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Conference 7.286::digital

Title:	The Digital way of working

Moderator:	QUARK::LIONELON

Created:	Fri Feb 14 1986
Last Modified:	Fri Jun 06 1997
Last Successful Update:	Fri Jun 06 1997
Number of topics:	5321
Total number of notes:	139771

93.0. "SPEAKER PHONES bother ME!" by SAWDST::HOMER_FORMBY (I was born with sawdst in my teeth) Tue Mar 18 1986 13:47

    
    	I would like to start a discussion on the use and ABUSE of
    speaker phones in the office environment.....
    
    	I believe that a speaker phone is no longer as useful as it
    was before the NEW phone systems and a speaker phone in a cube
    environment is a real annoyance.
    
    	I have, in my environment, a person in another group that has
    a speaker phone.  The noise and distraction is really getting to
    us.  We have spoken to him, and his first reaction was that he would
    "try to keep it down".  Over the last few weeks he seems to have
    forgotten his original statement and the problem persists.
    
    	although I am relatively close to the gentleman, others who
    are a considerable distance from him are also complaining about
    the noise.
    
    	Questions:  Is there a policy at DEC that allows speaker phones
    in the workplace?  What recourse do we have if the gentleman does
    not wish to cooperate with his fellow work-environment inhabitants?
    
    	Anyone else have this problem???
    
    
    						hf

T.R	Title	User	Personal Name	Date	Lines
93.1	Not in the open office!	PAUPER::GETTYS	Bob Gettys N1BRM	`Tue Mar 18 1986 14:26`	9
	I don't have that problem, mine is finding one when I really need one for a conference call! I do agree that an open office environment is NOT the place for one! You sometimes have to almost yell to overide noise from the line! Also, do you really want someone else to listen in to your every word?? (Worse yet, both sides??) /s/ Bob
93.2	speakerphones are too common on the outside	DELNI::GOLDSTEIN	Fred @226-7388	`Tue Mar 18 1986 19:53`	12
	We have relatively few speakerphones at DEC. Back in my corp. tel. days fitting up PBXs into buildings, we almost never put one in an office. They went into conference rooms sometimes, where they would do the most good and the least harm. Of course, some people went down to Radio Shlock or someplace and bought their own. You'd be amazed how common they are outside. Many of the smaller telephone system makers (small makers of small systems - mostly electronic keysets) include speakerphone as part of the base or one-up-from-base set. It's a very popular "executive" perk. Just the sort of thing that doesn't fit our company culture (though there are some islands...).
93.3		XANADU::DICKSON		`Wed Mar 19 1986 13:13`	10
	If the guy wants hands-free operation, tell him to get the headset option for his phone. Several people here have it. It is a little box that plugs into the side of the phone base in place of the handset wire. There are rules against radios (with speakers). Same rule would seem to exlude speaker phones in offices. Besides that, speaker phones make a TERRIBLE impression on the person at the other end of the call, due to the half-duplex effect.
93.4	Speaker phones are useful	GALLO::AMARTIN	Alan H. Martin	`Wed Mar 19 1986 14:52`	21
	My group of 8 people has a conference with the group that funds us once every two weeks. My group works in Marlboro, Mass. The group that funds us works in Colorado Springs. We use a speaker phone in a conference room. The first few conferences used a bunch of separate phones in everyone's offices, linked together. I never got to participate - either it was impossible to hook that many phones together, or it was too much trouble. And we were told that our secretary had to set the call up. We could not communicate in nearly the same way with a bunch of separate phones linked together. Our offices are so dispersed there would be no way to consult with each other to frame questions or answers. Also, there would be no non-verbal communications, just like this conference. Unless there are teleconferencing facilities in CX and MR, we will have to go on using a speaker phone. I wish we had one in one of our local conference rooms, so we didn't have to traipse downstairs through the VAXcluster program office area and use theirs. /AHM
93.5	speakerphones options for your Conferences	DELNI::GOLDSTEIN	Fred @226-7388	`Wed Mar 19 1986 16:32`	19
	Just for the record, here are some approximate prices for speakerphones: Panasonic, modular jack, line powered, good for small full-height office or very small CR, about $60. Northern Telecom, wall powered, medium size CR, basic unit, around $200. Much variation based upon what set it goes on. Northern Telecom "Omni", round speaker - mike unit, good for pretty large conference room, about $1000. I think there's one or more in MR1. This is reasonably portable. AT&T Quorum, "tower" mike, good for whole classroom, about $2000. Not very Portable Conference Phone, with 2 hand-held mikes plus built-in, about $1000. Useful for meetings since you can pass around a mike as well as have a room mike.