Category : Telephones
There has been much debate and interest of late in new advances in Telephone technology such as the introductsion of RFID payment modules into smartphones such as the iphone, WiPho and Android handsets. There has been a proliferation of app stores from the major players whilst we have even seen court action over the very name ‘app store’.
Nokia’s recent agreement with Widows mobile have shaken up the industry whilst further litigation over patents and copywrights abound amongst the major players.
Telephones now are expected to do so much, to accomplish the amazing and to slip into the pocket.
But I fear that we are losing touch whilst trying so hard to keep in touch – Telephones are an amazing creation, the word itself derives from the Greek meaning distant voice or distant sound and that is just what, in essence we should remember them as being – a device for talking to someone from far away.
The very best function of the telephone does not need releasing by an app installation, nor does it require a sophisiticated operating system. It is founded upon the early research of many people, most noticeably Alexander Graham Bell, who realised that the Telegraph/ Semaphore/ Fire Beacon means of transferring information from one place to another just ahd to go.
The early Telephones were simple deviced which plugged into the PSTN ( public switched telephone network ) and allowed people to manipulate a number input mechanism and connect to someone else on the PSTN. They worked.
Of course, with improvements in technology and manufacturing processes these home telephones have become slightly more sophisticated but, still it is important to get one of these in your hands. Look at the great selection of telephones and you can see that these are no multipurpose smart mini computers, they just are telephones. Indeed BT once said that – “it is good to talk” and it is. I gain far more human contact from the people I actually talk to than the flacid relationships which come about through social media on my mobile phone.
So, if you are looking in wonder at the new iPad, or trying to choose between phones based upon the screen resolution then remember that talking is great, speech and oratory are the highest level of evolution that we as himan beings have attained and picking up a real telephone which transmits vocal inflections and stammers and coughs is the only way we can really make social interactions at a distance.
Nowadays we are a generation increasingly aware of the affect that we have on the environment. We embraced the industrial revolution and the subsequent consumer frenzy of the late 20th Century with a fervour. Massive improvements in the manufacturing processes in the East coupled with ever increasing technological advances brough a myriad of home electronics to the masses. The rate at which products are improved upon leads to a higher rate of ‘obsoloscence’ in such high end devices.
This leads to waste
Waste has never been a desirable element in society, indeed the waste produced per capita has risen a thousandfold in the last hundred years, leading to increasing landfills.
For this reason the WEEE directive has been applied to electrical items, the legislation demanding that waste electrical equipment be disposed of in a way in which to lesses or even negate its detrimental effect on the environment.
Telephones Online, a Brighton based retailer of predominantly cordless phones, but also other consumer electricals are commited to reducing waste through their working practices.
For years they have been refurbishing DECT Telephone equipment and supplying trade partners in the developing world with useful and viable apparatus which enhances their lives whilst reducing waste in the UK.
They have also recently commited to the provisioning of spare parts for cordless phones. This way, rather than throw away a system that is merely missing one part, the Telephone Suppliers can replace this integral part and have the entire unit or system full functional again.
They have a vast back catalogue of cordless phone parts :
Main Power Supply Unit for Cordless Phone Base Stations, Additional Handset Power Supplies, DECT Handsets, Telephone Base Units, Cordless Phone Batteries, Curly Line Cords and even Handset battery Covers. Many other telephone parts are also available on request.
The best thing about such commerce is that everyone wins: apparently redundant products can be rejuvenated and their life increased, redundant spares can be resold to avoid further waste and the resultant savings are at consumer level.
We like any business process that saves on so many levels whilst giving a real boost to the environment.
Whilst looking into the subject of corded telephones this morning I came accross the most elevating marketing material possible – a real life person using a corded phone.
Now, corded phones have lost a lot of headway these days to the more fashionable cordless phones from BT and Philips in particular so it is with great pleasure that I present this beautiful piece of classic marketing imagery.
The way in which the subject finds herself actually tethered to the conversation is representative of the 21st century’s 24/7 obsession with communication
More information about these may be found here : corded telephones, though sadly you wont find any imagery quite as luscious.
There are several factors which come into play when choosing a cordless phone.
Maybe the first I would suggest would be considering he number of handsets you will require.
Cordless phones come in a selection of expandable systems from single handset phones, to twin handsets through to trio/ triple handset systems and even quads. These GAP/ DECT phone systems consist of a main base station – which requires a connection to the phone socket as per normal; and satellite additional handsets.
These additional handsets can be placed in any are within range of the base station ( commonly 50-100m indoors) and just need a power source to charge the batteries in them. For desktop additional handsets, such as in the office or bedside normal charging stations are suitable, but it is worth considering going for a wall mountable charger, say , for in the kitchen.
You will also have to decide whether or not you require a Telephone answer machine built into the base station.
Many people enjoy the facility to not only take messages at home but to be able to access them remotely also – via an access code protected method you are able to listen to your messages even when on holiday.
Typical home phone answering machines have a recording time of 12-15 minutes, which for a long message of 20 seconds would give you space for maybe 30-50 such messages – ample for most situations.
Further consideration maybe given to the style and build of the handsets.
Handsets may be sturdy and rugged in appearance or, as with some models be ‘designer phones’, built to look good whilst delivering a great call quality.
Designer cordless phones come in many shapes and sizes and, hence, could be chosen to fit in with a great variety of interior decors.
Additional features vary from phone to phone, but in general the majority of cordless phones incorporate features such as SIM Card Import, Large Alphanumeric Telephone Directories, Backlit Screen, Colour Screen, Caller Display, Call Transfer, Intercom, Speakerphone and even games on some handsets.
The final choice comes down, as with many consumerist acts, to the manufacturer.
As a consumer we do build up preferences to the design and operation of models by particular manufacturers.
The leading Cordless Home Phone manufacturers for the UK market are Philips, BT Phones, Siemens Gigaset, Magicbox and Panasonic. All these manufacturers produce high specification cordless phones which are fully conforming to European DECT standards.
Telephones Online has a large selection of cordless home phones from a variety of manufacturers.
Certain models are now also in production which are ‘eco’ models, cutting down on power consumption and hence cutting bills whilst reducing your carbon footprint.
To summarise, cordless phones have replaced the old corded phones in most UK households now delivering a freedom of movement and an ease of communication which enhances the way in which we talk to each other.
We went through the selection process and ended up with the BT Graphite 1500 Trio
Nokia maps have completely flummoxed me of late. I upgraded my Nokia N95 software as I had been promised a faster GPS connection as a result. I put up with the loss of my beloved Brian Lara Cricket game, but that is a waste of time anyway.
I rebooted and waited – a standard procedure for some of today’s latest mobile phones. On opening up Nokia maps I was saddened to see that the phone had no recollection of my previously lovingly installed maps from Smart2Go. I love zooming in on rethymno, Crete to see my old haunts. I tried reinstalling the maps using Smart2go Maploader ( a lugubrious application ) to no avail. I was becoming rather disillusioned by the software upgrade, losing my cricket and all that.
My next step was Orange who advised I called Nokia ( buck passers ). I did call Nokia, indeed I spent an hour on hold at various times of the day and night.
By chance and through a process of elimination I discovered that the old Smart2Go maps are no longer supported by the new Nokia Maps application, I downloaded the new Nokia Maps Loader and was soon zooming into my sat nav maps and even enjoying a markedly faster connection time to the satellites I believe are up there somewhere.
The unfortunate thing was that my original download of the Nokia Maps App had included a free 3 day trial of their navigational software ( with voice prompts) and it took me 4 days to solve the issues with me Nokia N95 above….they also seem to have removed the tracking facility on the new map software.. cheeky, like they are trying up revenues…
Voice over IP Communications specialists Best4IP have created a site with a view to bringing together a wealth of information on the subject of SIP telephony, VOIP telephony and their related features and implementation.
Best4IP is a natural progression of focus from a company which has specialised in providing cost effective and bespoke communications solutions for its clients for over 10 years.
Voice Over IP is rapidly becoming the industry standard when it comes to the installation of PABX ‘s and larger switches.
Now, I work all day, in an office, like many people, sitting at my desk with a keyboard, mouse and monitor for company. I have a telephone also – a Toshiba System Phone with lots of buttons; I tend not to make many outgoing calls, usually it is our clients who call me with requests or support queries. I am lucky enough to have been supplied with the most wonderful headset ever invented – well so it appears to me. In my old job, one which required me to be both on the phone and accessing online databases simultaneously. I had to juggle handset and mouse, often adopting that ‘semi-shrug’ which jams the phone to your neck painfully and precariously. My new telephone headset is a Plantronics CS60 Headset.
The headset is superb, it is powered by DECT Technology, meaning that it is connected to the phone on a 2.4Ghz signal which allows me to wander about the office whilst on a call, the manual boasts that it can achieve a 300m range in ideal conditions. That would be ideal as there is a nice public house just over the road from our office, but I have tried and the headset cuts out just as I cross the road.
So I sit at my desk and strap on the headset. If the office telephone rings I have a small beep in my ear and can press a button on the headset and the handset lifter picks up the handset in a smooth operation and the call is immediately transferred to the Plantronics headset. When the call is over I press the button again and the handset goes down and all is peaceful again.
The Plantronics CS60 Headset is lightweight ( I rarely notice its presence) and the battery life is great – it must have a talk time of several hours after an overnight charge as I have never had a problem and do, sometimes get forced into laborious conversations lasting all day it seems. The headset also has a built in acoustic shock protector which means that if a sharp load noise is transmitted to the earpiece it will cut out in order to save my eardrums – very thoughtful.
So as a person who is involved with customer support and client liaison all day in an office, on the telephone and at my PC I can heartily recommend the Plantronics CS60, it makes your whole desk and office environment more ergonomic and enjoyable. Plantronics Headsets are available on line at a retailer like Best4Headsets. Plantronics are the market leaders in headsets and even supplied headsets for the first trip to the moon.
I was idly browsing the web when I found an online Telephone retailer who specialise in Home Phones when I got to thinking about home phones and who actually uses them…
I have got a contract with Orange, the mobile phone provider, which costs me around £35 a month ( one of the animal contracts ) and I have 500 minutes of cross network minutes included – that is 6 hours and 20 minutes . No way I speak that much on the phone a month. As I am running with a general surplus of hundreds of minutes I never use my home phone, and noone ever calls me on it. My conversations are masculine to the max, the linguistic equivalent of bullet points. I arrange with my friends complex itineraries and discover how they and their extended families are getting on with health, education and employment in about 20 short syllables. When we are together, of course, our expressiveness takes on a more expansive manner.
In direct contrast to this ‘zipped up’ / compressed method of communication favoured by myself and, I believe, my sex; is the way in which our partners hover and flutter around the subject of a sentence like butterflies around a flower. They will not construct conversations, communications of a specific aim and action. For example :
Derek “lets go beach for a swim”
Clive “yep, see you there at 7, bring some tinnies”
this is the male version and you will see that they manage to convey logical and specific aims and actions with definitive lingustic devices
On the other hand :
Shirley “not very nice weather yesterday eh, Jane”
Jane “no Shirl,not very nice at all.”
Shirley “but it looks like its is better today, eh Jane?”
Jane “yes, sun is shining, weather is hot” – giggles
Shirley “must be beautiful down the beach right now”
Jane hhmm, how are the kids?”
Shirley “fine, did you get that new TV?”
Jane “yes, and I think it was down to the struggle in south america“Shirley “I was thinking that also, it explains his influences, artistically and philosophically”
Shirley “beach will be nice later this evening”
Jane “Lets meet down there later..”
…here I have removed 10 further lines of text in order to preserve your sanity and the formatting of this page
Jane “OK, see you there at 7, bring some tinnies”
The conversations above are real, I promise you, I swear to god.
What we, as linguists, and sentinent beings can derive from the conversations above is that if you want something done quickly, ask a man ( ask any woman and they will agree ), if you want something explored, chewed on, ruminated, gestated, regurgitated and finally decorated then get a woman to do it. In most cases the woman will produce a finer, more beautiful and longer lasting creation with the same ingredients as a man would; just they will take the scenic rather than the linguistically direct one.
Getting back to the main point of this diatribe, we only have a land line phone because of her, my sweet and beauteous partner, who likes to communicate with her friends, family and strangers whilst trying to get to the point. I could save a fortune if I ditched the landline telephone. I can get by on my 6 hours and 20 minutes a month handsomely. I should ring up NTL (Virgin Media I mean) and let them know that I don’t need a landline as all my calls are more than covered by my mobile tarrif. So I sit and think about it a while. I have a gorgeous DECT cordless home phone with answermachine, twin handsets, a SIM card reader, colour screens, polyphonic ringtones etc etc, but I dont need it. I am happy with my Nokia N95, all the calls are free, and I have GPS Satellite Navigation. ( I actually bought it for my partner but she laughed at having GPS when she can’t actually remember ever having been lost, and, indeed, don’t I claim to have a superb sense of direction??? )anyway , suffice it to say that I have carefully considered the pros and cons of losing the landline, even asking some of my friends and work colleagues what they think:
“yep why not”, “should save you a fortune”, “do it”, “ugh”
So I am convinced, my mind is made up. I will not give it a moment’s further consideration…
and then the home phone rings, it is my mum, she wants a chat, I leave the room and sit down in the kitchen and put the kettle on, the large handset sits comfortably in my hand, my feet creep up onto the table, aah this is nice………..
Peltor Design and manufacture a range of special use headsets for many purposes.
They specalise in headsets for use in such diverse areas as Aviation, Broadcating, Construction, Hunting and Military/ Police.
They offer ear protection in the harshest of situations, allowing, at the same time, communication in noisy environments.
They have thought of everything, say you are working on a busy building site with high noise levels.Rather than being shut off from the world put on one of Peltor WS Alert Bluetooth Headsets and you have a stereo FM radio receiver in your ear protection – furthermore your headset is bluetooth enabled and, hence allows a crystal clear connection to others on your site wearing the headset. Naturally your radio will automatically fade as conversation starts…
Gwyneth Paltrow uses Peltor Ear Defender Headset for Kids
The entire range of Peltor Headsets is available at best4headsets
Peltor’s range of Aviation Headsets for Pilots, Helicopters and Ground Crew is thorough, bringing Peltor’s understanding of workers’ need for ear protection and communication at the same time. Peltor also produce headsets fr hunters and marksmen which, though protecting from acoustic shock will amplify selected noise levels and allow the user to clearly define the target.
Got a beauty DECT Twin Set from Telephones Online, finally solvin the ‘mad max’ type communications system in our house.
