Control a Pollycom phone through the USB port on your computer? <smile>
Yes I wrote about a Hands-Free Speakerphone which could be controlled
from your computer which - like all Pollycom phones - is excellent for
cancelling out echo and other background noises so that 4 people can sit
together in a room and conduct a Skype call etc.
On 10/25/2015 12:14 PM, Isaac wrote:
did someone once say you could control a polycom phone through usb on
your computedr
----- Original Message ----- From: "Hank Smith, and Seeing-eye dog
Iona" <hank.smith...@gmail.com>
To: "PC Audio Discussion List" <pc-audio@pc-audio.org>
Sent: Saturday, October 24, 2015 8:04 PM
Subject: Re: RTX Dualphone: Good For Skype And more
will this work with sip?
if not what cordless phone or usb hand set would you recommend?
Hank
On 10/24/2015 5:25 PM, Dane Trethowan wrote:
Hi!
I’ve had the RTX Dualphone for well over a month now so that’s given
me plenty of time both to use and explore the system, find its
strengths and weaknesses which I present for your evaluation and
comment.
I use 3 different cordless phone systems in my house and I do wish
that all the features and functionality of all three systems could
be combined into one but the fact is this won’t ever happen given
that the price of such a system would be one very few people would
be willing to pay.
The RTX Dualphone is the system I most often use as it gives me
connectivity between two Skype accounts and my PSTN line as well as
a few bonuses I’ve found along the way.
The first is that the Dualphone works very well with Hearing
Instruments whether you wish to connect them externally through the
3.5MM headset jack or use the T-Coil of your instruments if
applicable, the sound is very loud and has quite a wide dynamic
range, something to be expected I guess given the phone is to be
used with Skype but such a dynamic range makes a great deal of
difference when talking to people via a standard landline call which
the Dualphone handles quite nicely.
The layout of the phone is simple enough, to soft keys left and
right of a navigator key with, a call end end key above a standard
numeric key pad.
The Soft Keys change their function depending on what mode you’re in
but I found these changes easy to remember once I’d read the layout
of the menu structure and so forth which is clearly outlined in the
manual, as yet I haven’t experimented as to whether the number
buttons will act as shortcuts in the menu system.
Setting the Dualphone out of the box is the hard part as this device
doesn’t come with a HTML Interface so setup will have to be done
with someone who can see the screen but the steps are in a logical
order and easy for anyone to follow.
The Dualphone first asks for information about the country it is to
be used in along with a matching country code. The code determine
the structure of outgoing numbers when using a Skype account or PSTN
line.
The Phone then prompts for a Skype Username and password and its
here that I found things get a bit tricky. The password is easy
enough to enter using the key pad however the password must be 10
characters or less in length and I didn’t see any reference to this
in the manual, I only found out about this by trial and error.
Once all the user data is entered and saved the phone logs into
Skype though you can choose if the phone automatically does this
upon startup.
Making calls using my “Skype-Out” number was easily done by dialling
the number on the key pad and pressing the “Call” button. By
default the Phone prompts the user which line to use for dealing,
the “Skype”-out or “PSTN” number, “Skype-Out” is highlighted as the
default so pressing of the left soft key has the phone use Skype for
dialling, you can change the default behaviour in the settings menu
of the phone so that you’re not prompted and the phone just uses
Skype or PSTN at the touch of the button.
I also discovered that if the “Call” button is held down in
“Standby” mode the phone by default will use the PSTN line for
dialling which is handy to know for emergency situations.
One of the small annoyances with this phone is that you obviously
don’t know which of your contacts is online at any time so dialling
them directly using letters on the key pad really isn’t an option
but this is trivial for me as I bought the phone really to be able
to answer calls at those times when I was away from my computer and
this is easily done by pressing the “Call” key as you would with any
other cordless phone when you hear a call come in.
At this point the left Soft Key acts as a toggle between the
speakerphone - which is quite reasonable - and the earpiece.
An Apple compatible headset can be connected to the Dualphone thus
allowing the use of an external microphone built into the headset
and the use of the “End” button found on the inline control to
answer/end calls on the phone.
Ring Tones can be selected to personalise the phone for both
incoming Skype and PSTN calls.
The phone has a good range of tone selections as well as flexible
tone configuration options such as turing on notification tones to
alert you of changing Skype conditions such as contacts coming
online, a missed call, a voicemail left etc.
I can scroll through the contacts though this is really an exercise
in memory more than anything else, I don’t have many contacts so I’m
able to remember in which order they appear in my contacts list
given that it is sorted in alphabetical order. The Contacts list
can be further customised depending on what contacts you wish to
view such as just online or all contacts.
I’ve been able to play voicemail messages and the hands free
speakerphone function works in the playback voicemail.
to sum up I think the RTX Dualphone is a little beauty even though
there are a few functions that a person without sight cannot make
full use of but this doesn’t concern me and doesn’t actually prevent
anyone from making good use of the phone.
Sound is detailed and this does distinguish the Dualphone from most
other cordless phone systems around.
I like the styling of the handset which is slim and short making the
handset easy enough to slip into a shirt pocket but not small enough
to make the handset impractical to use.
Keys are big and well laid out on the front below the display but
they do require a firm press, the keys can be programmed to beep
when they are pressed. Keep beeps are fairly low in volume but do
have a distinguishable low frequency beep sound so its unlikely they
be confused with any other phone or appliance you may have around
the house.
The RTX Dualphone runs Skype software and a firmware update facility
is provided though upon checking for a firmware update when the
phone was up and running I didn’t find anything to download.
**********
Those of a positive and enquiring frame of mind will leave the rest
of the halfwits in this world behind.
--
**********
Those who don't need help are prepared to help themselves
