Communications, from handset to system
Telephony has become software, but there is still equipment on a desk, a headset on a head and DECT running through a building. This category covers that side: what there is to choose and what it is tied to.
What falls under it
Five kinds of equipment
Which you need follows from where people work, not from what is installed now.
- Desk phonesFor a reception desk, a workshop or a place where not everybody has their own computer. A handset that keeps working while the computer reboots is exactly the argument there.
- HeadsetsThe largest line as soon as there is a lot of calling. The choice is about noise cancellation, comfort over eight hours and whether somebody needs to hear a colleague beside them.
- DECT and wirelessFor a building where people walk: a warehouse, a care home, a hotel. Coverage depends on the number of base stations and that follows from a survey.
- Conferencing equipmentTable units and speakers for a hall. Overlaps with the AV side as soon as video is involved.
- Mobile devices and accessoriesPhones, rugged versions and what hangs around them. For field service and workshops this is the bulk.
The trade-off
Three questions before ordering
They decide whether the equipment suits the platform that is running.
- Which system is runningHandsets are only interchangeable up to a point: remote provisioning, directory and speed dials only work when the handset belongs with the system. Check that per model before a hundred are ordered.
- How many people really move aroundDECT is dearer than a fixed handset and much cheaper than ten people missing their calls. Count who is not at a desk while working.
- What still works in four yearsHandsets outlive platforms. Choose equipment that speaks an open standard, so changing system does not mean replacing the whole fleet.
What belongs with this
The equipment is the visible side of telephony.
Equipment that suits the system
Tell us which system runs and how many people are on calls. You get a proposal chosen on those two things and not on the catalogue.
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