Product Review: Polycom VVX 1500 Business Media Phone

And my cell phone does all this and more, from anywhere I desire, including superior video quality... Nearly every laptop made today also has these function built in to the software/hardware. This may look good sitting on my desk, but from a strictly technology standpoint, it seems a bit behind the times.

Yes your cell phone and desk top/ laptop computer may be able to video calls, but there are differences in quality, dependability, interoperability, and nature of use. You can do Skype-to-Skype and Facetime-to-Facetime, but that's limiting if you think in terms of enterprise deployments. The quality and dependability are subject to your mobile network, as opposed to HD-voice and video on your broadband connection. And, there's little to no operability: you can't hook those apps up to a phone system with extensions, and your clients, customers, and coworkers would need to be on the same app at the same time for a call. A VoIP phone like the Polycom VVX allows for full video interoperability with the vast majority of VoIP hardware/software solutions, including full room conferencing solutions. We have also tested VoIP software for the computer that can also do this to an extent, but there are still lots of kinks to be worked out. Thanks for reading!

Well, I'm very happy with my cell video conferencing. I can conference call as many lines as I wish to my handset, share excell files, surf the net, and even use the phone to control my powerpoint slides while giving a presentation. I can take this device with me anywhere i want to go, and have never once had any reliability issues. My camera is 3X what this desk model is, if I cant get on the 4G network, I can always run on the 3G, or a wireless hotspot (nearly everywhere these days, like my office for example) I can just hop on their network. The Cell has a HDMI output to plug into any screen (projector, big screen TV etc.).

As far as quality is concerned, I fail to see much difference between my phone and any confrencing system on the market.

I'm sorry, but wired phones are a thing of the past, and are becoming less and less attractive as the vastly superior wireless technology married to high performance pocket computers makes a device that must be tethered to a wall a thing of obsolesense.

"And, there's little to no operability: you can't hook those apps up to a phone system with extensions, and your clients, customers, and coworkers would need to be on the same app at the same time for a call."

-Just an FYI, you might not want to use that statement too broadly for advertisment, as it's just plain false. You see the App and phone world is the fastest evolving technology on the market right now, it's impossible to keep up with the technology completely, I would suggest you not make any statement on this subject to keep yourself out of the hotseat.

Sorry you took issue with, "And, there's little to no operability: you can't hook those apps up to a phone system with extensions, and your clients, customers, and coworkers would need to be on the same app at the same time for a call." I was particularly referring to Skype and Facetime on the mobile phone, but please let me know if you have information otherwise. Regarding advertisement, I'm not in the business of selling phones and would very much like a 100% mobile solution, myself. I actually have tested a variety of SIP mobile apps, and intend to post some further reviews.

Great!

My main point is that while a desktop phone with some extra gagets added is nice, it is in no way going to be able to compete with the ever expanding mobile market. It's definately not a stock i would buy, or ever recomend anyone to buy. It seems to me like its trying to add some new features to a betamax machine and trying to compete with netflix, just not going to happen anyway you spin the numbers.

My Cellphone is completely hooked into our interoffice system, all my calls, voicemail etc to my extension can be directed to my handset and vice-versa.

We're looking forward to your next review, onsip. Thanks for blogging with CR4!

You both make some good points and while it's true mobile devices has made huge inroads to making landlines obsolete, I can definitely still see some major benefits to these type of devices in a corporate setting. Where I work, most employees don't get a company cell phone but we all have VOIP phones at our desks and meeting rooms.

And while hooking your phone to a large monitor for video conferencing is nice, it would not do nearly as good of a job at video conferencing a room full of people as a well positioned webcam would.

Sorry if I came across a bit harsh. No offense intended, it is a nifty product, just not one I would buy, but if there weren't a market, the phone would most likely not exist right?

No offense taken - Thanks for the debate and being interested, in general! We are SIP phone fanatics, so if you have any suggestions for our reviews, let us know.