Conference Room Speakerphones - Triangular Spaceships or Useful Expense?



Posted: Monday, January 04, 2010

by Ernest Mac
Metroline Direct

I'm sure you've all seen them. You know. It's that triangular spaceship on the table in the conference room. During that important meeting it mysteriously turns on. You talk to it, and voices talk back to you. You like to use it. Conversations are clear. Words are clear, and nothing is lost in translation. Okay. I've been reading too much Michael Crichton.

Desktop and tabletop conference speakerphones are a necessity in most small businesses. When multiple parties need to be heard and need to listen, there is no better solution. The built-in speakerphone on the typical desk telephone won't suffice. They are useful in most one-on-one conversations, but if you walk further from the phone or have two or more people trying to speak, problems arise. Most users of complain about having to talk loudly or directly into the speakerphone, and commonly, "clipping" occurs. You may have experienced this when your first word or syllable is cut out as the party on the far end begins to speak.

So, what's the problem? Well, we've come a long way from the days of half-duplex communications equipment. Walkie-talkies are a good example. When you're done speaking into the microphone of a walkie-talkie, you let the other person know by saying, "over," and then they know it is their turn to speak. This type of communication must occur because half-duplex equipment only has a one-way talk path. Only one party can speak at a time.

Today's home phones and cell phones are full-duplex equipment. They allow communication to occur simultaneously in both directions. In fact the built-in speakerphones in home and business desk phones are typically full-duplex. These built-in speakerphones do allow both parties to speak at the same time, but they must alternate the microphone and speaker activity to diminish feedback. Just think, if your voice was coming out of a speaker and the microphone was active and picking it up, you would start a positive feedback loop that could blow your ears out. Consequently, when the speaker is active, the microphone must deactivate and vice-versa. This is the main cause of clipping.

How do stand-alone tabletop conference speakerphones solve this problem? Current conference room grade speakerphones use digital signal processing (DSP) algorithms to subtract incoming audio speaker signals from outgoing microphone signals. This process allows the speaker and microphone to be active at the same time and solves the problem of clipping. It's really black magic to most, but it works great. They also include high quality speakers and sensitive microphones arranged in radial patterns to provide complete room coverage.

Many units are sold used and new and have a wide price range. For as little as $149, you can purchase a unit that can handle small to medium size applications for up to a dozen users. On the high-end, $499 to $799, you can purchase wireless, proprietary digital, IP, and wide-band audio units.

Ernest Mac is the Technology and Marketing Director for MetrolineDirect, an independent distributor of technology and telecommunications equipment.  Find out how MetrolineDirect can decrease the cost of your business voice and data equipment at http://www.metrolinedirect.com.

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