Grandstream First Conference Background Review - GAC2500

Grandstream recently unveiled its video conferencing solution , and it was announced that the conference background would soon be released as part of the same decision. We publish the translation review of the device.

Grandstream GAC2500 is the first conference conference issued by the company. As a device running on Android OS and having a touch screen, it is in much the same way as the GXV3275 and GXV3240 phones. The smartphone interface favorably distinguishes it from those conference phones we are used to, and the presence of this kind of interface means that the GAC2500 can already be put one step higher than the conference backgrounds similar to those on the market before we begin our review.
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GAC2500 has in many ways similar functionality with the GXV3275 and GXV3240 models, and this is the presence of 6 SIP accounts, built-in WiFi, Bluetooth, Gigabit Ethernet, and a 4.3 capacitive touchscreen. 3 cardioid microphones that are sensitive to a distance of 3.5 meters, a built-in conference bridge for 7 participants, sound quality in HD, including the codec Opus and G722.

Will the GAC2500 cause a stir in the market? We tested the phone from all sides to find out.

First impression when unpacking Grandstream GAC2500

The GAC2500 looks thinner than it appeared in the photo, but the design looks robust. The speakers are protected around the case with a rather strong-to-touch metal mesh instead of plastic, otherwise the entire assembly is also of high quality and inspires confidence. The phone has 3 LED indicators built along the circumference of the case, which do not look intrusive. The case is made of matte durable black plastic, looks solid and leaves no fingerprints. The touch screen has a diagonal of 4.3 "and is located at a comfortable angle, the available brightness setting of the screen allows you to adjust it for different lighting conditions.

The home screen has a significantly different look than the GXV3275 and GXV3240 phones. Here, all the screen space is occupied by the dialer widget. This innovation allows you to conveniently use the main function of the device - to collect conferences. Other various applications and widgets can be accessed by simply swiping to the side.

Many settings are also available from the web interface. In particular, it is possible to fully exercise control over calls remotely - call, transfer a call, turn on and off the recording of a conversation. The GAC2500 also has a number of interesting conference-specific functions. The phone allows you to create and schedule conferences from the web-interface, add participants, program the distribution of notifications and automatically dial to the participants, if necessary.

Functions

The interface with Android is probably the most outstanding feature of the GAC2500.

The ability to schedule conferences is truly an innovation that simplifies the process and makes the organization of conferences much more comfortable. The ability to collect up to 7 participants is also a rather outstanding feature. Another plus is the ability to do without a separate conference server. The conference background can collect various devices with its resources into the conference.

Thanks to the USB interface, the GAC2500 can be used as an audio module to a PC. It should be noted that this is a new feature, previously this type of device on the market did not have this feature. For example, a conference bridge will work fine with a Bria softphone or other similar softphones and will allow you to transmit private telephone calls over the speakerphone if required. Six SIP accounts in a conference phone are quite a few, more than most desktop SIP phones on the market can offer. The phone can work both over Ethernet and over WiFi. The conference phone can also work without a power supply via PoE over a wired network.

On the GAC2500, you can install many different applications from the Android interface, it is possible, for example, to participate in communication via Google Hangouts and Skype directly from your phone. If the remote participant can talk on the video, you can see it on the screen. This integration of voice and video conferencing is a very interesting feature of the GAC2500, few in the market can offer this.

Voice quality

The GAC2500 has excellent sound quality that most desktop phones will envy. It is possible to raise the volume on the phone to a very loud level, but this does not lead to deterioration, wheezing, etc.

Testing

With OnSIP, we conducted with all the phones that we had, a multi-step test that included about 30 steps. An example of such a step:
Test Phone Ringing In

Phone B picks up the phone

Phone B puts the test phone on hold

Phone B Calls C

Phone C picks up the phone

Phone B transfers the call to C

The call must be correctly transferred to the telephone C, B must be beaten off correctly after the transfer operation. After C has answered, the audio should work in both directions between the test phone and C, etc.

There were no problems in passing these tests with the Grandstream GAC2500.

Customization

Step 1: Collect information on users.

Each user has a set of settings that need to be collected:
• SIP address
• SIP password
• Authentication Name
• Username
• Proxy / Domain
This information is on the user details page on the User tab in the Phone Settings section.

Step 2: Login to the web interface of the Grandstream phone from a browser

After the phone is turned on and connected to the LAN, the IP address of the phone that should be displayed on the screen is entered using a browser. The password is “admin”. After logging in, select “Account 1”

Step 3. Enter user information

For most cases, you only need to configure "Account1". If you need to configure multiple users or multiple lines, repeat the steps for each account.
• Account Active: Yes
• Account Name: the name that is visible on the screen opposite the button
• SIP Server: Domain
• Outbound Proxy: sip.onsip.com
• SIP User ID: username
• Authenticate ID: name for authentication
• Authenticate Password: SIP password
• Name: your name that others will see when calling



In the Network Settings tab, you must specify
Outbound Proxy - 'sip.onsip.com',
DNS Mode - 'A Record' and
NAT Traversal - 'Keep Alive'.

Step 4. Phone registration

In the “Users” tab on the Admin portal next to each user, the green notification should light up if the registration was successful.

findings

Grandstream GAC2500 is the best in its class in all respects. Its nice Android interface is not only for beauty. It gives the phone unique flexibility and many possibilities to use, which other phones simply do not have. Crossing video and audio conferences is a new niche for conference phones, and features such as automatic conference planning highlight this model even more than just aesthetic superiority over other market-leading models. Even without its smartphone interface, the device is above similar offers.

Voice quality also exceeded expectations. The conference phone raised the bar in this direction and HD quality audio sometimes makes you think you are talking to someone in the room next door. Anyone who frequently uses conference telephones in their work knows that such a shift in quality will be perceived by office workers with enthusiasm. The Grandstream GAC2500 phone is a new leader that you need to catch up with, and we look forward to what other companies will offer us in response.

Review of the Grandstream GVC 3200 video conferencing solution

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