Following up from my post earlier this month, Polycom’s SoundStation 2W batteries are being recalled.

You can remove the battery and continue using the conference phone with the AC adapter.

For details on how to do this, and for other information on the recall, here’s the URL:

http://www.polycom.com/resource_center/1,,pw-13752,FF.html

Here’s the link to the FAQ:

http://www.polycom.com/resource_center/0,,pw-13753,FF.html?trackID=13753

Here’s the link to the US Consumer Safety Protection Commission’s document (PDF):

http://eknowledge.polycom.com/media/SoundStation2W/polycom%20phone%20battery2-14-06.pdf

Trying to keep up with the myriad of products available for the telecom consumer is challenging at best. I’m trying to figure out how I missed out on this product though.

I’ve been party to the occasional conference call and haven’t been really impressed with the hardware used. The voice quality wasn’t always what I expected. Sometimes it was tinny, sometimes distorted, sometimes far away depending on where the speaker was positioned on the other end of the call.

Makes me wish we were using Polycom VTX 1000 Conference Phones back then. These models are designed to be able to pick up speakers up to 20 feet away from the microphones and offer full-spectrum sound. This is kind of neat – because full-spectrum sound refers to the hearing frequency range of us humans. The Polycom VTX 1000 can reproduce frequencies from the bottom to the top of the human hearing range, resulting in fuller, richer sound reproduction. Polycom says it’s like having the other person in the room with you.I can’t vouch for that, but it sounds like a really great idea. I can’t wait to get my hands on one. I know we’ve sold a bunch of them lately. That’s probably because there’s a $100 rebate on them from Polycom. So, buy one from us and you’ll get a cheque from Polycom for $100. The special lasts until March 31 and applies to the Polycom VTX 1000 and the SoundStation 2 EX.

Well, this is a huge development in the history of Telephone Magic’s website.

You see, because our prices fluctuate often – sometimes daily – and depend on the volume of product purchased, management felt that it wouldn’t be in our customers’ best interest to post a single fixed price on the website.

However, I’ve bugged them for a while and am pleased to announce the introduction of pricing on the website. It’s a first – and I’m pretty proud of it.

We’re doing a test in the phone headset section as a trial to see how it goes. In other words, does adding pricing make it easier for people to make a decision about buying from us? Does it reduce the friction in the purchasing process? Or does it encourage tire-kicking?

I don’t know the results yet, but prices are here at least.

The biggest difference though is we have stated a maximum price. In other words, the price shown on the website is the most you would pay if you ordered a single unit. If you were to order more than one headset, or combine it with a telephone purchase, the price would likely drop a bit. That’s why it’s only a maximum price.

That way, we can still offer the best prices possible to our customers while making sure we don’t overcharge for items that we get special manufacturer pricing on.

What a deal! I hope you visit what we consider one of the Internet’s leading telecommunications product websites today. Thanks!

Visit www.TelephoneMagic.com for all your business telecom requirements.

Polycom has announced that for the present time, shipments of the popular SoundStation 2W wireless conference phone are on hold due to a potential issue with battery safety.

This situation only affects the SoundStation 2W as other Polycom products use a different battery pack.

If you HAVE a SoundStation 2W, you can still use it safely if you remove the battery and use the AC adapter instead.

Keep the battery and store it in a safe place. Polycom will be issuing further instructions soon. They say their next information update on this situation will be no later than February 10, 2006.

Telephone Magic carries other wireless conference phone options from ClearOne (ClearOne Max & ClearOne MaxAttach).

Konftel is a European manufacturer of conference phones. They’ve got a very innovative line of quality conference phones and Telephone Magic is pleased to be featuring them now.

The Konftel KT100 model is a model designed to fill the void left when Polycom discontinued the SoundStation conference phone. Good looking and reasonably priced, this is a solid performer that you should consider when looking to acquire a new or replacement conference phone.

Other Konftel models feature Bluetooth connectivity to computers, cellphones etc. giving them unparalleled flexibility in connection options. Check out the Konftel line of conference phones on TelephoneMagic.com today!

The TalkSwitch VoIP-capable PBX is a great unit for small businesses as well as companies with multiple locations looking to cut down on long distance costs.

TalkSwitch has just released their much-awaited TS600 business phone – a great model which will look great on any executive’s desk. Even “the Donald’s”.

Have a look today at the innovative TalkSwitch system. It’s packed with features and very reasonably priced.

For those of who’ve been considering an EnGenius long range cordless phone, just wanted to let you know the SN-920 and EP-490 long range phones have been discontinued and replaced by the DuraFon 1X and DuraFon 4X models, respectively.

Yes, somewhat old news, but we get a lot of requests for the SN-920 and EP-490 so obviously people are still looking for them.

Have a look at our revised long range cordless phone page for information on these new EnGenius models.

In case you missed it (like 99% of the rest of the world), Nortel Networks re-branded their popular CallPilot Voicemail systems. This re-branding took place on May 1, 2005 and was widely missed by pretty much everyone.

There have been no changes to the product, its functionality, looks or anything else like that. Just the name.

Are you ready for the big change? Here it is:

CallPilot 100 is now Nortel Messaging 100

CallPilot 150 is now Nortel Messaging 150

Very exciting changes that we thought we’d mention.

Of course, to keep things interesting, Nortel Networks has another CallPilot product, which is a unified messaging solution for large enterprise systems and has NOTHING TO DO with the Nortel Integrated Communications System platforms.

In case you’re wondering, we still call these products by the “CallPilot” moniker as it’s still the way the rest of the world knows them.

For those of you who have been using Mitel phone systems, this might apply to you.

The Mitel SX-50, SX-200 and SX-2000 phone systems often use the Mitel Ensemble Voicemail system. However, the Ensemble hasn’t been produced for quite a while and is virutally impossible to find, despite the fact that it’s very good voicemail system. Actually, that’s probably why it’s so hard to find – everyone’s still using it!

The Ensemble has been replaced by the DuVoice DV4 or DV2000 series unified messaging solution which has the power to consolidate your voicemail, fax and e-mail communications and send them all to e-mail.

The DV4 is scalable to 8 ports and the DV2000 is scalable to 48 ports for enterprise applications. These systems build on the strengths of the Ensemble voicemail system and are worth a serious look if you’re in the market for voicemail solutions.

The DV4 and DV2000 can integrate with most any phone system, including those from Avaya, Nortel, Mitel and Vodavi.

For more information, call us or visit the website. Thanks!

The M7310 Busy Lamp Field (BLF) module is a great tool. However, Nortel M7310 users need to be aware that the BLF module doesn’t work on all generations of ICS software.

The BLF module only works on KSU software versions 6.0 and LOWER. It will NOT work on versions 6.1 or 7.0.

This problem is also evident on older M7310 phones (1st generation), where adjusting the contrast on the BLF will only show 4 levels of adjustment versus the NINE levels of adjustment that are available on newer phones.

If your Nortel ICS phone system uses software revision 6.1 or 7.0, you’ll need a T7316 phone and a KIM CAP module instead of the M7310 and a BLF module.

Thought you’d all like to know.