AudioCodes 405 IP Phone

I used to think that the AudioCodes 420HD was my leading candidate for a low-cost, high-value SIP phone.  Now I think there is a new leader. 

Enter the AudioCodes 405 IP Phone.  I am getting some mixed signals as to how long this model has been on the market, but I just got one the other day and have been putting it to the Tsoorad Test Lab Experience for the last week or so.

Here’s a stock photo just to show the difference between a professional marketing photographer and yours truly with a cell phone camera.

You can get all the official AudioCodes material here.

Build Quality

Ho Hum.  I wish AudioCodes would ship a unit that would give me something for this section other than “excellent.” If I have to make some comment, the button feel is, IMHO, much better than the 420HD in a side-by-side.  Oh, and the display, while smaller, is crisper with a tad better contrast. While I did not use the handset to hammer nails, the materials appear to be a touch above some other competing vendor’s products.

Voice Quality

Again.  See previous paragraph.  BORING.  Same high standards as before.  Speaker phone volume is nicely controllable.

BToE (Better together over Ethernet) is available should you so desire. Second line, call transfers, conference calls, etc.  All that works as expected without doing anything other than maybe a quick study through the various documentation bits.  Here is the official market-speak pertaining to features on the 405 IP Phone:

The 405 SIP IP Phone is a cost-effective, entry-level IP phone designed to offer the essential everyday features that the modern business environment demands.

• Graphical, backlit multi-lingual LCD (132 X 64)
• 4 programmable soft keys
• AudioCodes Auto-provisioning
• Full SIP protocol support with extensive interoperability
• Robust security mechanisms
• Power over Ethernet (PoE)
• Multiple language support
• Integration with voice quality monitoring
• Full duplex speakerphone and headset connectivity

400HD SIP IP Phone Series Shared Features

• High voice quality
• Full duplex speaker phone
• Robust security mechanisms
• PoE
• Out of the box global redirection server support
• Multi-language user interface
• Centralized management with AudioCodes EMS

Skype for Business Connection

Seeing as how I make market with Skype, you know I had to connect this to a Skype system and kick the tires, right?  Here is the connections I made:  Ethernet and handset.  Highly technical, eh?

After that, it was a matter of a minute or so to input my login information and sign-in.  My lab worked perfectly first time through.  My work account worked perfectly the first time through also.  I literally did NOTHING to this device to make it Lync/SfB compatible; it just worked.  At that point, I had access to all applicable SfB Enterprise Voice functionality.  Without knowing anything more than my account and password.  This would seem to lend itself very nicely to providing a phone to a telecommuter.

You can get your very own AudioCodes 405 IP Phone right here.

Conclusions

A first rate telephony device for your SIP (I sure hope you are running Skype) system.  Excellent build quality, excellent audio, good feature set for the money, able to be centrally managed, part of a larger eco-system of VOIP solutions, etc.  You can’t do wrong choosing this direction.

YMMV.