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Cordless Skype Phones Act Like PBX |
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Written by Adam Gosling
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Friday, 16 March 2007 |
As the
capabilities of cordless Skype phones improves, the range of options we
will have for using them is going to grow exponentially. This is easily
seen when you consider the latest addition to the range of VoIP phones
from Skype handset manufacturer,RTX, which has had a number of Skype phone s in the market for some time. In fact the current release is about a phone that's been in the market for some time. Only now the company has added the capability to run a number of handsets concurrently turning your Skype account into a PBX-like system.
Adding three additional handsets to the DUALphone
3088 Skype system lets the user treat the system like a PBX with two
lines, enabling conference calls, intercom, and attended call transfer
between handsets.
In its simplest incarnation the DUALphone 3088
is a standalone cordless Internet phone with Skype. It doesn't require
a PC to make phone calls. You plug the base station directly into your
broadband router/gateway.
As
a standalone phone, the DUALphone 3088 has attracted a lot of praise
thanks to its Good
design, ease of use and ability to work on both broadband telephony and
traditional fixed lines (PSTN). The later is essential as afailover
service in case your broadband is down and for making emergency calls
which don't really like VoIP phones.
Now
the you can have not just one standalone handset but add another three
opening up all sorts of possibilities int he SOHO and consumer/home
market.
Sold
separately, the additional DUALphone 3088 handsets work off the first
base station, but with incredible versatility. Each of the four
handsets can have have two outgoing or incoming calls simultaneously -
one via
Skype over the broadband connection and one via the original telephone
line operator. Right that's not all four phones having two calls at
once, but each phone capable of making two simultaneous calls.
However, it is also possible to have a three-way conference
call between a Skype call (which could be a conference itself), a landline call and all of the handsets.
"With
the DUALphone 3088, RTX has pioneered the world's first cordless
DUALphone with built-in Skype that does not require a computer," says
Tage Rasmussen, CEO of RTX. "The new PBX-like functionality and the
additional handsets make DUALphone 3088 even more appealing for the
SoHo and home markets."
"Skype
is all about setting conversations free, and the new generation of
dual-mode Internet phones fits this vision well," saysManrique Brenes,
director of Hardware Business Development at Skype. "The new DUALphone
3088 is an attractive option for multiple users who don't need more
than one Skype username
and one regular telephone number and want to share these, be it in a
small office or the family home. For these users, the PBX-like
functionality and the ability to use up to four handsets is a great
choice indeed."
The gear is available from www.skype.com/shop, but it might be worth checking your local retailer also. RRP is listed as EUR 79. www.dualphone.net or www.rtx.dk.
Additional DUALphone 3088 handset and PBX-like features:
* PC-free cordless Skype/landline hybrid phone
* Multiple handset capacity (up to four)
* Two lines capability (Skype via broadband and ordinary telephony via PSTN)
* Intercom between handsets
* Attended call transfer
* Three-way conference between Skype and landline calls
* Support for Skype call waiting
* Software upgradeable
* Distinctive ringing tone indicating landline or Skype calls
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