Smith On VoIP

UTStarCom will soon be releasing their dual mode phone, the UTStarcom GF-200 as the UTStarCom GF-210 in the North American market according to a popular VoIP forum. The UTStarcom GF-210 is a Dual Mode GSM-WiFI Phone supporting GSM triband networks (900/1800/1900 Mhz) and 2.4 GHZ 802.11b.

The UTStarCom GF210 features a 1.8 inch 65K color display. The UTStarCom GF210 supports call forwarding, call waiting/hold/barring/conferencing, text messaging, and polyphonic ringtones. The UTStarCom GF-210 offers SIP based calling, G.711au codec, voice activity detection, echo cancellation, WPA/WEP security, and local/remote TFTP/HTTP upgradeable firmware. Although no US GSM service providers offically support dual mode phones, the UTStarcom GF210 is best characterized as a Voip phone supporting GSM as a “feature”. On the GSM side, the UTStarCom GF-210 is an “unlocked” GSM phone that will take any GSM SIM. This is not a common concept in the US - but it is how GSM phones are sold in most of the world.

The UTStarCom GF-210 will be particularly useful for anyone traveling internationally - instead of paying $1.50 or so for “roaming”, you can “forward” your VoIP number to a pre-paid GSM number (available at the airport) in the country you are visiting and get the same incoming roaming service for about $.25 per minute.

UTStarCom is exhibiting at the FALL VON conference and expo. I would imagine one will be on hand…

Like This Post? Subscribe Via RSS Feed and Never Miss Another Post!