Anyone have any experience in these? We are looking at them for some of our locations. Instead of putting a speaker phone in all of our exam rooms we would have one per site that can be moved where needed. We are curently trying a couple of different models to see how well they work.
Any input??

I don't know about that. There comes the issue of voice quality on speakerphones, especially when depending upon a technology vulnerable to outside influences (typically associated with the inconsistencies of wireless).

Cellular phones and wireless IP devices have brought to maket an expecation that everything should be available using wireless technology. That's OK, but it took Cellular twenty years, and you still hear the proverbial "I am in a bad area; I may have to call you back". People seem to accept this with their $59.99 monthly cell plan, but when they drop thousand$ on in-house hardware, all of a sudden, wireless technology demands perfection.

I think we all know that there are limitations here. We really don't sell anything wireless if we can avoid it because we have no control over the airwaves. Sure, if the customer is insistant and they know what they must have, we will sell it to them with the understanding that it's not our fault if it doesn't work the way they expect, it's not our fault; we don't manufacture it, so we have no control.

Every wireless "solution" that has been introduced to the market has had issues the first few go-arounds. In most cases, it wasn't until the second or third generation that it actually worked. I would wait until something comes out that really works. Not to sound like an old geezer here, but if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.

Just my two Shillings and a half-pence....

Polycom has a wireless conference phone model# 2200-07880-001.
We have had great results with them. Good sound and range. But they are pricey.

I would think twice before doing this in a medical environment. I would think that there may be a problem with interference to the wireless unit from various electronic medical devices and vice-versa. This would be especially a problem in any type of radiology department.
I would suggest getting one unit and trying it in various locations with different equipment running before you bought a bunch of them.

That was my main concern also. They will primarly be used in an exam room mainly for translation purposes. They could call out to the translation service, instead of having a translator come in. I am definatly having our Biomed people check it out also. We are looking at both the Polycom and Clearone models.
The whole RF factor is another issue. In the average hospital there is so much RF I am supprised anything works. Between the cell equipment,paging systems,repeaters,etc everyone will probably get cancer in a few years. I am supprised we aren't all glowing at night or at least developing mutations.

Thanks for the input...

I have had great success and feedback with the Polycom wireless. Only problem I've found is there is no flash button. Which makes integration to some phone systems more difficult.

Range is about 100 feet from the base station before any occasional crackling is heard. Sound quality is typically outstanding.

I'm not so sure the wireless/medical device issue is still relevant. We are involved with the construction of a new hospital here that will be entirely wireless (computer and voice)

The Conference button (the one with the picture of people on it) is the flash key. You can also set the flash timing

It is in the manual

https://www.polycom.com/common/pw_cmp_updateDocKeywords/0,1687,3723,00.pdf

We just received this from one of our vendors. Its regarding the Polycome phones....

"Polycom is currently investigating a potential safety issue with the SoundStation2W, which they believe is related to the battery. They have received a report regarding an incident of overheating that could lead to a potential fire hazard. No injuries have been reported. Pending the results of the investigation, Polycom has put a stop ship in place on SoundStation2W's to Polycom channels effective immediately. This potential safety issue does not impact any other Polycom SoundStation products or other Polycom products other than the SoundStation2W.
By this notification, Polycom is also instructing all channels to put an immediate stop ship in place to all customers including resellers, dealers and end users and to communicate this stop ship to all resellers/dealers who sell the SoundStation2W until further notification from Polycom. Polycom will issue a follow up communication on this issue no later than January 6,2006"


You might want to check with them on this. I don't know if there has been a recall or not.