Linksys SPA962 IP Phone

The SPA942 was designed by the talented "Sipura" engineering team at Linksys, the same group behind the popular SPA2000, PAP2 and SPA300 VoIP telephone adaptors and the SPA941 and SPA942 IP telephones. The newest offering is a sturdily built IP handset sporting a four-inch full-color LCD screen with 320x240 resolution, a built-in two-port ethernet switch, Power over Ethernet technology, and six independently configurable lines.

i found a few small details that need to be ironed out -- incorrect alignment of the phone's line buttons with the display and a browser-based configuration interface with some appearance-hampering HTML glitches being the most obvious. On the whole, however, i found the device to be quite stable and usable, and very close to full production release standards.

The experience is as though the designers of the SPA962 are preparing us for a not-too-distant future where we control a phone from a desktop computer running specialized software, and use a business class handset (or even headset) as the voice instrument. Such devices exist today but these are inferior in build, with woefully lacking software packages, and certainly not ready for the office.

Though it's similar in looks to the SPA941 and SPA942, there are some important differences. For one, the SPA962 is significantly heavier and is about two inches taller -- allowing it to accommodate the taller full-color LCD and two more lines -- than the reigning Linksys office champs.

The plastic shell on the SPA962 is a jet black, significantly darker than the dark gray body of the SP94X series. Like with the SPA94X, the SPA962 sports a plastic silver bezel around the LCD, through which six line buttons protrude along the right edge, and a long horizontal red LCD used as a message-waiting indicator.

Along the bottom of the LCD, four buttons control context-sensitive tabs presented on the screen. A four-directional scroll button sits just above the numeric keypad. The seven buttons to the right of the keypad are exactly the same as on the SPA94X series and serve these functions: voice mail retrieval, setup, mute, headset, speaker phone, hold, and volume control.

The phone is packaged with a plastic base that allows it to stand at a comfortable angle on the desktop. It also includes notches on the rear for hanging, though the lack of inlaid grooves through which to guide the cables makes it a less than satisfactory wall phone.

The eye-catcher, of course, is the LCD panel. There is a setting on the phone's web interface to upload different background images. Each of the phones six lines appear along the fight edge of the screen, with icons representing on/off-hook, and awaiting voice mail. Up to four context-sensitive soft tabs line are visible the bottom of the screen, which can be scrolled horizontally with the wheel rocker to reveal more tabs. In its default state with the phone not in use, these tabs give one-button access to redial, phone directory, call forwarding and do not disturb.

The build quality of the SPA942 is among its best features. It's a phone that feels like it can withstand heavy-duty use, and looks like asophsticated office device designed to impress.

Using the SPA962 will be very familiar to anyone who has used either of the phones in the Linksys SPA94X series. To a newcomer, learning the functions of the buttons to the right of the keypad will take little time. The Linksys SPA962 is not difficult to use, but does require a level of memorization, especially to get at keys not visible by default on the LCD. In this regard, the IP601 is definitely a bit easier in that, with its significantly wider form factor, it offers many more hardware buttons requiring less pecking and scrolling through soft menus.

The feature set of the SPA962 is about the same as on the SPA942. This includes a speakerphone, connectivity with music on hold servers, selective distinctive ringtones, call conferencing, and typical call handling features such as transfer and forward.

Following is the complete feature for the SPA962 set as listed by Linksys:
Up to Six Lines with Independent Configuration and Registration
320 x 240 True Color, Four Inch, Liquid Crystal Display (LCD)
Secure Call Support - SIP over TLS, and SRTP
Line Status - Active Line Indication, Name and Number
Menu Driven User Interface - Multiple Languages Supported
Digits Dialed with Number Auto-Completion
Shared / Bridged Line Appearance **
High Quality Speakerphone
Call Hold
Music on Hold **
Call Waiting
Caller ID Name and Number and Outbound Caller ID Blocking
Outbound Caller ID Blocking
Call Transfer - Attended and Blind
Call Conferencing
Automatic Redial
On-Hook Dialing
Call Pick Up - Selective and Group **
Call Park and UnPark **
Call Swap
Call Back on Busy
Call Blocking - Anonymous and Selective
Call Forwarding - Unconditional, No Answer, On Busy
Hot Line and Warm Line Automatic Calling
Call Logs (60 entries each): Made, Answered, and Missed Calls
Redial from Call Logs
Personal Directory with Auto-dial (100 entries)
Do Not Disturb (callers hear line busy tone)
URI (IP) Dialing Support (Vanity Numbers)
On Hook Default Audio Configuration (Speakerphone and Headset)
Multiple Ring Tones with Selectable Ring Tone per Line
Called Number with Directory Name Matching
Call Number using Name - Directory Matching or via Caller ID
Subsequent Incoming Calls with Calling Name and Number
Date and Time with Intelligent Daylight Savings Support
Call Duration and Start Time Stored in Call Logs
Call Timer
Name and Identity (Text) Displayed at Start Up
Distinctive Ringing Based on Calling and Called Number
Ten User Downloadable Ring Tones - Ring Tone Generator Free from www.linksys.com
Speed Dialing
Configurable Dial/Numbering Plan Support - per Line
Intercom **
Group Paging **
DNS SRV and Multiple A Records for Proxy Lookup and Proxy Redundancy
Syslog, Debug, Report Generation, and Event Logging
Secure Call Encrypted Voice Communication Support - SIP over TLS, and SRTP
Built-in Web Server for Administration and Configuration with Multiple Security Levels
Automated Provisioning, Multiple Methods. Up to 256 Bit Encryption: (HTTP, HTTPS, TFTP)
Optionally Require Admin Password to Reset Unit to factory Defaults
** Feature requires support by SIP server

Overall, the performance of the Linksys SPA962, puts it among the best in class.

Price when the product was launched was 320.00 $