Polycom Desktop IP Phone Combines Color Display, HD Voice and 1Gbps Ethernet

Polycom Desktop IP Phone Combines Color Display, HD Voice and 1Gbps Ethernet


By Tim Gray
TMCnet Web Editor
Unified collaborative communications solutions player Polycom (News - Alert) today announced the latest addition to its SoundPoint IP desktop phone line, the SoundPoint IP 670.


The SoundPoint IP 670 is an application-enabled desktop SIP phone with a high-performance color display, Polycom’s revolutionary HD Voice technology, and Gigabit Ethernet (GigE) connectivity. It provides professionals with an intuitive color interface for easier viewing and navigation of phone functions and productivity-enhancing applications, according to Sunil Bhalla, senior vice president and general manager of Polycom’s Voice Communications Solutions division.

“We’re always seeking ways to improve the customer experience and offer productivity-enhancing features that drive the speed of business,” said Bhalla. “The SoundPoint IP 670 combines a rich color display with Polycom HD Voice to offer our customers a visually pleasing user interface, an incredible sounding voice experience and a future-proof platform with Gigabit Ethernet.”

The new phone also features the industry’s first color expansion module and when equipped with up to three color expansion modules, it delivers the industry’s first color attendant console solution for call attendants and administrative assistants.

Matthias Machowinski, directing analyst with Infonetics Research (News - Alert), called the phone “noteworthy’ for both its power – which operates at 1 Gbps – and in turn, its ability to leave unscathed a new congestion point on the network.

“Polycom’s new SoundPoint IP 670 phone is a good choice for organizations that are pursuing a standards-based communication strategy and are planning to embed applications on the phone,” said Machowinski.

This solution significantly increases the call handling capability of the phone and enables attendants to better manage incoming calls by being able to view presence status without having to be in front of a PC.

The SoundPoint IP 670 supports six-lines and includes advanced SIP features and capabilities, such as support for shared lines, text messaging, and buddy presence monitoring. It features 14 default color background displays for phone personalization. Additional customized backgrounds, such as a company logo, can be added to deliver a rich desktop branding experience, the company said.

The phone also includes an integrated XHTML micro-browser that enables users to take advantage of productivity-enhancing Web-based applications and also provides the ideal platform for Polycom’s recently announced Polycom Productivity Suite for SoundPoint IP phones.


“The SoundPoint IP 670 provides a full-color user interface to deliver a significantly augmented and visually pleasing user experience when running productivity-enhancing applications, such as the Polycom Productivity Suite,” said Victor Yue, Director, Fujitsu Asia Pte Ltd. “We applaud Polycom for enabling us to continue to offer our customers the most comprehensive, best-sounding, most interoperable, high-quality IP telephony solutions for small and medium–sized businesses and enterprises.”

The SoundPoint IP phone is being certified to deliver comprehensive interoperability and extensive feature support with Polycom's growing list of more than 24 SIP-based call control platform partners including 3Com, BroadSoft, Digium (News - Alert), Interactive Intelligence, Sylantro, and other Polycom VoIP Interoperability Partners (VIP). For more information on the Polycom VIP Program, visit www.polycom.com/vip.

The Power over Ethernet (PoE) version of the Polycom SoundPoint IP 670 is available in North America, most of Central and Latin America, Europe and most of Asia-Pac today through Polycom certified channel partners for an MSRP of U.S. $599. The SoundPoint IP Color Expansion Modules are available for an MSRP of $319 each. To learn more about the SoundPoint IP 670 and its Color Expansion Modules, please visit the Polycom web site at www.polycom.com/voip.

Tim Gray is a Web Editor for TMCnet, covering news in the IP communications, call center and customer relationship management industries. To see more of his articles, please visit Tim Gray’s columnist page.

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