support up to four simultaneously calls and up to six KIRK repeaters in order to extend the coverage area. Each KIRK repeater increases the coverage area by approximately 50 percent.

• The KWS 6000 is a SIP-based enterprise wireless telephony solution that scales from just a handful up to more than 4,000 users. Up to 256 radio units are supported, which when combined with the KIRK Media Resource, can support more than 1,000 simultaneous calls. Each KIRK base station handles 12 simultaneous calls, and customers can scale up based on their individual needs. Additionally, KIRK repeaters can be added to increase the coverage area by approximately 50 percent.

KIRK Wireless Telephones

Polycom offers a broad portfolio of KIRK wireless telephones ranging from a sleek, lightweight model geared to the general office to highly durable and intrinsically safe handsets.

The KIRK 5040 handset, the newest addition to the KIRK product line, is a lightweight DECT phone that combines award-winning design with intuitive user interface and wireless headset that can be operated hands-free and wirelessly with a Bluetooth headset. Like the KIRK 5020, the 5040 can quickly be switched to silent mode and will distinguish between external and internal calls by ring tone. The KIRK 5040 handset also features an intuitive user interface and a large color-display offering an experience similar to a mobile phone and with the added benefit of hands-free operation.

“We listen to our customers and then design wireless telephone solutions that meet their needs,” said Sten Dyrmose, general manager for Polycom’s DECT business unit. “The addition of the KWS 3000 and KWS 6000 allows us to offer enterprise-grade wireless to businesses across the globe, regardless of size. With the introduction of the KIRK 5040, our customers have the option of using a lightweight, stylish handset with an extended battery life, which allows them to move freely about the office while staying in touch whether they prefer to use the telephone itself or communicate using a headset.”

Pricing & Availability

The new KIRK solutions are available worldwide through Polycom’s certified reseller partners. The list price for the KWS 300 is U.S. $360. The KWS 6000 list price is U.S. $1,200 and includes a server and one base station, which supports up to 30 users. With the scalable nature of the KWS6000 it can easily be set up for more users. The KIRK 5040 handset sells at a list price of U.S. $310. To learn more about Polycom’s KIRK solutions, go to www.polycom.com/kirk.

About Polycom

Polycom, Inc. (Nasdaq: PLCM) is the global leader in telepresence, video, and voice solutions and a visionary in communications that empower people to connect and collaborate everywhere. Please visit www.polycom.com for more information.

###

Polycom reserves the right to modify future product plans at any time. Products and/or related specifications referenced in this press release are not guaranteed, and will be delivered on a when and if available basis.

Polycom, the Polycom logo, and KIRK are registered trademarks of Polycom in the U.S. and various countries. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners. ©2008, Polycom, Inc. All rights reserved.

“snom and Fonality both share a deep commitment to delivering open standard VoIP products and systems tailored to meet the needs of the underserved small and medium business market,” said Dr. Michael Knieling, snom executive vice president of marketing and sales. “By partnering with Fonality, snom can deliver an advanced, open source IP PBX solution that enables SMBs to enjoy cost-effective, productivity enhancing business communications.”

Fonality FACE partners provide the highest quality technology and the deepest integration with the trixbox CE platform. Fonality provides support discounts and incentives to resellers and IT consultants who choose FACE-certified hardware products when building Fonality phone systems for their customers.

“Malfuctioning hardware and non-compliant providers are a big problem in the open source telephony market,” said Chris Vuillaume, Fonality vice president of business development and channel. “FACE allows customers to deploy phone systems with complete confidence and we’re happy to welcome snom into the FACE ecosystem for trixbox CE.”

To find out more about Fonality’s business phone systems and for a complete list of FACE-certified components, go to www.trixbox.com/partners.

About Fonality

Fonality, www.fonality.com, is a leader in business phone systems and contact center solutions for small and medium-sized businesses. Used by over 5,000 companies and 100,000 end users in 100 countries, Fonality’s award winning IP-PBX VoIP phone systems have connected more than 225,000,000 mission critical phone calls. The PBXtra and trixbox Pro product lines are based on Fonality’s patent-pending Anywhere Management® hybrid-hosted® architecture, plus an improved version of the popular open source Asterisk code base which has been modified to add reliability, stability and enterprise-class features. PBXtra and trixbox Pro deliver the advanced capabilities of an enterprise-class phone system for 40 to 80 percent less than traditional offerings. Fonality’s fully free and open source telephony platform, trixbox CE (www.trixbox.org), is home to one of the world’s largest and fastest growing communities of open source telephony users, with over 200,000 live deployments and 125,000 new downloads each month. Fonality headquarters are in Los Angeles, and the company has offices in the UK, Brazil and Australia. Company investors include Azure Capital Partners and Intel Capital.

Fonality, PBXtra, trixbox, hybrid-hosted and Anywhere Management are registered trademarks of Fonality. Other trademarks are the property of their respective holders.

About snom

snom technology AG, founded in Berlin/Germany in 1996, is one of the pioneers in the voice over IP sector. snom develops VoIP hardware and software that is based on the open standard SIP (Session Initiation Protocol). Snom VoIP telephones are characterized by a high standard of security and by a multitude of functions that make communication in the business sector considerably easier.

snom products are especially suitable for use by businesses, Internet Service Providers, carriers, and OEM customers. snom is represented through its sales network in over 20 countries worldwide. Whether VPN connections (Virtual Private Network), CTI solutions (Computer Telephony Integration) or the first connection in the world, in 2007, to the Microsoft Office Communication Server using the snom OCS edition – the functionalities of snom telephones take their cue entirely from modern communication needs. The Linux-based VoIP telephones by snom also support state of the art technologies such as STUN (Simple Traversal of UDP through NATs), NAT (Network Address Translation) and ENUM (tElephone Number Mapping). snom customers benefit from the interoperability and flexibility of the telephones, and from their compatibility with all SIP-based telephone systems. Thanks to the security standards sips (RFC2246) and SRTP (RFC3711), the unwanted tracking or eavesdropping of conversations between snom telephones and compatible terminals is practically impossible.

The Executive Directors of snom technology AG are Dr. Christian Stredicke, Alexander Khan and Dr. Michael Knieling. Members of the Supervisory Board include Prof. Harald Melcher, Klaus Füting and Yukio Shimada.

Press Contacts:
snom technology AG
Christian Baier
Heike Cantzler
+49 30 39833-106
Baier@snom.de
heike.cantzler@snom.de

snom technology AG
Mike Storella
+ 1 978 686-1531 ext. 507
Mike.storella@snom.de

Elevate Communications
John Gates/ Cathy Clarke
+1 617 861-3651/3659
john@elevatecom.com

INFOCOMM, LAS VEGAS and PLEASANTON, Calif., June 18, 2008 – Polycom, Inc. (NASDAQ: PLCM), the leader in unified collaborative communications solutions, today announced the newest addition to its SoundPoint® IP desktop phone line, the SoundPoint IP 670. The SoundPoint IP 670 is an application-enabled desktop SIP phone with a high-performance color display, Polycom’s revolutionary HD Voice technology, and Gigabit Ethernet (GigE) connectivity. It provides professionals with an intuitive color interface for easier viewing and navigation of phone functions and productivity-enhancing applications.

The SoundPoint IP 670 also features the industry’s first color expansion module. When equipped with up to three color expansion modules, the SoundPoint IP 670 delivers the industry’s first color attendant console solution for call attendants and administrative assistants. This solution significantly increases the call handling capability of the phone and enables attendants to better manage incoming calls by being able to view presence status without having to be in front of a PC.

“Polycom’s new SoundPoint IP 670 phone is a good choice for organizations that are pursuing a standards-based communication strategy and are planning to embed applications on the phone,” said Matthias Machowinski, directing analyst with Infonetics Research. “And what’s noteworthy for power users is that it operates at 1 Gbps, so it doesn’t introduce a new congestion point on the network.”

“The SoundPoint IP 670 provides a full-color user interface to deliver a significantly augmented and visually pleasing user experience when running productivity-enhancing applications, such as the Polycom Productivity Suite,” said Victor Yue, Director, Fujitsu Asia Pte Ltd, “We applaud Polycom for enabling us to continue to offer our customers the most comprehensive, best-sounding, most interoperable, high-quality IP telephony solutions for small and medium–sized businesses and enterprises.”

The SoundPoint IP 670 supports six-lines and includes advanced SIP features and capabilities, such as support for shared lines, text messaging, and buddy presence monitoring. It features 14 default color background displays for phone personalization. Additional customized backgrounds, such as a company logo, can be added to deliver a rich desktop branding experience. The phone also includes an integrated XHTML micro-browser that enables users to take advantage of productivity-enhancing Web-based applications and also provides the ideal platform for Polycom’s recently announced Polycom Productivity Suite for SoundPoint IP phones.

As the industry’s first color expansion module, the SoundPoint IP Color Expansion Module augments the color user interface of the SoundPoint IP 670 phone.  It features 14 multifunctional line keys that can be set up as line registration, call appearance, speed-dial, or a direct station select (DSS)/busy lamp field (BLF) keys. Up to three Color Expansion Modules can be snapped onto the SoundPoint IP 670 to form a full-featured color call attendant console solution. The solution supports up to 34 line registrations, 47 BLF monitored lines, and 24 concurrent calls. This enables the telephone attendant to promptly accept, screen, dispatch and effortlessly monitor incoming calls.

“We’re always seeking ways to improve the customer experience and offer productivity-enhancing features that drive the speed of business,” said Sunil Bhalla, senior vice president and general manager of Polycom’s Voice Communications Solutions division. “The SoundPoint IP 670 combines a rich color display with Polycom HD Voice to offer our customers a visually pleasing user interface, an incredible sounding voice experience and a future-proof platform with Gigabit Ethernet.”

The SoundPoint IP phone is being certified to deliver comprehensive interoperability and extensive feature support with Polycom’s growing list of more than 24 SIP-based call control platform partners including 3Com, BroadSoft, Digium, Interactive Intelligence, Sylantro, and other Polycom VoIP Interoperability Partners (VIP). For more information on the Polycom VIP Program, visit www.polycom.com/vip.

Pricing and Availability
The Power over Ethernet (PoE) version of the Polycom SoundPoint IP 670 is available in North America, most of Central and Latin America, Europe and most of Asia-Pac today through Polycom certified channel partners for an MSRP of U.S. $599.   The SoundPoint IP Color Expansion Modules are available for an MSRP of $319 each.  To learn more about the SoundPoint IP 670 and its Color Expansion Modules, please visit the Polycom web site at www.polycom.com/voip.

About Polycom
Polycom, Inc. is the worldwide leader in unified collaborative communications (UCC) that maximize the efficiency and productivity of people and organizations. Polycom delivers the broadest array of high definition telepresence video, wired and wireless voice, and content solutions so people can enjoy the best communications, whether from a real-time collaborative interaction or on-demand streamed video experience. Spanning from the desktop to the industry’s only immersive telepresence suite, Polycom’s high quality collaboration and communications solutions are easy to deploy and manage, as well as intuitive to use. Based on open standards, they integrate seamlessly with leading telephony and presence-based networks. With innovative market-driving technologies, a compelling vision for next generation visual communications, best-in-class products, alliance partnerships, and world-class service, Polycom is the smart choice for organizations to gain a competitive advantage with proven and trusted communication solutions.  For additional information, call 800-POLYCOM or visit the Polycom web site at www.polycom.com.

Polycom reserves the right to modify future product plans at any time. Products and/or related specifications referenced in this press release are not guaranteed, and will be delivered on a when and if available basis.

Polycom, the Polycom logo, and SoundPoint are registered trademarks, and Polycom HD Voice technology is a trademark of Polycom in the U.S. and various countries. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners. ©2008, Polycom, Inc. All rights reserved.

What this phone is
The SNOM M3 is a wireless phone that uses the DECT protocol versus being a WiFi phone. There are tons of advantages of DECT technology including call quality, battery life, and range. DECT also allows for multiple handsets to register to the same base station and the M3 takes full advantage of this by allowing each handset to either share an extension or act as independent extensions, or any combination. In some cases you may want a single extension to ring on multiple devices or multiple users can all have their own extension with up to eight handsets being able to register to each base station.

Features
The M3 has a nice LCD display that isn’t too difficult to read and has volume controls, speakerphone toggle, and a headset jack on the side. Each handset comes with it’s own charger so you can conveniently place the chargers near where you are going to use the phones.

• Display: 128 x 128 pixels, 65536 colors, backlit
• Li-Ion battery pack for 20 hours of calls or 100 hours standby
• Range: 50 meters indoors, 100 meters outdoors
• 12 numerical keys, 5 navigation keys, 2 function keys
• Speakerphone on mobile handset
• Polyphonic ringtones
• Automatic registration of handset
• Separate charging cradle for handset
• 8 handsets per base station
• 8 SIP registrations with different servers/registrars
• Up to 3 concurrent calls per base station
• Three-way conference
• Remote setup, password protection
• Open DECT GAP standard

Setup
The setup of the M3 is fairly simple as there isn’t anything to connect besides ethernet and power. Once connected, press the volume up control on the handset and the unit will give you the IP address of the base station. Browse to the IP of the base station and setting up the base to connect to an IP PBX is the same as any other SIP device. I tested the unit with both trixbox CE with the updated Endpoint Manager that is designed to work with the M3 and I manually configured it to work on trixbox Pro where I have been using it as a daily phone for some time now. The only thing that is really different about the M3 is that it can support up to eight SIP registrations (extensions), then for each handset so can specifiy which extension rings which handset and what extension information to use for outbound calls on each handset.

Usage
There is nothing really different about the M3 than any other wireless phone on the market in terms of how it works, its a phone after all, its makes and receives phone calls and does it well but is it any better than other wireless phones? The two most common types of cordless phones in use are analog cordless phones attached to an ATA or a WiFi phone connecting to your wireless router. Since that is the market segment the M3 is up against, let’s use that as the comparision.

Range
I have a decent 2.4ghz cordless phone, with this phone I can walk out the front door and get right to the sidewalk in front before starting to lose signal. A Wifi phone will get me about another 30 feet or so before it starts dropping. The WDECT handset that comes with the Aastra 480i CT will let me walk down the street about one house in each direction. The M3 with the full DECT implementation will get me about 3 houses in each direction. As far as range goes, the M3 is a clear winner.

Battery Life
WiFi is absolutely horrid for cordless phones as there is no real standby mode so the radio is at full power 100% of the time. The different WiFi phones I have tried basically have to sit in a charger so that they are always ready to use. The M3 handset goes without a charge for 4 – 7 days depending on usage. Again, the M3 is a clear winner.

Where does it fail?
The M3 is not perfect and could certainly be improved and some improvements have already occured since I got my original unit. While I am happy with the call quality and the speakerphone, the overall build quality feels a bit cheap. The original units had a fake antenna which I found to be a bit cheesy, this has since been removed. If there is one feature I think is really a shame that the M3 doesn’t have, its power over ethernet. With PoE support it would be easier to throw the base station up into the hanging ceiling in an office to provide optimum coverage without having to run power. A nice, but not necessary feature would be an ethernet passthrough port. The second port I can live without but the M3 really should support PoE.

Results
For around $240 you get the base station and one handset and additional handsets run about $110 each so after you put two or more handsets onto the system the price is less than most other SIP phones. The call quality is good, the speakerphone works well, the range is terrific and the battery life is awesome. Sure it could use some refinements but overall its a really solid device with a good set of features. The final testement to what I think of a phone is where it ends up after the review period is done. There is a shelf in the garage loaded with every phone on the market that I could choose to use in my office or home. While the M3 is not my primary desk phone it is on the network as a permenant extension so that I have wireless ability and it is part of my FindMe so that I can work anywhere in the house. The M3 may have some faults but the overall result is that the pros outweigh the cons and are enough that I would highly recommend this phone to anyone looking for a wireless sip phone solution.

SNOM
http://www.snom.com

Source: Aastra

Overview
Like the SPA-941, the newer SPA-942 is a SIP compliant VoIP phone aimed squarely at the business market. Both phones combine the technology originally developed by Sipura, combined with the look and feel of the Cisco phones to create a mid-range device that is affordable enough for small businesses and yet good enough for the most demanding companies. The phones support the SIP standard well enough to be able to be used on any of the popular IP PBX systems including Asterisk, Call Manager Express, SipX, PBXNSIP, and others as well as being extremely easy to provision with Linksys’ own SPA-9000 IP Key System.

Virtually every thing that people disliked about the old Sipura SPA-841 has been addressed and improved upon from the handset weight, the keys, the display, the overall style, and the sound quality. With the SPA-942, the few complaints about SPA-941 such as lack of backlit display, single Ethernet port, and lack of power-over-Ethernet have all been addresses. Actually, finding something to complain about with the 942 is actually nothing more than a wish list for a future phone.

Features
The SPA-942 is a full function SIP phone with 2 line call appearance (4 line optional) with an easy-to-use menu system controlled by the 4 way directional pad. Four softkeys are used to control different functions based on what screen you are on.

SPA941 Hardware Features:

• (2) RJ-45 100BaseT Ethernet Ports
• High Quality, Hi-Resolution Pixel Based Display
• 128 x 48 line display
• Four Line Keys
• Four Soft Keys
• “Solid” Handset
• Headset Port 2.5mm
• Full Duplex Speakerphone
• Interoperability with Asterisk and other SIP based platforms
• Excellent Voice Quality
• Secure Calling via sRTP
• Network Based Ring Tone Support
• Call Transfer, DND, Conferencing, Call FWD, etc.
• SIP B and Bridged Line Appearance Support
• Remote Provisioning via HTTPS, HTTP, TFTP
• Support G177u, G711a, G726, G729a, and G723 codecs
• Message waiting indicator light
• Handset, Headset, and Speakerphone Gain controls
• VLAN ability
• Backlit display
• Power Over Ethernet Capability

When ordering the SPA-942, keep in mind that the phone does not come standard with an AC adapter since this version of the phone supports power-over-ethernet. The SPA-942 is easily configured from the built-in web interface or it can be provisioned through XML files from a tFTP site. When used with the SPA-9000 key system, the phone is automatically setup as well.

For those who read my review about the SPA-941, my only complaints where the lack of a backlight on the display, only a single network jack, and no PoE (power over Ethernet) support, the SPA-942 addresses all three of these issues. Linksys listened to us and only about 15 of the SPA-942s ever shipped without a backlit display (does this make those units collector items?). Adding the second network jack saves you from having two network jacks at each person’s desk, and PoE support is a welcome plus for enterprise installations.

Usage
Let’s cut to the chase here, if you are looking for a quality business phone at a reasonable price, this is it. My company has installed around 150 of the 941/942 phones for different clients and everyone just loves them. The ONLY issue is that some people want some programmable keys for seeing the status of another line (like Asterisk’s BLF function) like the Grandstream GXP-2000 or the SNOM 320/360 phones. To put everything into perspective, I could have any phone made on my desk and I have an SPA-941 at my office and an SPA-942 located remotely at my house (which happens to be using a Linksys Wireless G Bridge, more on this later)

Initially the SPA-942 will configure itself via DHCP and then you can do the setup via the web interface which works quite well. When trying to provision 50 at a time, it is much easier to create config files for each phone and then a DHCP server that can push out DHCP Option 66 (Boot Server Address).

In practice, the phone has superb sound quality and is quite easy to use with an intuitive context-sensitive menu and soft buttons for the different functions. When the handset or any key is pressed, or when the phone rings a very smooth and bright backlit lights up the display completely. In typical fashion, this is one of the nicest backlights on any monochrome LCD we have seen so far. It would be nice if the timeout could be adjusted, or an option to simply leave the display on all the time would be even better.

The SPA-942 is fully SIP-compliant so it is pretty simple to configure to use with most VoIP services that support the SIP protocol including Asterisk, Broadvoice, Teliax, Gizmo Project, etc.

Summary
When part of your job is to review, test, and certify phones you can have phone you want on your desk so it stands to reason that the phone that sits on my desk is as good as it gets. This is precisely why the SPA-942 is the phone that sits on my desk.

The 942 is testament to how Linksys listens to the clients (and especially reviewers) and added the features to the 942 that were lacking in the 941 (namely the backlit screen and PoE support).

Linksys
http://www.linksys.com