The corded desk phone is becoming a rarity in most households, having long since been replaced by the more convenient wireless phone. Wireless phones offer untethered mobility, allowing us to make and receive calls wherever it's most convenient to do so. And we're not sacrificing features in the pursuit of mobility. Wireless phones today offer far more calling, conferencing, called ID, and answering options than corded phones ever did.
And then there's the office phone. Like a throwback in time, when we enter the typical place of work we enter a world of wired bondage. Why is the corded desk phone still so prominent in offices?
Single mode and dual-mode Wi-Fi enabled phones are available, but the small handheld devices don't offer the same user experience as a desk phone. There's something just right about a desk phone's handset that makes it ideal for hands-free talking when a speakerphone just won't do.
Problem is that the desk phone just hasn't made the same strides as the wireless handset. Sure, we've added IP connectivity, fancy displays for Caller ID, phone books that simplify dialing, and even wireless headsets to bring us a small measure of mobility. But the modern desk phone still requires a wired Ethernet port, and typically a Power over Ethernet power source, too.
This megalith with a direct lineage extending back to the telegraph is the last hurdle to the introduction of a wireless network edge. Replace the wired desk phone with an enterprise-class Wi-Fi desk phone and you can eliminate a big chuck of the wiring and edge switching infrastructure, lowering costs and saving electricity to boot. You also gain the freedom to locate the phone where you want it, and to make adds, moves, and changes at minimal expense.
134 years after the creation of the phone gave us the freedom to speak with the world, it today shackles us in wired bondage. It tethers us to Ethernet ports, to expensive infrastructure, to yesterday's way of working. Let's look forward to the day when Wi-Fi desk phones set us free at last.
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