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I was not familiar with how cheap and high quality cameras (and the associated microphone and software) were. With the logitech video camera all sounds are passed though, softly or loudly as the case may be, a far more desirable situation. But my boss refuses to use a headset so I purchased the C100S speakerphone for him.
For example there is sometimes construction going on outside our offices and with the C100S it comes though as if the jackhammers were right in our building; at other times words spoken very softly can be completely cut off. So for me the C100S was an interesting experiment, but ultimately unsuccessful. On a long call these problems become quite noticeable and quite annoying.
We are using Skype more and more at work, and I very happy with the headset that I use. This form of intentional distortion was necessary with the poor phone lines that Ma Bell had but is counterproductive and unnecessary today. Oh, well, live and learn.
It worked well, but I now realize it is not the best solution, and we no longer use it.You can buy a camera (and if necessary an external speaker) for the price of a C100S and it can sit on top of your display freeing up desk space. And you don't have to use the video, you can make a "sound only" Skype call.But more importantly, all speaker phones (including C100S) have a feature which cuts off soft sounds and amplifies loud ones.
I have used this device on multiple conference calls and almost every time I received a complaint about not being able to hear me. The current version of the beta software is 2.9 which is 8 months old. The bigger and the ultimate reason for this low rating is, the sound quality. I have had nothing but problems with this device since I purchased it. I have dug through sound settings, device settings, and the registry looking for anything that would allow me to increase the Mic gain and nothing worked.Perhaps this problem will be resolved with a new release of the driver software, but until then, do not use this device with Vista x64.Side note: I have not tried it on any other OSes and it is likely that it performs well under those that use the production drivers. Through some research, I have found that they have a Beta program for a Vista driver. First, Polycomm has not release a Vista x64 driver for it yet. You have to email tech support requesting to be included in the beta.
It seems that Polycom's drivers for Windows XP enable this device to eliminate echo and noise, while still providing microphones sensitive enough to pick up all voices in the room, AND deliver sound that is clear and loud enough for the participants to hear. businesses. Skype has been a fine product for point to point video or teleconference calls using headsets, but we had never found a solution to sharing Skype in a meeting room. As a bonus, the device is light and portable, and even comes with its own carrying case.This is a product that is going to help push Skype more into the mainstream of U.S. It works as advertised, and makes Skype meetings simple enough for executives to use without having to worry about the technology. Stand-alone Skype speaker phones, such as from Belkin, are OK, but the speaker phone sound quality is not very good, nor is the microphone able to pick up all voices in the room. A separate mic and speakers is no good since this creates echo.Enter the Polycom Communicator.
But the Communicator is sweet. The usb cable is too short so just get yourself an extension before the Communicator arrives and you won't be cursing. hey, sorry for annoying you buddy. I needed a high quality Skype phone to make calls overseas for my business and have tried a number of them. But with these minor issues aside I really do love this phone. That did the trick. At least with XP it works like a dream.
As other reviewers have mentioned it sounds as if the person you're talking to is in the same room with you. The guy I spoke with sounded like he just woke up from a bad dream. At first I mistakenly ordered the C100 (not the C100S) and called their support to ask a question. Far better sound than what my landline provides. Their tech support is frightening.
For one reason or another they were all less than adequate. I was lucky in that I had one lying around ready to go. Now for the issues: I found the same problem as others reported with a worthless CD so went to http://www.polycom.com/support/voice/communicator/communicator_c100s.html and downloaded the Communicator software version 2.1 for Skype. I cannot believe the sound quality. I love the hands free operation and the simplicity.
It felt just like we were using a traditional Polycom over landlines. We heard the person at the remote location just fine. Definitely worth the money. I bought this to use in a conference area where getting a phone line installed and purchasing a traditional Polycom would have cost too much and taken too long. Using Skype, the person at the remote location could hear all seven of us clearly (including me, and I was sitting behind the unit with my open laptop between me and it).
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