Verizon and Yealink’s new One Talk T67LTE is the first wireless desk phone to be made available in the US, according to Verizon’s Senior Product Manager, Derek Peabody.
The device is available only with Verizon’s One Talk service and is designed to support hybrid working.
“No other wireless carrier has an embedded desk phone [like this],” Peabody told UC Today.
“This is part of Verizon’s standard supply chain process and standard network certification. It’s very much like a Verizon wireless smartphone in a desk phone’s body.
“I am aware that there are a few one-off solutions out there through third parties, but this is definitely the first carrier branded 4G/LTE connected desk phone in the United States”
A 4G desk phone was being considered by Verizon before the pandemic to address large areas of the US that still do not have reliable broadband options for VoIP services. The events of the past 19 months forced Verizon to “put the foot on the gas” to bring the One Talk T67LTE to market.
“We came up with so many more use cases after hearing feedback from our customers about all their challenges, such as working from home and sharing their broadband connection with a kid who would stream 4k videos. There just became so many more use cases fuelled by the pandemic that amplified the value prop of this device,” explained Peabody.
The new desk phone can connect through a LAN, WAN or Wi-Fi connection, or through an ethernet cable. The LTE connection enables a “failover”, so should the user lose their broadband connectivity at their office, the phone will fall back to an LTE connection. This makes it an attractive proposition for temporary offices, pop up offices on construction sites and regular offices, Peabody explained.
The One Talk T67LTE is not yet integrated with the recently launched BlueJeans Spaces, but it is on the roadmap for it to be used as a video endpoint for the VR platform, Peabody said.
“We're trying to give our customers a lot of options for how and where they connect, and then make sure they've got the right third party or Verizon applications running on those connections to be able to do their business – no matter where they are,” he explained.
“We're hyper-focused on the SMB part of the segment, giving those customers that endpoint flexibility, that ability to work and collaborate anywhere. That even extends up into public sector and enterprise as we all adjust to our new normal and the way that things are going to be working in the future.
