Both of these are excellent devices that offer unique desktop capabilities, and they point towards a new future: less as a phone and more as an always-on IP device.
IP Video phones are offering users new phone-top value beyond speaker, redial, and transfer. Video phones offer more than desktop video conferencing--their large screens are excellent information portals. I took a test drive with two phenomenal SIP video phones; the Polycom VVX1500 and the Grandstream GXV3140. Both of these are excellent devices that offer unique desktop capabilities.
These phones have a number of similarities, but are very different devices for different audiences--though they do interoperate. Both phones have a tilt-able video camera located in the top of the screen. Both support H.264 video over SIP. Both offer expansion capabilities through their USB port. And both phones support wideband 7.22 audio (HD Voice). Both are excellent phones and their video capabilities are intuitive add-ons to their familiar telephone interface. The phones offer methods to adjust the height (raising the camera). Though actually there's no need for adjustment--keep the camera up high for the best experience. Both phones offer a variety of applications via their XML browsers. And both conserve energy by powering down the screen when the camera senses no motion.
The USB port on the phones offer some unusual expansion capabilities. The port can be used to load music or pictures onto the phone, or to store recorded conversations. But thinking larger, a greater USB world opens up, including wireless headsets, keyboards, and other devices.
Each phone is discussed in more detail below, but the big difference is that the Polycom is focused on the enterprise and the Grandstream is consumer/small business. This comes across in many ways, starting with the price. The Polycom VVX1500 has a list price of $1,099 (street around $800) and the Grandstream has a list price of $299 (street $250). Both of these phones are incredible in their own ways and deserve some serious consideration in SIP-supported environments. The other big differences include screen size; and the Polycom's screen is a touchscreen.
The Grandstream (left) and Polycom video phones
Video interoperability is becoming widely supported on multiple platforms. Desktop video is easily supported between similar devices on many premises and hosted systems, and interoperability between devices and phone systems is rapidly growing. The vendors certify interoperability between their devices and CounterPath's Bria softphone in a BroadWorks-based UC environment. My testing has been between Mitel and Asterisk based systems.
Polycom VVX1500
This is an impressively huge phone as well as an impressive and huge phone. But don't call it a "video phone" around Polycom; they prefer to call it a "Business Media Phone". The phone's size provides for a 7" bright TFT touchscreen and an enormous speaker for its speaker phone. I've used a number of high-end speaker phones, and none compare to this one. In fact, you will be disappointed with the clarity of live human conversation after experiencing it.
The phone has everything you would expect from a high-end Polycom device. Actually, a bit more. I consider this phone superior to Polycom SoundPoints of which I am a fan. The phone offers Power-over-Ethernet support, six lines, HD Voice, high construction quality, 7.22 and 7.19/Siren-22 (ultra wideband) codecs, and a well thought out design. To match its size, the phone has large silver buttons - color keys are accomplished with LED backlights on the silver buttons. The phone is over 5 lbs, and can hold its camera nearly 14" above the desktop.
Polycom bundles with the phone "My Info Portal" which can enable customized access to news headlines and weather information. Here the phone's touchscreen display really shines. But the real opportunity is custom enterprise applications. This phone could easily replace a computer in a variety of circumstances. Touchscreens were so primitive in the PC Tablet and stylus world, but in a post-iPhone world, touchscreen technology is intuitive and logical.
The price tag may seem a bit high, but it really isn't. The phone is priced about the same as most high-end touchscreen proprietary phones that don't offer video or a 7" bright touchscreen. Any heavy user of the speaker phone could justify this purchase alone, but the video capabilities are obviously what sets it apart. Like the SoundPoints, it offers an electronic hook switch meaning headset users won't need those cumbersome lifters. The same form factor is available in three models: the VVX1500 is a SIP phone and leverages the SoundPoint's SIP experience and heritage. The VVX1500 C is specifically designed for Cisco environments; and the VVX1500 D is a clever dual stack implementation that simultaneously supports SIP and H.323--ideal for desktop integration with room video systems.
Grandstream GVX3140
The Grandstream 3140 is an amazing value. It's obviously a self contained video phone, but has plenty of ports for expansion. In addition to the USB port, photos and content can also be loaded via an SD slot. It has composite ports to connect to a television or projector. It sports a 4.3" TFT display, offers numerous built-in applications, and supports multiple codecs. It supports up to 3 SIP lines and requires local power via a provided adapter. The phone has a 3.5 mm headset jack for external speakers or a cellular type of headset.
The phone has several friendly built-in applications such as an address book. Though the directory is stand-alone, it is stored in an editable and down/up-loadable HTML file. It also has a photo viewer, media player (local or Internet radio), Internet video player, clients for Twitter and Facebook, IM clients for several providers, and more. The phone's applications GUI is similar to popular cell phones; select an icon to start an application. The photo album can be configured with local photos or to scroll through Flickr and other popular sites. It even comes with a few games such as Gstris (Grandstream's version of Tetris).
I can picture this phone at the office and at Grandma's (though not configured by Grandma). Its price is competitive with many phones that offer much less. I like the local weather 4-day forecast on the screen and wonder why other IP phones don't do that. I think that Grandma would find automatically updating photos of the grandkids (via Flickr) equally compelling. The applications are clever and among the best I've seen on IP phones. The calendar can synchronize with Google Calendar, it has an alarm clock, and even a calculator. It has the obligatory stock and news tickers, as well as a currency converter. The applications and screens can be personalized. Custom applications can be delivered via the XML browser.
As with many world devices, the phone relies on icons on its buttons and screen. Not all of these are intuitive. For example, there is a button with the pause icon which makes a lot of sense when using the phone as a media player, but it's also the Hold button. It never occurred to me before, but hold really is just pausing a conversation. --
I think video phones, or at a minimum large screen display phones, will become increasingly popular. I expect these phones to continue to evolve in user simplicity and capability. I would like to see the video work with popular video chat services and possibly as a computer webcam. It seems inevitable that Skype support will work its way into at least the Grandstream phone.
While the phone may never be an ideal device for things like Facebook, it is important to to look at the device less as a phone and more as an always-on IP device. Services like Flickr, weather, calculator, and even alarm clock make a lot of sense (my IP phone on my desk is next to my calculator and my IP phone on my bedside is next to my alarm clock).
I also expect to see Android become a popular OS on future desktop IP phones. That opens up a world of applications, creates a functional QWERTY keyboard (with touchscreen models), and should reduce the development time and costs when compared with proprietary systems. I also hope to see Bluetooth adopted more in desktop phones.
Dave Michels is a regular contributor and blogs exclusively about telecom at www.pindropsoup.com. He will be part of a panel on the future of the phone at VoiceCon Orlando this week.
