Greetings! We have a big multi-location video conference coming (in two weeks interrupted by a 4-day holiday weekend). Unfortunately, as some locations are unable to access the video conferencing group, it seems we must use WebEx. With WebEx connections, audio for all requires all attendees call into the WebEx bridge. (We hope to find an alternative to WebEx once our contract is over!)
Our phone system is a VoIP system from Interactive Intelligence (ININ). We have 3 ways of doing phone calls (and why I'm having problems.) 1. We have a Polycom analog conferencing "phone" with two extension microphones. However, the conference room is too small to hold all the local people we expect to be present. Attendees must be in our larger "class room". The Polycom analog devices is pretty much nailed to our conference room table and cannot be moved elsewhere without doing quite a bit of damage to the table, etc. Furthermore, the volume level is inadequate for that sized room. (NOTE: the analog device is not a part of the ININ VoIP system but rather a separate POTS line.) 2. There is a laptop in the conference room for presentations. We have installed a "SIP soft phone" on it. However, the soft phone application does not handle QoS. The docs say to use specific USB headsets which do handle QoS (they have tested and recommend some from Jabra and Plantronics). We have tried plugging the PA system directly into the headset port of the laptop. We have also come across a Sony USB headset. This headset has the mic and ear phones plug into a little adaptor which in turn plugs into the USB port. However, since neither this headset nor the laptop's earphone jack handles QoS, there is a serious echo problem. If we were to use this setup in a conference, ALL the remote attendess would hear an echo of themselves (and presumably anyone else speaking) about a second after anything is said. (NOTE: the echo occurs even in the complete absence of a microphone here.) 3. We could set up a VoIP workstation with one of our Polycom 430 VoIP phones. However, the speaker phone volume is again too low. This (finally, and sorry for the length) finally gets us to the subject line... The Polycom 430 VoIP phones have no sound I/O ports except for the two RJ-9 jacks for the hand set and for a head set. Might anyone know of a gizmo that has an RJ-9 jack on one end and jacks to plug in a microphone and a speaker "plug"? Having a "speaker jack" would enable us to send the sound through the PA system in the large room. (I fear the alternative would be to have a PA microphone sitting next to the speaker phone.) Thanks! -- Richard D. McClary Systems Administrator, Information Technology Group ASPCA® 1717 S. Philo Rd, Ste 36 Urbana, IL 61802 richardmccl...@aspca.org P: 217-337-9761 C: 217-417-1182 F: 217-337-9761 www.aspca.org The information contained in this e-mail, and any attachments hereto, is from The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals® (ASPCA ®) and is intended only for use by the addressee(s) named herein and may contain legally privileged and/or confidential information. If you are not the intended recipient of this e-mail, you are hereby notified that any dissemination, distribution, copying or use of the contents of this e-mail, and any attachments hereto, is strictly prohibited. If you have received this e-mail in error, please immediately notify me by reply email and permanently delete the original and any copy of this e-mail and any printout thereof. ~ Finally, powerful endpoint security that ISN'T a resource hog! ~ ~ <http://www.sunbeltsoftware.com/Business/VIPRE-Enterprise/> ~
