This world seems to have too many of certain things but too few of others. For example, there are dozens of different brands/models of cell phones, MP3 players and cameras – almost every consumer electronics company makes some. On the other hand, for a good conference phone, there’s only ONE.
I’m talking about full-duplex speaker phones that you see typically at conference rooms. Normal speaker phones are so called half-duplex, which means the up-link and down-link take turns to function, when you speak, you don’t hear. So if you make some noise when the other side speaks, it gets cut off. Conference phones are very useful in that it delivers the same high-quality as if everyone is holding the handset to their ear/mouth yet it requires none of this hand holding at all. You can even walk around and it still sounds crystal clear.
All conference phones are made by one company – polycom. So they can charge a premium. The most basic model retail for $499, the high-end model costs north of $1300. Thank goodness for ebay, I was able to buy one much cheaper at around $100. But I had to settle with the most basic version and get a used one.