IP phones Akuvox. Review of budget models
As in any other market, there are recognized leaders in the SIP telephony equipment segment. These are manufacturing companies that have earned the trust of consumers, thanks to their high-quality and functional devices. In some cases, buyers, not daring to experiment, are even willing to overpay for their favorite products, such as, for example, in the case of Cisco SPA equipment that was once lost from sales in Russia. It is not easy to break into such a market for new companies. From time to time, new Chinese “manufacturers” appear on the horizon, offering either already well-known equipment under their own brand or their own low-quality crafts. Today we will meet with a new manufacturer of IP-phones, which, apparently, has a good chance of success.
Meet: Akuvox is a subsidiary of the Chinese manufacturing giant Star-net Group. The latter, judging by the information on its website, is a leading provider of corporate-class communication and networking solutions for the Chinese domestic market. The company's office is located in the city of Xiamen, which is typical, not far from the office of another, but already much more famous, manufacturer of IP-phones - the company Yealink. Akuvox relatively recently entered the international market and, apparently, Russia is one of its priorities, if not the highest priority.
Akuvox currently has two IP phone lines: the fiftieth (SP-R5X) and the sixtieth (SP-6X). In this article we will consider budget phones from the fiftieth series, and more precisely four of the five phones that are included in this model range. Fifth - the most advanced device, as well as the entire sixtieth series, let's leave to the second part of the article. So, meet (from left to right): SP-R50 (P), SP-R52 (P), SP-R53 (P) and SP-R55P / G.
Even a quick glance is enough to understand that Akuvox’s designers and engineers were inspired by Yealink’s creation of these phones. Looking ahead, I note that Akuvox phones have with Yealink phones not only a similar appearance, but also similar software. Good or bad - a moot point. On the one hand, the clearly copied style from other devices cannot be credited with the manufacturer. On the other hand, many new IP phones are similar to each other and, probably, you just need to get used to such borrowings. As for software similarity, from the user's point of view this is only a plus: Yealink phones have proven to be the most stable and convenient to use, and there is nothing surprising in the fact that
Akuvox SP-R50 (P) is the youngest phone model, its equivalent in the Yealink lineup is the SIP-T19 (P) model. The phone comes in two versions - SP-R50P (with PoE support) and SP-R50 (without PoE). Regardless of the modification, the power supply is included in the package. The phone is equipped with two Ethernet ports 10/100 Mbps and an RJ11 connector for connecting a headset. The screen of the SP-R50 (P) is the same as the SIP-T19 (P) - 2.3 inches with a resolution of 132x64 pixels, but with backlighting, which is an important advantage when using the phone on a bright sunny day.
Another difference between the SP-R50 (P) and the SIP-T19 (P) is the support of two SIP accounts instead of one in Yealink. True, the story here is a bit strange: in all descriptions to the phone, support for one SIP account is declared, but in fact, you can have two of them and both will work. However, you cannot manually select the account you need for an outgoing call. Incoming calls can be received on both accounts at the same time without problems.
As for the appearance, the phone looks a bit old-fashioned. The main reason for this is the lack of rounding on the sides of the phone, which makes it look fatter than it actually is. However, it is worth remembering that the SP-R50 (P) is a budget IP-phone, whose main task is not to look good, but to make regular calls. Speaking of the budget: the retail price of a model without PoE is 57 dollars, a model with PoE is three dollars more expensive.
The analogue of Akuvox SP-R52 (P) in the line of Yealink IP phones is the SIP-T21 (P) model. Moreover, the similarity here is even more obvious than that of the youngest models, primarily due to the light edging of the display. Similarly, the phone is available in two versions - with and without PoE support. The whole difference between the SP-R52 (P) and the SP-R50 (P) is, in fact, the presence of two LED line selection keys. Therefore, it can be said that the support of two SIP accounts is full-fledged, unlike the younger model. The voice mail access key also appeared, also with LED indication, which lights up when there are new messages.
All the rest of the two junior phones of the series is identical - a small backlit display, two hundred-megabit network ports, a headset jack, the number and location of the function and control keys. Due to the already mentioned light edging of the display, the phone looks more interesting. But the case itself remained the same as the SP-R50 (P) with its chopped edges and straight sidewalls, which visually fill the phone. However, the SP-R52 (P) is not so much striking. For the SP-R52 model without PoE support, you will have to pay $ 65, for the SP-R52P - $ 68.
Moving on: the SP-R53 (P) model has not only three full-fledged SIP accounts, but also an increased display, compared to the previous two models. Its diagonal is 2.9 inches, but the resolution remains the same - 132 by 64 pixels, which is why the display's grain is clearly visible. However, the IP phone is not a laptop or a tablet, you don’t need to watch movies on it or surf the Internet. Therefore, it is possible that the inscriptions on the display do not look very aesthetically pleasing, but they are clearly visible and readable, and this is much more important for an IP phone.
If you look for an analogue of Akuvox SP-R53 (P) in the current Yealink model range, then the SIP-T23P phone is best suited for this role. However, most likely, with the release of this model, engineers of Akuvox were inspired by the already discontinued Yealink SIP-T22 (P) device. After all, it, like the SP-R53 (P), was produced in two versions (with and without PoE), and the look of the Akuvox is closer to this phone. The SP-R53P model will cost the Russian consumer $ 81, a modification without PoE is, by tradition, three dollars cheaper - $ 78.
The Akuvox SP-R55P / G IP Phone is a cross between two previous SP-R52 (P) and SP-R53 (P) models. From the first he got a small 2.3 inch display, from the second - three independent SIP accounts. As for the appearance, the SP-R55P / G looks much more modern, although everything is made in the same package as all the other models in this series. This was achieved by using a black glossy frame around the display. This is how many modern IP phones look now - both the fortieth Yealink series, the latest Grandstream phones (GXP1628, GXP1630, GXP2170), and Fanvil phones of the new X-series. Despite the excellent appearance, the use of the glossy frame is not very practical - it is clearly visible fingerprints and minor scratches.
Regarding the SP-R55P / G model, it cannot be said that it was copied from another phone - functionally and in appearance it is close to Yealink SIP-T40P, but still, this is another phone. As for the modifications, there are two of them according to the tradition, and both of them support PoE-power. The difference in the network interface - the model SP-R55P has two hundred megabit network ports (and costs $ 76), and the SP-R55G has two gigabits ($ 85).
We have already discussed the appearance of Akuvox phones, now let's talk about usability. The most important part of any phone in terms of ergonomics is the handset. It is from her design that the impression about the usability of the device is primarily made. But at the same time, the perception of its design strongly depends on the anatomical features of a person - a tube that is comfortable for a large man will have to not like the fragile woman at all, and vice versa. Therefore, the evaluation of this component is always subjective.
I will express two points - I like it when the tube has a strong bend in the middle part, so that it can be lifted from the bottom and not at the sides - this is the time. Secondly, the middle part should be rather thin, so that the fingers completely clasped it and tightly fixed in the hand - these are two. All of the above Akuvox IP phones have the same handset and, unfortunately, neither the first nor the second can be said about it. However, as well as about the majority of IP-phones released in the past few years, since the moment the fashion went on flat and wide tubes. Akuvox does not lag behind fashion - such tubes look really great, but they lie comfortably, in my opinion, only in rather large hands.
But for the composition and location of the functional and control keys, Akuvox engineers and designers can be applauded. They not only took all the best from Yealink phones (namely the hardware redial key and the call forward on / off key), but also added their own “chips”. First of all, this is the “home” key, which returns the phone to the main screen with one touch, no matter how deeply the user gets into the menu. Secondly, this is the "back" key, which also greatly simplifies navigation through the phone menu.
On all Akuvox phones there is an inscription “HD Voice”, which in the modern language of manufacturers means support by the phone of the G.722 wideband codec. And since almost all modern phones (or rather the chips on which they are built) support this codec, two magic letters HD are found on almost every device. Despite the fact that the differences between G.722 and any other narrowband codec are clearly heard even on the highest-quality speakers, you should not overestimate the value of G.722. The fact is that its use is usually limited to communication within the organization. The vast majority of modern VoIP-carriers do not use broadband codecs for voice transmission, and there is no point talking about traditional communication lines (with which many subscribers still work).
Let's go back directly to our Akuvox phones, the sound quality of which left a dual impression. On the one hand, the R52, R53 and R55 models sound very good. Since we are constantly comparing them with Yealink phones, then we note that the sound quality of these three models is in no way inferior, for example, Yealink SIP-T21 E2. And maybe even quite insignificantly and superior, as in the normal mode, and when talking on the speakerphone. The latter, by the way, is really very loud - it feels louder and a half times louder than that of Yealink. The truth is that at maximum levels the phone starts to rattle strongly, nevertheless, perhaps someone with such a powerful speakerphone speaker will have to use it.
But the youngest model Akuvox SP-R50 (P) was a little upset with its sound quality. No, her speakerphone is still loud, but in terms of sound quality, it is inferior to its Yealink SIP-T19 E2 counterpart. This is especially noticeable when using the G.722 codec: the voice encoded by it is very slightly different from the voice in narrowband mode. Considering the fact that the tubes and, obviously, the dynamics of all the Akuvox phones examined are the same, the reason for such a big difference between the models may be in the used hardware.
The younger model is built on a pair of chips manufactured by DSPG DVFD8187 and DAP1902. This is the most cost-effective solution of the DSPG chip line, designed for IP phones and ATA adapters. For example, the same Yealink uses for its phones a more productive chip from the same series - DVF9918. The used pair of microcontrollers claims support for all modern codecs, including G.722.2, however, I still have the feeling that the lack of iron performance is the cause of the not very good sound quality of the SP-R50 (P) model.
The older models of the fiftieth Akuvox series use completely different chips from a completely different manufacturer - Audiocodes AC495L. This chip is an all-in-one class whose CPU and DSP operate at a frequency of 87.5 MHz, which is less than the DVFD8187 and DAP1902 pairs (220 MHz and 120 MHz, respectively), but they apparently cope with the task of voice coding. The choice of these, not the most popular, chips was somewhat surprised - previously they were seen only in Audiocodes IP phones. But then I remembered that the youngest model Akuvox SP-R50 (P) is also sold under the Audiocodes brand (model 405)! So, all the time we are talking about the similarity of Akuvox with Yealink, but apparently, they have a much closer production relationship with Audiocodes. This, in general, is also not bad, as Audiocodes is far from the latest brand in the market for VoIP equipment.
All models of Akuvox phones have two network ports that act as a switch, which allows you to connect the phone to the gap between the network socket and the computer. To connect to the network, you can use static settings, DHCP or PPPoE. VLAN is supported - you can set the value of the VID and Priority fields for the LAN and PC ports separately - and QoS.
As for security protocols, the phones support OpenVPN, SIP over TLS (SIPS), as well as SRTP voice traffic encryption. However, it should be remembered that the chips on which the youngest model SP-R50P is built do not support hardware encryption.
Akuvox IP phones can be configured and controlled using the on-screen menu and the web interface. In the OSD menu, only the most basic settings are available, there are no complaints about their usability. First of all, it's worth saying thanks to Yealink programmers who created such a convenient and thoughtful menu, and in Akuvox its structure was almost completely copied
Akuvox phones web interface is also similar to Yealink interface in its structure, but, oddly enough, it is even more convenient to use it. Firstly, the main menu of Akuvox is vertical, not horizontal, like Yealink, which is a bit more familiar. Secondly, in sections with a large number of settings, they are divided into subgroups, which are much more visually distinct from each other than Yealink. In general, this is the case when a student surpassed his teacher.
Naturally, the devices also support centralized configuration using an autotune server, which can work using FTP, TFTP, HTTP and HTTPS protocols. Phones can receive the server address in various ways. This is the PnP function, which is implemented by sending a SIP Subscribe message to the SIP Multicast address 224.0.1.75. Phones can also get the server address using DHCP options (by default 66 and 43, however you can use any of the range 128 - 254). Finally, the address of the auto-configuration server for phones can be specified manually in the web interface.
As for managing and monitoring the operation of the phones, support for TR-069 and SNMP protocols can help. There is also the possibility of setting the logging level, remote storage of the event log, its export, configuration upload / download, and capture of network packets for analysis.
With russification at Akuvox IP phones, things are different for the time being. If the phones of the two low-end models SP-R50 (P) and SP-R52 (P) support the Russian language, the latest firmware for the SP-R53 (P) and SP-R55P / G models of the Russian language has not yet been found. Apparently, this is only a matter of time, since the manufacturer is clearly focused on the Russian market. Excellent proof of this is the presence of Russian letters on the keys of the dialer (even for models without the support of the Russian language). For example, the Grandstream phones sold in Russia for a long time have no such thing. As for packaging and documentation, for now this is all presented in English only.
Akuvox has no problems with the support of phone books. Each model has a local book with 500 entries, and contacts can be divided into groups. There is support from two to five (depending on the model) remote phone books with the ability to search by them. And finally, there is the ability to synchronize the phone book with the LDAP directory.
So, we got acquainted with the budget models of IP-phones of a new manufacturer in the Russian market - the Akuvox company. The advantages of these devices include the availability of all the necessary functionality, ease of use and configuration, as well as high quality of communication (with the exception of the SP-R50 model). The disadvantages are the lack of Russification of the SP-R53 (P) and SP-R55P / G models and, perhaps, not the most modern appearance. Given the very acceptable pricing, it is a very good result for a new company.
Some models, such as the SP-R52 and SP-R52P, can be safely recommended for purchase right now. For the models SP-R53 and SP-R55, it makes sense to wait for the Russification to be released, if the presence of the Russian language is crucial for users. And the SP-R50 (P) model is quite suitable for those companies that do not plan to use the G.722 wideband codec. As for the more expensive and status models of Akuvox IP phones, we will get to know them in the next article.
Meet: Akuvox is a subsidiary of the Chinese manufacturing giant Star-net Group. The latter, judging by the information on its website, is a leading provider of corporate-class communication and networking solutions for the Chinese domestic market. The company's office is located in the city of Xiamen, which is typical, not far from the office of another, but already much more famous, manufacturer of IP-phones - the company Yealink. Akuvox relatively recently entered the international market and, apparently, Russia is one of its priorities, if not the highest priority.
Akuvox currently has two IP phone lines: the fiftieth (SP-R5X) and the sixtieth (SP-6X). In this article we will consider budget phones from the fiftieth series, and more precisely four of the five phones that are included in this model range. Fifth - the most advanced device, as well as the entire sixtieth series, let's leave to the second part of the article. So, meet (from left to right): SP-R50 (P), SP-R52 (P), SP-R53 (P) and SP-R55P / G.
Even a quick glance is enough to understand that Akuvox’s designers and engineers were inspired by Yealink’s creation of these phones. Looking ahead, I note that Akuvox phones have with Yealink phones not only a similar appearance, but also similar software. Good or bad - a moot point. On the one hand, the clearly copied style from other devices cannot be credited with the manufacturer. On the other hand, many new IP phones are similar to each other and, probably, you just need to get used to such borrowings. As for software similarity, from the user's point of view this is only a plus: Yealink phones have proven to be the most stable and convenient to use, and there is nothing surprising in the fact that
Akuvox SP-R50 (P)
Akuvox SP-R50 (P) is the youngest phone model, its equivalent in the Yealink lineup is the SIP-T19 (P) model. The phone comes in two versions - SP-R50P (with PoE support) and SP-R50 (without PoE). Regardless of the modification, the power supply is included in the package. The phone is equipped with two Ethernet ports 10/100 Mbps and an RJ11 connector for connecting a headset. The screen of the SP-R50 (P) is the same as the SIP-T19 (P) - 2.3 inches with a resolution of 132x64 pixels, but with backlighting, which is an important advantage when using the phone on a bright sunny day.
Another difference between the SP-R50 (P) and the SIP-T19 (P) is the support of two SIP accounts instead of one in Yealink. True, the story here is a bit strange: in all descriptions to the phone, support for one SIP account is declared, but in fact, you can have two of them and both will work. However, you cannot manually select the account you need for an outgoing call. Incoming calls can be received on both accounts at the same time without problems.
As for the appearance, the phone looks a bit old-fashioned. The main reason for this is the lack of rounding on the sides of the phone, which makes it look fatter than it actually is. However, it is worth remembering that the SP-R50 (P) is a budget IP-phone, whose main task is not to look good, but to make regular calls. Speaking of the budget: the retail price of a model without PoE is 57 dollars, a model with PoE is three dollars more expensive.
Akuvox SP-R52 (P)
The analogue of Akuvox SP-R52 (P) in the line of Yealink IP phones is the SIP-T21 (P) model. Moreover, the similarity here is even more obvious than that of the youngest models, primarily due to the light edging of the display. Similarly, the phone is available in two versions - with and without PoE support. The whole difference between the SP-R52 (P) and the SP-R50 (P) is, in fact, the presence of two LED line selection keys. Therefore, it can be said that the support of two SIP accounts is full-fledged, unlike the younger model. The voice mail access key also appeared, also with LED indication, which lights up when there are new messages.
All the rest of the two junior phones of the series is identical - a small backlit display, two hundred-megabit network ports, a headset jack, the number and location of the function and control keys. Due to the already mentioned light edging of the display, the phone looks more interesting. But the case itself remained the same as the SP-R50 (P) with its chopped edges and straight sidewalls, which visually fill the phone. However, the SP-R52 (P) is not so much striking. For the SP-R52 model without PoE support, you will have to pay $ 65, for the SP-R52P - $ 68.
Akuvox SP-R53 (P)
Moving on: the SP-R53 (P) model has not only three full-fledged SIP accounts, but also an increased display, compared to the previous two models. Its diagonal is 2.9 inches, but the resolution remains the same - 132 by 64 pixels, which is why the display's grain is clearly visible. However, the IP phone is not a laptop or a tablet, you don’t need to watch movies on it or surf the Internet. Therefore, it is possible that the inscriptions on the display do not look very aesthetically pleasing, but they are clearly visible and readable, and this is much more important for an IP phone.
If you look for an analogue of Akuvox SP-R53 (P) in the current Yealink model range, then the SIP-T23P phone is best suited for this role. However, most likely, with the release of this model, engineers of Akuvox were inspired by the already discontinued Yealink SIP-T22 (P) device. After all, it, like the SP-R53 (P), was produced in two versions (with and without PoE), and the look of the Akuvox is closer to this phone. The SP-R53P model will cost the Russian consumer $ 81, a modification without PoE is, by tradition, three dollars cheaper - $ 78.
Akuvox SP-R55P / G
The Akuvox SP-R55P / G IP Phone is a cross between two previous SP-R52 (P) and SP-R53 (P) models. From the first he got a small 2.3 inch display, from the second - three independent SIP accounts. As for the appearance, the SP-R55P / G looks much more modern, although everything is made in the same package as all the other models in this series. This was achieved by using a black glossy frame around the display. This is how many modern IP phones look now - both the fortieth Yealink series, the latest Grandstream phones (GXP1628, GXP1630, GXP2170), and Fanvil phones of the new X-series. Despite the excellent appearance, the use of the glossy frame is not very practical - it is clearly visible fingerprints and minor scratches.
Regarding the SP-R55P / G model, it cannot be said that it was copied from another phone - functionally and in appearance it is close to Yealink SIP-T40P, but still, this is another phone. As for the modifications, there are two of them according to the tradition, and both of them support PoE-power. The difference in the network interface - the model SP-R55P has two hundred megabit network ports (and costs $ 76), and the SP-R55G has two gigabits ($ 85).
Ergonomics
We have already discussed the appearance of Akuvox phones, now let's talk about usability. The most important part of any phone in terms of ergonomics is the handset. It is from her design that the impression about the usability of the device is primarily made. But at the same time, the perception of its design strongly depends on the anatomical features of a person - a tube that is comfortable for a large man will have to not like the fragile woman at all, and vice versa. Therefore, the evaluation of this component is always subjective.
I will express two points - I like it when the tube has a strong bend in the middle part, so that it can be lifted from the bottom and not at the sides - this is the time. Secondly, the middle part should be rather thin, so that the fingers completely clasped it and tightly fixed in the hand - these are two. All of the above Akuvox IP phones have the same handset and, unfortunately, neither the first nor the second can be said about it. However, as well as about the majority of IP-phones released in the past few years, since the moment the fashion went on flat and wide tubes. Akuvox does not lag behind fashion - such tubes look really great, but they lie comfortably, in my opinion, only in rather large hands.
But for the composition and location of the functional and control keys, Akuvox engineers and designers can be applauded. They not only took all the best from Yealink phones (namely the hardware redial key and the call forward on / off key), but also added their own “chips”. First of all, this is the “home” key, which returns the phone to the main screen with one touch, no matter how deeply the user gets into the menu. Secondly, this is the "back" key, which also greatly simplifies navigation through the phone menu.
Sound quality
On all Akuvox phones there is an inscription “HD Voice”, which in the modern language of manufacturers means support by the phone of the G.722 wideband codec. And since almost all modern phones (or rather the chips on which they are built) support this codec, two magic letters HD are found on almost every device. Despite the fact that the differences between G.722 and any other narrowband codec are clearly heard even on the highest-quality speakers, you should not overestimate the value of G.722. The fact is that its use is usually limited to communication within the organization. The vast majority of modern VoIP-carriers do not use broadband codecs for voice transmission, and there is no point talking about traditional communication lines (with which many subscribers still work).
Let's go back directly to our Akuvox phones, the sound quality of which left a dual impression. On the one hand, the R52, R53 and R55 models sound very good. Since we are constantly comparing them with Yealink phones, then we note that the sound quality of these three models is in no way inferior, for example, Yealink SIP-T21 E2. And maybe even quite insignificantly and superior, as in the normal mode, and when talking on the speakerphone. The latter, by the way, is really very loud - it feels louder and a half times louder than that of Yealink. The truth is that at maximum levels the phone starts to rattle strongly, nevertheless, perhaps someone with such a powerful speakerphone speaker will have to use it.
But the youngest model Akuvox SP-R50 (P) was a little upset with its sound quality. No, her speakerphone is still loud, but in terms of sound quality, it is inferior to its Yealink SIP-T19 E2 counterpart. This is especially noticeable when using the G.722 codec: the voice encoded by it is very slightly different from the voice in narrowband mode. Considering the fact that the tubes and, obviously, the dynamics of all the Akuvox phones examined are the same, the reason for such a big difference between the models may be in the used hardware.
Iron
The younger model is built on a pair of chips manufactured by DSPG DVFD8187 and DAP1902. This is the most cost-effective solution of the DSPG chip line, designed for IP phones and ATA adapters. For example, the same Yealink uses for its phones a more productive chip from the same series - DVF9918. The used pair of microcontrollers claims support for all modern codecs, including G.722.2, however, I still have the feeling that the lack of iron performance is the cause of the not very good sound quality of the SP-R50 (P) model.
The older models of the fiftieth Akuvox series use completely different chips from a completely different manufacturer - Audiocodes AC495L. This chip is an all-in-one class whose CPU and DSP operate at a frequency of 87.5 MHz, which is less than the DVFD8187 and DAP1902 pairs (220 MHz and 120 MHz, respectively), but they apparently cope with the task of voice coding. The choice of these, not the most popular, chips was somewhat surprised - previously they were seen only in Audiocodes IP phones. But then I remembered that the youngest model Akuvox SP-R50 (P) is also sold under the Audiocodes brand (model 405)! So, all the time we are talking about the similarity of Akuvox with Yealink, but apparently, they have a much closer production relationship with Audiocodes. This, in general, is also not bad, as Audiocodes is far from the latest brand in the market for VoIP equipment.
Network Protocols and Security
All models of Akuvox phones have two network ports that act as a switch, which allows you to connect the phone to the gap between the network socket and the computer. To connect to the network, you can use static settings, DHCP or PPPoE. VLAN is supported - you can set the value of the VID and Priority fields for the LAN and PC ports separately - and QoS.
As for security protocols, the phones support OpenVPN, SIP over TLS (SIPS), as well as SRTP voice traffic encryption. However, it should be remembered that the chips on which the youngest model SP-R50P is built do not support hardware encryption.
Setup and Management
Akuvox IP phones can be configured and controlled using the on-screen menu and the web interface. In the OSD menu, only the most basic settings are available, there are no complaints about their usability. First of all, it's worth saying thanks to Yealink programmers who created such a convenient and thoughtful menu, and in Akuvox its structure was almost completely copied
Akuvox phones web interface is also similar to Yealink interface in its structure, but, oddly enough, it is even more convenient to use it. Firstly, the main menu of Akuvox is vertical, not horizontal, like Yealink, which is a bit more familiar. Secondly, in sections with a large number of settings, they are divided into subgroups, which are much more visually distinct from each other than Yealink. In general, this is the case when a student surpassed his teacher.
Naturally, the devices also support centralized configuration using an autotune server, which can work using FTP, TFTP, HTTP and HTTPS protocols. Phones can receive the server address in various ways. This is the PnP function, which is implemented by sending a SIP Subscribe message to the SIP Multicast address 224.0.1.75. Phones can also get the server address using DHCP options (by default 66 and 43, however you can use any of the range 128 - 254). Finally, the address of the auto-configuration server for phones can be specified manually in the web interface.
As for managing and monitoring the operation of the phones, support for TR-069 and SNMP protocols can help. There is also the possibility of setting the logging level, remote storage of the event log, its export, configuration upload / download, and capture of network packets for analysis.
Russification
With russification at Akuvox IP phones, things are different for the time being. If the phones of the two low-end models SP-R50 (P) and SP-R52 (P) support the Russian language, the latest firmware for the SP-R53 (P) and SP-R55P / G models of the Russian language has not yet been found. Apparently, this is only a matter of time, since the manufacturer is clearly focused on the Russian market. Excellent proof of this is the presence of Russian letters on the keys of the dialer (even for models without the support of the Russian language). For example, the Grandstream phones sold in Russia for a long time have no such thing. As for packaging and documentation, for now this is all presented in English only.
Notebooks
Akuvox has no problems with the support of phone books. Each model has a local book with 500 entries, and contacts can be divided into groups. There is support from two to five (depending on the model) remote phone books with the ability to search by them. And finally, there is the ability to synchronize the phone book with the LDAP directory.
Conclusion
So, we got acquainted with the budget models of IP-phones of a new manufacturer in the Russian market - the Akuvox company. The advantages of these devices include the availability of all the necessary functionality, ease of use and configuration, as well as high quality of communication (with the exception of the SP-R50 model). The disadvantages are the lack of Russification of the SP-R53 (P) and SP-R55P / G models and, perhaps, not the most modern appearance. Given the very acceptable pricing, it is a very good result for a new company.
Some models, such as the SP-R52 and SP-R52P, can be safely recommended for purchase right now. For the models SP-R53 and SP-R55, it makes sense to wait for the Russification to be released, if the presence of the Russian language is crucial for users. And the SP-R50 (P) model is quite suitable for those companies that do not plan to use the G.722 wideband codec. As for the more expensive and status models of Akuvox IP phones, we will get to know them in the next article.