Don’t go out and buy the first conference phone you see. There are many factors to consider when choosing the right phone for your conference room. Let’s go over what you’ll want to consider as you decide between all the conference phone options on the market today.
Determine your room size
First and foremost, you’ll want to assess the size of your conference room (or conference rooms, depending on the size and number of your offices). Small conference rooms and huddle rooms will have different needs when compared to a large, enterprise-level conference room.
As a rule of thumb:
- small rooms fall somewhere between 10 to 12 feet
- medium rooms can be 12 to 20 feet
- large rooms are 20 or more feet in size
Once you know the size of your conference room, you can choose a conference phone with a wireless speakerphone and mics that allow everyone to hear and be heard no matter where they’re sitting. You can also determine the number of devices you’ll want to get for your specific meeting room setup.
Map out your budget
As with any project, knowing how much you can spend will help you make the best decision while staying within your budget. Conference phones come in a variety of shapes and sizes, with all kinds of features.
Luckily, committing to a VoIP communications solution is inexpensive compared to other conferencing solutions. VoIP conference phones that work with a hosted phone system are much easier and cheaper to set up than expensive onsite telephone systems.
What VoIP phone features do you need?
Below are some of the essential features you’ll want to look for when choosing your VoIP conference phones. While most of these devices are equipped with noise reduction and stellar audio quality, they won’t all have the same basic functions. That’s why you need to try to choose a model that gives you the most bang for your buck.
Here are some essential VoIP phone features to look for:
- Integrated Wi-Fi support
- Bluetooth wireless connection
- 360-degree microphone pickup range
- Integrations with other apps
- HD voice technology
- Echo cancelation
What VoIP phone features do you want?
At the same time, there will be VoIP phone features you want, but don’t necessarily need to have. Make a note of the features you’d like to have if it works with your setup and budget.
Once you start shopping for a conference phone, you can see if any of these features are available.
- Touch screen display
- Call recording
- Desktop adapter
- Wireless microphones
- Backlit display