VoIP phone manufacturer snom's latest trinket, aptly called the "snom 821," is seen by company officials as the official replacement for the snom 820. More so, it's the entry model of a new generation of snom VoIP business phones.

While the snom 820 was "a decisive step towards combining state-of-the-art technology with a new design," or the beginning of a line of business VoIP phones, "at CeBIT 2010  we took hardware development a step further."

Like its big brother, the snom 870 , the snom 821 "comes equipped with an integrated 1-gigabit switch," company officials say: "And, also like the snom 870, the snom 821 is available in black and in gray."

snom officials tout the 821's large high-resolution TFT color display (8,9 cm (3.5"), 320 x 240 pixels), noting its improved depiction of call lists, phone directories, and caller information via the integrated XML browser.

"The wideband technology used in the handset captures more than double the frequency spectrum that a standard handset does," they add, saying that it makes the audio quality comparable to FM radio. And on speakerphone a Class D amplifier suppresses interference noise.

"The snom 821 WLAN gives you complete freedom in selecting the environment of your choice," they say, explaining that whichever option you prefer, the snom 820 can handle either a power adapter plus WLAN or Power-over-Ethernet.

Company officials emphasized security, calling it "one of the most important concerns of our time." Therefore, they say, "important security features like secure VPN, TLS and SRTP are an integral part of the 821's firmware."

The phone comes with five-way conferencing, multiple ring tones, and up to twelve different SIP identities, and allows users to "operate completely independently of their current environment - anytime, anyplace."

What could be better? Perhaps the fact that multiple customization options are also available. Happy shopping!