On the bright side, if you're moving from H.323 to SIP, the Siemens phone supports H.323, though it does require a different software image. Featurewise, the Siemens phone can complete numbers dialed in memory and is the only phone besides the SipTone to support the G.723 codec. G.723 provides even greater bandwidth optimization than G.729, with 6,000 bps necessary to carry the audio. Of course, the flip side is that G.723 codecs also can incur even more latency than G.729 codecs thanks to higher compression rates.
It was easy to make calls with the optiPoint. It has a 48-character by two-line display, with most navigation done via two arrow keys and a Check key. Siemens did a nice job making navigation intuitive with this limited number of keys.
optiPoint 400 standard SIP 2.2, $440. Siemens, (800) 765-6123. www.siemensenterprise.com
Zultys tied with Mitel and Siemens for second place, but if you need encryption, the ZIP 4x4 is your only choice. It's capable of encrypting the audio stream when used with another Zultys phone.
The 4x4 sports 15 lighted feature keys, four of which are devoted to call appearances. None of the buttons on the Zultys phone are user-programmable, but we could make a number of them serve dual purposes through the use of a color-coded function key that acted as a shift key. The phone lies flat, but the LCD screen, which displays three lines of 20 characters each, can be tilted.
Zultys, like ipDialog and Snom, appears to be committed to SIP; the company offers SIP-based PBXs--the MX 1200 and the smaller MX 250--and uses SIP as the signaling protocol for all its products. Zultys' phone has some unique provisioning options, but they require that the phones be used with a Zultys PBX. For example, it's possible to create configuration files on the MX (which also functions as a TFTP server) by reading in each phone's MAC address with a bar-code reader. The company also claims that it can do a SIP-compatible "push" install of new software using a Zultys PBX. This means that you could schedule to reboot the phones, for instance, at 3 a.m., without end-user involvement.
Subsea cable alternatives can provide a level of comfort for those concerned about disruptions. Realistically, they will continue to play a small, but critical role in the short term.
Maintaining existing network infrastructures often incurs huge technical debt before newer technologies are adopted over time.
Amid ongoing regional uncertainties, telecom infrastructure in the Middle East has expand to include terrestrial low-latency network infrastructure, which offers resilience and agility in navigating political complexities without relying solely on undersea networks.
