Conference Unit

[mikbai]

Has anyone had experience with the 5310 Conference Unit?

We have one in each of our office conference rooms. 1 in our CDN HO and 1 in our US office. The units are rated for 15x25, and the rooms are 20 x 30.

The problem is that the audio is clear, but the level is low for people speaking approx 8-10' away from the unit. I don't think there's any settings to configure for these, so are there any units out there that you can daisy chain, so we have 2 in each room.

Thanks

 

[MitelInMyBlood]

Yes, we've tried them. Our experience parallels yours. Audio levels (speaking) are quite low. Although the 5310 is "rated" for a 15 x 25 room, we've found that the person speaking simply must be no further than 3~5 feet from the microphone and facing (speaking directly towards) the mic.

In my opinion, speaking from the point of view of the Support Team who will ultimately field the user complaint, the old original analog Polycom SoundStation models appear to provide substantially better performance. I've not yet tried any of the new IP Polycom models, but would expect them to be at least equal to their analog counterparts.

Sorry Mitel. I love your systems, but I've got to call this one as I see it.

 

[paterson]

There is a "mouse" type of mic/speaker unit that can connect to the conference saucer so that there is a speaker/mic at each end of the table. Are you using that?

_______________________________________________________________

If you are not part of the solution...

Then there's good money to be made in prolonging the problem.

 

[mikbai]

No, I was told by a Mitel rep that there were no addons, nor configurations for this device. TRhey suggested going Polycom.

Is there a PN for this mic/speaker?

 

[paterson]

I'm really sorry, there is an optional device that connects to the saucer, but it is not a mic/speaker. This device is a remote control so that you don't have to go to the middle of the table to adjust volume or mute the call.

I've never installed one, and always thought that the little mouse like device was like the polycom ones that are mics.

Sorry for getting your hopes up.

_______________________________________________________________

If you are not part of the solution...

Then there's good money to be made in prolonging the problem.

 

[mikbai]

Hey no worries.

 

[slapin]

I don't like 5310. I have removed almost all of them because of complains. Polycom IP6000 works perfect including creating conference calls using feature codes.

 

[mikbai]

Is the IP6000 pricey? I sent off an e-mail to POlycom to get some info, but jave yet to hear from them.

So, it works fine in Mitle environments, then, right? It is an actual phone or is it a unit attached to the phone, like the 5310? Currently we have the 5310 attached to a 5224 phone.

I'm still poretty green to the PBX/VOIP environment, so some of these questions may be trivial to some of you.

Thanks for all the help.

 

[kwbMitel]

The 5310 is much easier to deploy and easier to use. Using codes on SIP or Analog units to create conferences can confuse users. The polycom will probably come in cheaper when all required elements are tallied. Install time for the polycom can be quite lengthy unless you are quite literate in the DHCP world.

My opinion is the polycomIP is more trouble than its worth.

*******************************************************
Occam's Razor - All things being equal, the simplest solution is the right one.

 

[mikbai]

Unfortunately the 5310 doesn't provide what we need. If you're more than 3-4 feet from the phone, you can't hear the users that well. That creates a problem when there's multiple pepole in the room each taking turns talking around the table.

If I couyld tweak or daisy chain them, then great, but those don't seem to be options.

We have this issue in both of our offices.

 

[slapin]

We buy Polycom for around $700. If it's your first installation it will be not like "plug-and-play", you have to know what you are doing. kwbMitel compiled a document with recomedations. Besides that you will have to buy SIP device licenses and train your user how to operate this animal. It doesn't have a handset, so for swithching to a "private" mode people will have to transfer calls to a nearest deskphone.

Overall users like Policom. The only real annoing thing is slow bootup process with static configuration. I have a set of screenshots how to configure it, so even junior admins can do it now.

 

[WCTek]

We have the same problems in our conf. rooms. I use the Polycom SoundStation2 PN# 2201-15100-601 and it's working great. I have this unit with the Avaya system and it's compatible with Mitel. I believe I paid approx $400. The IP 5310 is not working as what it specifies.

 

[mikbai]

Thanks for the heads up. I'll check into the Polycom siggested. If I can just get hold of a rep to talk to, it would be great.

Thanks

 

[slapin]

Got to Polycom web site. You don't need a rep. Analog line will work as any other phone if you have open ONS oprts in the system. IP will require SIP licenses.

 

[marksb101]

are you sure the saucer is not in presenter mode?

 

[mikbai]

Yeah, that was one of the first things I checked.

 

[MitelInMyBlood]

We found the Mitel saucer (5310) to be poorly suited for anything larger than a small, private office conference table, ie, something on the order of a 4' to 6' dia. table with all participants facing the saucer when speaking.

If the person speaking is more than 5' away from the saucer or not facing it when speaking, other participants on the call will often have trouble hearing them. Mic sensitivity on the 5310 is quite poor. We also had complaints that the product is not full duplex. I would agree, it's not.

The customer asked us not to use any more 5310s, and to replace existing 5310s with Polycoms.