Logitech QuickCall USB VoIP Speakerphone

8 out of 10 - Excellent
Great Big Sound, Great Big Speakerphone!
This is the latest addition to my Home Center PC, and a perfect solution for PC VOIP conference calling.

My

...
This is the latest addition to my Home Center PC, and a perfect solution for PC VOIP conference calling.

My PC started as pretty standard living room HTPC. Since my family was already using Skype on our various laptops to make calls, it seemed a logical progression to use the living room machine for family conference calls to friends and relatives.

My first attempt involved using a fairly average webcam with a built in microphone and the existing 5.1 speaker setup to make an ad-hoc speakerphone setup.
Unfortunately, the sound was brutal, with echo and volume problems plaguing us constantly.

I knew there had to be somthing better out there, and started researching.
What I found were either expensive enough to rival a decent PC upgrade, or cheap looking pieces of plastic that looked like they belonged in my daughters toy box.

Finally I found 2 excellent looking solutions, both from Logitech. The first was Logitechs EasyCall Desktop set, including wireless mouse, headset, keyboard, and base-station/speakerphone.
As nice as it looked, I had no interest in replacing my Belkin MediaPilot HTPC keyboard, so on to option two.

Enter the Logiech QuickCall Speakerphone. It's esentially the speakerphone from he EasyCall set, minus the rest of the set.
It retails for a bit less than $100, but you can usually find one on eBay for around $50.

The first thing I noticed when I opened the box was the sheer size of the thing.
In these days of excessive packaging I don't typically expect new hardware to take up more than about half the space in the box it comes in, so I was supprised to pull out somthing about the size of two decent sized paperback novels stacked together, which almost completely filled the box.

Anyway, the black casing with silver trim looks stylish enough to blend in with the rest of my HTPC setup, and it feels nice and durable. Several warnings on the packaging warn not to plug in the unit until after installing the software.

Now one thing I had discovered in my research was that both the QuickCall and EasyCall systems are Skype compatible, but due to some sort of licensing issues, the North American versions of both units have this abillity diabled and are instead set-up to work with AOL and Yahoo.
For the Quick Call it's a simple matter of downloading and installing the Brittish version of the CallCenter software instead of the included US version.
For the EasyCall it's a bit more invloved so google "UberOptions" for more info.

Setup was simple, with step-by-step instructions. Plug in the single USB connection when prompted, and away you go!
The only warning here is that it must be plugged into a POWERED USB port. Plugging it into a non-powered port results in a series of error messages.

Then it's a simple matter of running the configuration wizard and you're all set!

Now, using it is super simple and using the UK version, it integrates seamlessly and transparently with Skype.

A few test calls confirmed Logitechs claims of superior call quality. No echo, and crytal clear calling every time!
The only problem I had here is that I had planned to have the speakerphone next to my TV, about 5-10 feet from the seating in my living room, but it seems the QuickCall was optimized for about 2-5 feet distance from the speaker, so I'll probably end up with the unit on one of my end tables.

All around an excellent product for anyone needing a good VOIP speakerphone for a good price! Read more
by smnc (see profile) - July 16, 2007