The GXP1100 and GXP1105 target the price-sensitive hospitality industry (such as hotels) as well as small businesses who want an entry-level phone with HD voice support and are willing to trade some features such as speakerphone, headset port, multi-line capability and LCD display for the great price.

The difference between the two models is in the power options. The GXP1100 (MSRP $49.00) includes a universal 100-240V AC power supply and does not support PoE. The GXP1105 (MSRP $55.00) adds 802.3af Power over Ethernet support and does not come with an AC power supply.

Grandstream GXP1100/GXP1105 Features

• Wideband G.722 HD audio
• Single SIP registration
• Up to 2 concurrent calls
• Single 10/100Mbps Ethernet port
• Integrated 802.3af Power over Ethernet (GXP1105 model only)
• 4 programmable keys
• Dedicated function keys for Hold, Flash/Call-Waiting, Transfer, Message, Mute, Volume, Dial/Redial
• Energy efficient (average consumption of less than 1W using AC adapter or 1.5W using PoE)
• Configuration via Web interface or built-in IVR
• Wall mountable

The Grandstream GXP1100 and GXP1105 are now in stock and available for order from Telephonyware.

So far, only one SKU is known, the UC320W-FXO-K9.

Connectivity

• 4 FXO Ports
• 1 FXS Port (Not counted towards the 24 user maximum)
• 1 WAN 10/100/1000Mbps Ethernet Port
• 4 LAN 10/100/1000Mbps Ethernet Ports
• 802.11b/g/n WiFi with WiFi Protected Setup
• Audio Line In
• Audio Line Out (for paging)
• 2 USB Ports (the manual only mentions their use for configuration and voicemail backups)

Extra Connecitivity Options

• Up to two Cisco SPA8800 IP Telephone Gateways with 4 FXO ports and 4 FXS ports each.  All enabled FXS ports count towards the 24 user maximum.
• One Mediatrix 4400 Series for 1, 2 or 4 Port Basic Rate ISDN (BRI) connectivity.

Phone Support

• Cisco SPA300 Series IP Phones
• Cisco SPA500 Series IP Phones
• Analog Phones

It appears that the Cisco 7900 Series of IP phones is unsupported on this unit.  The UC320W is capable of operating in PBX, Key System and “Blended” mode.

The Cisco UC320W is now available from Telephonyware for immediate shipping.

The 2-line GXP1450 features HD voice for crystal clear communications, 180×60 backlit graphical LCD display with 4-level grayscale, 3 XML-programmable soft keys, dual 10/100Mbps Ethernet ports with 802.3af Power over Ethernet support, full-duplex speakerphone, 3-way conferencing and support for basic Web applications.

“We are very pleased to announce the new GXP1450 which rounds up our release of new enterprise HD IP phone portfolio in 2010,” said David Li, CEO of Grandstream. “From the 2-line entry-level phone to 6-line executive phones, Grandstream offers the most far-reaching array of desktop HD IP telephone options for both large enterprises and small businesses that lead to enhanced productivity and unrivaled ROI.”.

The release of the GXP1450 comes hot on the heels of the GXP2100, GXP2110 and GXP2120, giving Grandstream a formidable line up of enterprise-grade IP phones.  The GXP1450′s list price is $99.00, but you can expect street price to be considerably lower. We expect to have stock of the new GXP1450 approximately December 15, 2010 and pre-orders are now being accepted.

Snom has become the latest maker of IP Phones to announce their own PBX system, Snom ONE.  Snom ONE comes in three versions:

• Snom ONE Free is exactly that, free to download and supports up to 10 extensions without any licensing.
• Snom ONE Yellow is a step up from Free offering up to 20 extensions.
• Snom ONE Blue is for installations beyond 20 extensions and also comes with multi-tenant support, ideal for sharing a system between multiple companies, departments or entities.

All versions offer the same basic feature set one would expect from a business phone system, with ACD, voicemail and mailboxes, auto attendant(s), conferencing and paging. On top of these basic features, the Snom ONE adds some features not found elsewhere, mainly as a result of extremely tight integration with their IP phone range.  Benefits of this tight integration include:

• Plug and Play support for all Snom phones
• Shared line emulation
• Hot-desking
• Real time call recording
• Presence and monitoring (BLF)
• Shared centralized address book

There is one downside of this integration, and that is that only Snom products are supported by the Snom ONE.

Another feature that makes the Snom ONE unique among all of the current crop of IP PBXs is its cross-platform operating system support, with Linux, Microsoft Windows and Mac OSX all supported.

Snom ONE is based on PBXnSIP and has been “streamlined” to fit the needs of SMBs.

The wider push towards IP PBXs  from IP phone manufacturers obviously creates an increased brand loyalty as well as  a new software revenue stream for the manufactuer, but you also can’t help but wonder if manufacturers, particularly those such as Snom who are consistently pushing the envelope adding new features are growing tired of Asterisk not keeping up with support for some of the fancier SIP features.

The Snom ONE PBX software is available now from Telephonyware.

“3CX Phone System 9 is now a complete Unified Communications solution – We have added standards based video and support for smartphones as clients. At the same time we have added key enterprise features that widen 3CX’s appeal to larger companies.”

Video support
V9 allows single click set-up of video calls with other 3CXPhone users or with standards based video phones such as from Xlite, Yealink or Grandstream.

Android Smart Phone support
3CX v9 allows Android smartphone users to make and receive calls from anywhere using their extension. Android users just download the 3CXPhone for Android softphone and configure it to use their 3CX Phone System account.

Provisioning of 3CXphone and 3CX Assistant
Deploying and administering 3CXPhone and 3CX Assistant installations is now much easier via the provisioning feature. Phone System users can install the client apps by clicking on an HTTP link which will automatically install and configure them. Changes to the configuration, as well as software updates are automatically pushed out to the clients.

Multi Site – capability
Monitor presence and queues on remote PBXs and transfer calls between PBXs

SLA / Shared parking
Seamless Key System like functionality for “sharing” phone lines without the need to transfer calls. Supports standards based SIP phones, no proprietary phones required.

Microsoft Dynamics support
Trigger outbound calls from within Microsoft Dynamics and resolve inbound calls to customer records automatically. All calls are reported and logged with the relevant customer record.

Other Features

• 3CX Assistant now allows for creating conference calls to internal and external users with a few mouse clicks
• Improved presence and call forwarding
• G722 support
• New Bundled High Performance web server: Abyss

3CX Phone System for Windows Version 9 is available now from Telephonyware.  We have the full version as well as upgrades from previous versions of 3CX and optional software such as the voice application designer.  If you have a current upgrade insurance plan, then this upgrade is available at no charge.

The GXP285 is a single line SIP phone with dual 10/100M Ethernet ports, integrated 802.3af Power over Ethernet, 128×32 graphical LCD with support for multiple languages, full duplex speakerphone with acoustic echo cancellation, up to 2 line appearances allowing 2 simultaneous calls, 3 XML programmable soft keys, and headset jack.

The GXP285 also offers superior audio quality with its HD handset and speakerphone and G.722 HD audio codec support.

According to David Li, CEO of Grandstream Networks, “The GXP285 offers small business and service provider customers a next generation single line SIP telephone with HD audio quality, rich telephony features, and a very attractive price point.  A key benefit of the GXP285 is its integrated PoE capability that allows centralized power supply with backup.”

Telephonyware is currently accepting pre-orders for the GXP285.  Itis due to hit the streets in July, 2010, and will have an MSRP of $95.00 (expect a street price of around $75.00).

“Voice transcoding is an essential, but costly, component of most VoIP applications and networks,” said Fredric Dickey, Director of Product Management at Sangoma. “While software solutions can reasonably handle a handful of channels on a server, our card-based solution allows for hundreds of simultaneous voice transcoding channels in a single server, without compromising on audio quality.”

The Sangoma D100, available in both PCI and PCI Express form factors, uses dedicated hardware resources to convert multiple simultaneous channels of compressed voice from one codec to another (such as G.711 to G.729) without affecting latency or using the host’s CPU resources.  The card supports 30, 90, 120, 240 or 480 channels of any-to-any voice codec conversion.

Sangoma has created the D100 with unparalleled flexibility, which is shown by the impressive list of codecs supported:

• G.711
• G.722
• G.722.1
• G.726
• G.729AB
• GSM-FR, GSM-EFR
• AMR, AMR-WB (G.722.2)
• iLBC
• L8 (Linear 8K), L16 (Linear 16K)

Both Asterisk and FreeSWITCH are supported, with plug-and-play driver support for both, as well as an API for custom development support.

Hardware transcoding cards such as the D100 allow the creation of ultra-high density applications using CPU-intensive codecs such as G.729 with guaranteed performance, all without overloading the host CPU.

The Sangoma D100 is expected to be released in the coming weeks, and has a list price of $750 for the base model with 30 channels.

Update: The Sangoma D100 is now in stock and available for sale, starting at $705.00 for the 30 simultaneous channel version.

The new IP 5000 comes with many of the features found in the larger models, including HD Voice, but has a smaller microphone pickup area, and is designed for small conference rooms and desktop use, with a range of about 7 feet maximum of 6 participants.

It’s nice to see a lower cost option for small conference rooms from Polycom, and we expect this will be a very popular product.

Initial stock of the SoundStation IP 5000 is expected by the end of March, and MSRP is $599.00.  The standard configuration supports power over ethernet, and an optional AC adapter is available. Polycom has released a datasheet for the new product, which includes all the exact specifications.

Update: Telephonyware has limited quantities of the Polycom SoundStation IP 5000 in stock, at only $399.00 for a limited time.  Be first to get one of these awesome new conference phones.

Hot on the heals of announcements from Aastra, Snom and Polycom on their entrance into the growing range of “multimedia phones”, Cisco has announced the release of three new phones:

• Cisco Unified IP Phone 8961
• Cisco Unified IP Phone 9951
• Cisco Unified IP Phone 9971

While all visually identical, the Cisco 8961 is the baby of the range, with the base features of this range:

• 5″ graphical TFT 24-bit color backlit display with an effective resolution of 640×480
• G.722 wideband codec support (HD Audio)
• Internal 2-port gigabit ethernet switch, with VLAN support
• USB port for Cisco Unified IP Phone Color Expansion Module and wired USB headsets
• Dedicated RJ-9 headset jack
• Five programmable line/features keys and five call session keys
• Up to 200 concurrent calls can be handled (but I want to see the human that can match this capability!)
• Support for XML and MIDlet applications

The Cisco 9900 series improves upon the features of the Cisco 8961, adding some extra features:

• Additional USB port, for a total of two.
• Support for the Cisco Unified Video Camera via the USB port for video calling
• Embedded Bluetooth radio for a total of three different headset connectivity options (Bluetooth, USB or RJ-9)
• General purpose audio-in and audio-out ports for external speakers and microphones
• 802.11a/b/g wireless connectivity on the Cisco 9971 only

Astute readers will have noticed that the camera is curiously an optional extra, and not part of the base configuration of these phones.  In addition, these models offer two options for the handset (not the whole phone), a regular version (170g/6 oz) and a slimline version (140g/5 oz).  All three models of phone will be available in “Arctic White” and “Charcoal Gray”.

All three phones will support both Cisco’s Unified Communications platform and regular SIP.

Update: These phones are now available, as well as the expansion module.  The optional USB video camera is not yet available.   These new phones support both 802.3af and the new 802.3at Power over Ethernet specifications, and use the new CP-PWR-CUBE4= power supply if you need AC power.

• Cisco Unified IP Phone 8961
• Cisco Unified IP Phone 9951
• Cisco Unified IP Phone 9971
• Cisco Unified IP Color Key Expansion Module

In addition to the current range of rebranded Aastra phones, these phones claim tighter integration and increased features as their primary selling points.

TalkSwitch TS-350i

The TalkSwitch TS-350i has dual ethernet, a 5 line, 140×48 pixel LCD screen, dedicated RJ9 headset jack and six programmable multi-colored LED keys.

TalkSwitch TS-550i

The TalkSwitch TS-550i has dual ethernet, a backlit 4 line, 240×56 pixel LCD screen, dedicated RJ9 headset jack and 22  programmable multi-colored LED keys, with connectivity for two TS-50e expansion modules, providing a total of 46 LED keys for attendant/receptionist applications.

TalkSwitch TS-50e Expansion Module

The TalkSwitch TS-50e expands the new TS-550i with an additional 12 multicolored LED keys, and up to two TS-50e modules are supported per phone.  The expansion modules do not require any additional power.

The entire range of TalkSwitch phone systems, analog phones, IP phones and accessories are available from Telephonyware.  Initial stock of these new models is expected November 18, and pre-orders are now being accepted.

Update: The TS-350i and TS-550i are now in stock and shipping.