Good but could be better!

This is a great conference phone but over priced in my opinion. When investing on a conference phone consider primarily price and warranty. Feature and benefits are simply straight forward but I will touch on them. When I first opened up the Soundstation2 box, it looked complicated but the set-up was very easy because the installation instructions were great. I also like the "bong" sound it makes when the unit is turned on. The "bong" is actually a way for the unit to measure its surroundings.

Acoustic Clarity Technology
Its legendary technology which allows both parties to speak simultaneously. Its legendary but based on today's technology, its outdated. Its a series of 3 separate uni-directional mics working together but independently. In other words, when one mic is active, 2 others are turned off; depending on the source of the sound. In order for the unidirectional mics to be effective, participants must speak one at a time.

ENHANCED USER INTERFACE
LCD Display - actually, the backlit display is very good. Makes it easier to identify the CALLER ID.

MULTI-LANGUAGE SUPPORT
7 language support!

ENHANCED CONNECTIVITY SUPPORT
Expand the microphone's range by plugging in the optional expansion microphones. This feature is great for medium to large meeting rooms. Also, the Soundstation2 can be used with your mobile phone but has to have a 2.5mm adapter port. The cable is sold separately.

I don't recommend buying a conference phone unless your boardroom has a dedicated analog port. So some planning may be required with your telecom provider. Conversely, if the boardroom does have an existing phone, connecting a conference phone to another telephone is redundant and very costly. To protect your initial phone investment, I would recommend using a speaker phone attachment, i.e. Konftel 50 or Chat 150 to convert the phone into a high-performance boardroom conference phone. Not only will it protect your initial investment but your savings compared to buying a Soundstation2 is between 30% to 45%!

Last note on the Soundstation2's microphones, because they are symmetrically placed to cover 360 degrees (1 mic covers 120 degrees), the participants must be placed in an organized manner otherwise, the unit will not be optimized for best performance. In addition, because the mics are sensitive to ambient sound, ruffling of papers is not allowed as it will "confuse" the microphones and if any participants move around, the speech signal will decrease.

Making phone calls were easy with the help of the manual. The speaker quality is excellent (handset quality) however the same cannot be said on the other side unless the other party also has a Soundstation2 or a quality conference phone. Don't expect to sound great on a desktop speaker phone!