POLYCOM VoiceStation 500 Wireless Voice Conferencing Device POLYCOM VoiceStation 500 Wireless Voice Conferencing Device

Pros: We bought this device to use in a small conference room in our 200+ man office. The conference room had no telephone line, so we would use the VoiceStation 500 via its Bluetooth connection to our mobile phones. It worked very well, and was obviously much better than the speakerphone of a BlackBerry. The conference room was 12x12', which is a little bigger than this Polycom could handle, so participants that were more than 4' away had to raise their voice a little to be easily heard on the other end.

I have also recently used it as a Google voice microphone+speaker combo via the aux audio port connected to my laptop. Again, it's a large improvement over wearing uncomfortable headset microphones.

Cons: It really is too expensive for what it is, but there is no competition that offers the flexibility and audio quality of the VoiceStation 500.

Pros: Bluetooth connection is a nice feature. Enabled use of a land-line and a handset through the same speakerphone interface.

Cons: Voice quality is horrendous. I'm constantly getting complaints that people can hear me, that my voice sounds distant. I almost have to scream into this phone so that people can hear me.

Volume controls not adequate. Lowest setting not low enough. Highest setting is almost ok, but could be a little louder.

Terrible performance.

Other Thoughts: I'm in the process of searching for a new phone.

Pros: Awesome sound clarity. Bluetooth + skype = easy conference calls without having a telephone line.

Cons: None so far