Just Used a $21,000 Phone. AMA

"Tripper" (tripe46)
09/25/2018 at 16:09 • Filed to: None

A conference phone to be precise. I just had one installed in our large conference room at work. Mics in the ceiling, Crestr on controller etc... Really nice but I’d rather have a car.

DISCUSSION (25)

ItalianJobR53 - now with added 'MERICA and unreliability > Tripper
09/25/2018 at 16:17

I mean, there is this:

https://www.ebay.com/itm/192626703767

farscythe - makin da cawfee! > Tripper
09/25/2018 at 16:21

21 grand phone?

i phone 12?

Tripper > ItalianJobR53 - now with added 'MERICA and unreliability
09/25/2018 at 16:22

Think that engine would fit in my Ranger?

davesaddiction @ opposite-lock.com > Tripper
09/25/2018 at 16:23

Any guesses on what the final $ per call will be when taking this thing’s life of service into account?

Arrivederci > farscythe - makin da cawfee!
09/25/2018 at 16:24

12X

Arrivederci > Tripper
09/25/2018 at 16:24

Hm. Should’ve embezzled those funds and left a rotary phone in its place. Would’ve been a nice downpayment on your future 997.

ItalianJobR53 - now with added 'MERICA and unreliability > Tripper
09/25/2018 at 16:25

Sure! It will fit in the bed.

RWD, rear-mid engine d ranger!

CarsofFortLangley - Oppo Forever > Tripper
09/25/2018 at 16:27

!!! UNKNOWN CONTENT TYPE !!!

I thought you had just used the new Iphone

Tripper > davesaddiction @ opposite-lock.com
09/25/2018 at 16:28

That’s a tough guess as it will be used at least once per day. I’d guess it will last at least 5 years. So that’s around $11 a call. It has technically already paid for itself 5 or 6 fold, as someone landed new business on it earlier today.

Tripper > ItalianJobR53 - now with added 'MERICA and unreliability
09/25/2018 at 16:28

That’s a world I could live in.

RiceRocketeer Extraordinaire > Tripper
09/25/2018 at 16:31

There’s a really expensive/complicated setup in one of the rooms here ... the camera detects who’s speaking and zooms in on that person’s face. Creepy.

Tripper > Arrivederci
09/25/2018 at 16:31

Haha, it crossed my mind more than once. I’m actually being very good about not spending the money from the Audi sale while I wait for the perfect car . I was helping my best pal change brakes a few weeks ago and he said “I can’t believe you haven’t bought anything cool yet.”

I came pretty close on a motorcycle but talked myself out of it.

Tripper > RiceRocketeer Extraordinaire
09/25/2018 at 16:35

Funny you should mention it, as I talked to a sales guy today about that Cisco camera! Al though I don’ t know if were going to go with that one. A fancy camera is part of the next phase of the project. The system is expensive but it’s actually less complicated than the shitty P oly com phones it replaced.

davesaddiction @ opposite-lock.com > Tripper
09/25/2018 at 16:35

Well, you probably would have gotten that deal on a rotary dial, so...

Tripper > davesaddiction @ opposite-lock.com
09/25/2018 at 16:37

It’s true. And we bought the phone for internal company meetings more than anything else. It was difficult/impossible to hear for our remote people when our huge conference room has 40-50 people in it. Of course only one of them dialed in for the meeting today...

Aremmes > Tripper
09/25/2018 at 16:39

Seems pricey for just a phone. At a previous job I installed a LifeSize HD video conferencing system so that the managers could talk to colleagues at the parent company’s HQ in Japan. All in, it cost only about $12k per site.

davesaddiction @ opposite-lock.com > Tripper
09/25/2018 at 16:42

I respect a company that spends money on better communication, whatever form that takes.

Tripper > Aremmes
09/25/2018 at 16:44

We used to have LifeSize. It’s technically more than a phone. It’s a C restron system with a phone added on. It also controls the 3 80" monitors, receiver, cable box etc... The phone is however what it will be used for most often.

404 - User No Longer Available > RiceRocketeer Extraordinaire
09/25/2018 at 18:42

We have those in our offices across different sites, called “telepresence” . They actually renovated all the rooms to lookalike, and the setups are all like round tables. Basically the idea is to vitually have someone sit in front of you.

M.T. Blake > Tripper
09/25/2018 at 19:47

We bought a DJI Matrice 21 0 at work.

And then hung another $8,000 worth of cameras on it.

Let’s try to do some loop-de-loops!!!!

Arrivederci > Tripper
09/26/2018 at 07:57

I’m trying to have a similar mentality - I’m not spending money on a new car unless it’s a car I really want, 997 C2S, 987S, C7GS, 4C, Elise, etc. A really nice, well-prepped Elise just popped locally and if we didn’t just have a baby I’d probably try and grab it.

Tripper > Arrivederci
09/26/2018 at 08:48

Congrats on the baby! Ours has just turned 3 months. My wife is fine with the practical car and I have been given the go ahead to get whatever, I’m just waiting it out.

E92M3 > Tripper
09/28/2018 at 16:22

I worked at a company that spent over $2 5 0k on Polycom video conferencing systems, a bridge, smartboards, and making the confrence rooms fancy. It turned into a fulltime job man aging those pieces of crap, keeping the firmware/contact lists up- to- date, etc. . In a building they didn’t even own. Not long after the rent was raised and they had to move out. Was the biggest waste of money ever. Just so the CEO could see peoples faces during meetings. He’d try to have 6-8 lo cations on a call at the sametime. Inevitably one of the locations would have network issues and would show a black video stream or it would be blurry. . Then I’d spend 20 hours with network admin s in other divisions trying to figure out why there was packet loss during a 30 min call. I don't miss Polycom products one bit.

Tripper > E92M3
09/28/2018 at 17:12

Yea polycom really is garbage!

E92M3 > Tripper
09/28/2018 at 18:25

At the time w e could of used Skype for up to 4 people. We spent all that to be able to add 1- 4 more people to a call. But once you went beyond 4, it always had issues. So really it wasn’t any better than skype. GoToMeeting can do 90% of what Polycom can for 5% of the cost.