All Articles Tagged Phone

Jason Knott | 07/13 08:39 AM, 1 Comment

“It’s ironic that we are all telecom guys and it took us this long to do a phone system,” says Jim Carroll, president of Savant, speaking of the company’s soon-to-ship Telephony Solution product. But judging from the reaction from one integrator, it might have been worth the wait. By the time CEDIA Expo 2011 arrives, Savant will be shipping its new Telephony Solution handsets designed for both commercial and residential applications to integrators. Savant is planning three versions of the handsets that in essence are: A wireless handsetA more robust… View this story

Jason Knott | 03/22 06:17 AM, 0 Comments

Even with iPads and other glamorous touchscreens on the market, sometimes the plain old telephone is the easiest way to control your home. Of course, the "plain old telephone" of today is not what it used to be. Modern-day phone systems feature lots of hard (rather, soft) buttons and multi-line LCD displays for feedback. As long as you have one on your desk or your kitchen nook, why not use it to control your home? That's exactly what Worthington Distribution recommends. During the Electronic House Expo last week in Orlando,… View this story

Jason Knott | 10/07 06:22 AM, 0 Comments

Panasonic's Atlanta-to-Secaucus, N.J. KX-VC500 HD Visual Communications System demo; look closely and you can even see CE Pro editor Jason Knott snapping the photo. In what might be a sign to come for home office and commercial office applications, Panasonic showed off its new HD Visual Communications System 1080i telepresence application during CEDIA Expo 2010. This is way more than a mini-cam on Skype! In the booth, Panasonic conducted a live conversation with “Jamie” in Secaucus, N.J. The system consists of a main system unit (the codec), a Panasonic 50-inch… View this story

Jason Knott | 09/08 05:54 AM, 2 Comments

I know CE Pro has been making your ears bleed talking about how integrators need to get into the recurring monthly revenue (RMR) business, either via security systems, home health tech or service contracts. But the telecom companies now appear to be taking it way too far. According to an article in the L.A. Times, Time Warner, AT&T and Verizon are now charging customers a recurring monthly fee to not have their their name listed in the phone book. In other words, they are charging the client every month for… View this story

Tom LeBlanc | 04/14 07:20 AM, 4 Comments

Consumers will still buy plain old telephones (POTs) if they have plenty of not-so-plain features, according to Panasonic. Its KX-NT400 IP network phone is a good example. Designed for business, home office and high-end residential applications, it features a 5.7-inch color touchscreen and can be networked to up to 20 local and remote IP cameras for monitoring live video feeds. The plan is for the KX-NT400, which began shipping in March with a $832.50 MSRP, to integrate with Control4 home automation like other select Panasonic phones by late 2010, according… View this story

CE Pro Editors | 03/08 08:54 AM, 0 Comments

Video technologies like 3D TV and the iPad garner a lot of media coverage, but security dealers know their industry is in on the cusp of real change. There’s the proliferation of IP cameras making Web monitoring accessible to middle-class residential clients. There’s voice over Internet protocol telephony (VoIP) reshuffling the role of central stations and making plain old telephone systems (POTS) an endangered species. There’s also the very real possibility of a universal demand for residential fire sprinklers. For perspective on what the security industry is going through, we… View this story

Fred Harding | 10/14 07:22 AM, 4 Comments

There are several applications for voice over Internet protocol (VoIP) in the custom installation field, so one size does not fit all. It’s a good idea to communicate with your client about expectations and applications before making blanket recommendations. How VoIP Works Essentially, VoIP technology communicates conversations over the Internet. The most common application uses a product from a provider like Vonage, which essentially hooks up to a high-speed Internet modem and provides a plain old telephone dial tone connection. The primary motivation for deploying a Vonage-style system is to… View this story

Julie Jacobson | 07/16 09:30 AM, 1 Comment

Maybe you figured your new Palm Pre smart phone was just like an iPhone but better -- you know, with the hard buttons and all. You figured wrong. Apple pulled the plug on iTunes for the Pre. Users had been able to load their Pres with Apple's free iTunes software, but Apple updated iTunes on Wednesday to block the feature. Sources quote Apple spokesman Tom Neumayr as saying that the update "disables devices falsely pretending to be iPods, including the Palm Pre." Palm is suggesting that Pre owner stick to… View this story

Jason Knott | 04/07 09:51 AM, 0 Comments

Panasonic is combining its communications solutions and document management groups into the reformulated Panasonic Communications Company of North America, the company has announced. This new organization brings together product lines inbusiness telephonydocument managementinteractive collaboration toolsThe company says the reorg positions it to deliver "comprehensive solutions for education, professional services, government, healthcare, retail and more." The new group will be led by Bill Taylor, who will be president, and Nick Miyake, who will be executive vice president. Offerings from the Panasonic Communications Company of North America will include communication and networking… View this story

Tom LeBlanc | 03/18 05:50 AM, 2 Comments

Panasonic has integrated its digital phone system technology with Control4 automation. As a result, homeowners will be able to control every home system that can be controlled via a Control4 controller through certain Panasonic cordless phones. The beta testing is complete for the integration, which is part of Panasonic and Control4's strategic relationship, and it should be rolled out in the next few weeks "or definitely by the end of April," says Panasonic public relations rep Martha Whiteley. Panasonic showed an early version of the technology at CEDIA Expo 2008.… View this story