For some time now I’ve been meaning to write something about our new(-ish) Skype-enabled DECT phones but a combination of other priorities and frankly chronic laziness has meant that any chance of a mini-review hasn’t happened.

The concept seemed fairly simple, unlike the SPH100D which was a WiFi handset (with appauling battery life) the Netgear SPH200D we opted for uses DECT and the base radio unit has an ethernet connection to hook in to a router for Skype.

While the handset claims to be signed in to the service 24×7 (we have a dedicated Skype account for this) I can see from running Skype at work and on Fring that it’s more down than up, so isn’t a great deal of use.

I can rule out the connection or router as being to blame as I host other test kit across the same link, so have conceded defeat and am instead opting to dabble with ‘real’ VOIP using a Sipura device now known as the PAP2T from Linksys. The plan is to set it up with an account from www.voipuser.org and refer everyone to an 0844 number when calling us, the revenue from which covers our outbound calls.

As this sits between the PSTN connection to the phone it can be used with the SPH200D turning the normal PSTN mode into an additional SIP route (potentially using our second broadband link) and still has the fallback of the BT line.

There’s plenty of scope for it to all end in tears, I’ll post when it’s all set up.

Technorati Tags: VoIP, Linksys, PAP2T, Skype, SPH200D