Wave Industries Ltd. began shipping the Olympia Wireless Conference Phone, a 2.4 GHz wireless conference phone system that offers portable, crystal-clear conference calls.
As business professionals increasingly rely on conference rooms and phones to conduct meetings, they are confronted with new challenges and limitations – from background noise caused by air conditioners and voice echo to conference room availability and open telephone lines. The Olympia Wireless Conference Phone transforms any space within 150 feet of the base station into a first rate conference room without the tangle of wires common with standard conference phones.
The Wireless Conference Phone is ideal for ad-hoc meetings in rooms with or without telephone jacks. The phone’s base station is plugged into a phone jack and connects wirelessly to a lightweight, portable conference pod that serves as the actual phone. Since the conference pod is wireless, business professionals can begin a conference call in one room and take the pod to another without disrupting the meeting by having to hang up and reconnect the call participants.
To combat common audio problems like echo and background noise, the wireless conference phone uses a proprietary Digital Signal Processor (DSP) an echo cancellation technology that removes audio that would be fed back to the speaker as an echo. The DSP is also used to analyze sound coming from each of the conference pod’s three microphones, determining which microphone, or combination of microphones, relays the clearest sound for the best sound clarity. Noise reduction algorithms are used to remove background noises, such as fans or air conditioning systems.
“Conference calls often need to happen where the action is, which doesn’t always coincide with a wired phone connection or available conference room,” said Bruce Garfield, chief executive officer, Wave Industries Ltd. “Our new Olympia conference phone un-tethers critical meetings from wired conference rooms. We think business professionals will appreciate the freedom that wireless technology provides while IT and accounting personnel appreciate obtaining high quality with less equipment.”
The Olympia Wireless Conference Phone comes with the high-end features businesses rely on to conduct effective conference calls. Full duplex voice conversation and 360-degree, three-microphone pickup features ensure clear calls without cutting out or tunnel-like effects. The system also has voice encryption for maximum security and LCD displays to signal out of range warnings. The phone’s conference pod also includes any key answer, a choice of five different ring tones and phonebook dialing for easy dialing of the most frequently used numbers.
Pricing and Availability
The Olympia Wireless Conference Phone is $799 for the conference phone base station and the conference pod. The base station comes with an audio jack, AC Power adaptor, integrated wall mount and a pod paging system. The 2.4 GHz pod comes with user replaceable 1800mAh NiMH batteries good for a 10-hour call or 80 hours of standby time before requiring a recharge. For sales information, call (503) 736-2570 toll free or via the Web at, www.olympiaphones.com. The Olympia Wireless Conference Phone will be available via the PC Connection Catalog, and at Fry’s Electronics and other regional retail outlets, and at www.staples.com and www.officedepot.com.
