For anyone following the news in the communications space of late, you’ll have noticed it’s all about mobility — unified communications, dual modes devices, 802.11n, and so on. In one way or another, a large percentage of today’s development is focused on wireless communications. Not to be outdone, handset developer snom has announced its first wireless VoIP handset.

 

Snom, of course, is known for its line of desktop IP phones that are both attractive and functional, with models for every user in an office, from the office lobby to the CEO. Now, it has supplemented its wired handsets with the m3 cordless DECT (News - Alert) IP phone, providing even greater benefits to its customers than ever before.

 

With the benefits of VoIP already well known and widely adopted, the ability to mobilize those benefits not only extends the cost savings of VoIP to the mobile space, but by doing so, also increases the productivity of m3 users. No longer are they tied to their deskphones; nor do they need to place callers on hold when moving from one desk to another. Now, they can simply answer on the m3 and move about the office freely as long as they remain within range of a WiFi network.

 

Many workers are familiar with any number of Bluetooth-enabled devices, but they are limited in their range compared to wireless handsets. Indeed, the m3 boasts and internal range of more than 160 feet, and an outdoor range of well over 300 feet — that’s an entire football field. The m3 is also an expandable system, capable of connecting up to eight separate handsets and as many as three parallel calls at once.

 

The most difficult thing to overcome with cordless devices has traditionally been battery life, and while some might ask for more, the m3 has an average talk time of ten hours with a standby time of ten times that — that should get even the most sleep deprived worker through the day.

 

The wireless device offers most of the same features its wired counterparts do: three-way conferencing, call transfer, music on hold, call forward, speed dial, address book, and more. Each phone’s menu can be configured to meet each user’s specific requirements — they can even be configured remotely, if necessary.

 

Finally, as much as the m3 is a fully functional VoIP phone, it has also been designed with today’s user in mind — it is sleek and attractive, yet comfortable. In fact, the m3 was designed by Sebastian Stroschein of Stroschein Product Design, Berlin; Stroschein is best known for luxury car installations including those in the Maybach limousine, Mercedes-Benzes, Porsches, and BMWs.  

“It was a great challenge for me to work with snom, and the task was no less demanding than working with the large car manufacturers,”  said Stroschein.  “I am convinced of the advantages of VoIP, and I look forward to this phone, which will make its innovative technology ‘visible’ on the outside.”