Polycom SoundStation2 Avaya 2490 Conference Phone Expandable

No question about it, Polycom make the best speakerphones. This particular model is a compromise; its better than many phones but far from the best that Polycom can do. Here's the scoop.

This model uses three microphones (one in each corner of the triangle), all of which remain active the entire time. Depending on your room acoustics and where you sit/stand, you may sound like you are talking from inside of a deep well (kind of a hollow echo). Better Polycom models (like the Soundstation Premier) avoid this by only leaving one microphone active at a time, and with higher quality components and circuits. For example, noice canceling circuit to to remove background noise, a feature lacking in this model.

That said, you may still be happy with this model, as it costs a whole lot less than the Premier version and is way better than the built-in speakerphones included in many desktop handset units. To decide you need to consider how important the quality of your conference calls is, and what kinds of acoustics the room that you'll be using has. If you need the best, go with the Premier, otherwise this is a solid model.

After getting frustrated with typical multipurpose phones (handset, speakerphone, answering machine, caller ID, potato peeler, and inflatable raft all in one) I went looking for an excellent speakerphone. This gets my highest recommendation. The sound is clear, the ability to carry on a two-way conversation without noticable pausing or clipping is wonderful, and the system is compact and easy to use. One slight caveat: though the microphones are sensitive enough for everyday use and the speaker can be turned up loud enough to make the party at the other end of the line clearly audible, there is a certain threshold below which you cannot hear the individual at the other end of the line in this case, a handset can be superior. (I didn't downgrade this system from five stars for this, though all speakerphones seem to have this problem.)

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The product worked rather well for about 8 months with occasional use. Though it saw only light occasional use it failed (no power, no reason why). I called to have it returned via RMA and was promptly issued an RMA number on October 2nd (10/2).

Things became very busy for me and I expected to see the unit any day for the past 4 weeks. Nothing came in. Today (11/2) I called to find out why the replacement unit had not yet been returned. I was told that it had been received on (10/10) and was ready to ship. I was also told that for purposes of "stock control" RMAs were held for 30 days before shipping. I was told that the unit (even though it was ready to ship) would not be shipped until 11/10 but never fear! It would be shipped via 3-day Air. Whoopee! (sarcasm).

As I do the purchasing for my department and have done better than 10 RMAs this year I have NEVER had a product take so long to be replaced nor dealt with a company that seems to have a punitive "hold period" on RMA cases. We have been without this conference phone for more than 4 weeks and will be without it for another 2 weeks before receipt of the replacement unit. All the while, no conference phone.

To sum up. I'm not at all happy with this company's RMA policy. I don't expect next day service but for a $300 phone I expect much better service than I received.

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I purchased this unit plus the additional microphones and it is a great unit with a good price. We haven't even used it but are returning it! None of the literature on this site explains that it will work on a single phone line. We have analog lines so that was not an issue. However like any business, we have multiple lines. And, this unit cannot work on a multi-line system. It worked fine when I hooked to our fax line. But NO dial tone when hooked to any other phone jack in our building.

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I knew about Polycom from my days with a telecom company and thought it might help my 86 year old uncle with a bad shoulder which made it difficult for him to hold the phone and hearing issues carry on a phone conversation with his brother in a distant city. The attributes of the Polycom that I thought might make a big diffeence were it's full duplex operation, large speaker and good microphones. The price was a show stopper until I found a used one in the $100 price range. My sister and I gave it to my uncle for his birthday and it worked very, very well. Both uncles rave about the ability to finally have good chat. Thanks Polycom!

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