Polycom Disability FeaturesWorking with an issue of accessibility will always present its issues but many of the top manufacturers of telecoms equipment have incorporated features into their products in order to allow those with limitations of hearing, visibility or mobility to play an active and fulfilling role in the office.

Here at Best4Systems we have a long track record in supplying telecoms equipment to businesses far and wide and have come to understand how certain features can help – here we look at Polycom products and view which accessibility features have been included and what additional ones are available.

Polycom Accessibility Features

Polycom has many accessibility features built in as standard on its ranges of conferencing and business telephones. The standard features are :

  • Keypads include an easy to find number 5 key
  • All models are hearing aid compatible
  • LCD models have customisable backlighting for those with visual impairment
  • all models include visual alerts for those with hearing difficulties

SoundPoint IP Telephones include the following features, which include visual message indicator, adjustable ring and tone and call volumes, visual notifications, electronic hookswitch support, headset memory mode, hearing aid compatible handsets and TTY ( telephone typewriter ) support. For those with mobility concerns there are features such as ‘auto answer’ in which a SoundPoint IP phone will automatically answering a call without the necessity of having to lift a handset – just routing them through the integral Speakerphone. This feature can also be enabled to transfer and answer calls straight to telephone headset should the wearer wish. Further SoundPoint phones have large, clearly labelled keys with a good spacing ( very good for those with impairments with dexterity ) and feature keys have lights to make them more accessible whilst the phones themselves have adjustable stands for ease of use.

Polycom conference phones also have considered a host of features for the hearing, vision or mobility impaired operators. Further to the accessibility features above, the conference phones also have the option on several models to share the phone line with a TTY system ( Parallel Connection ) whilst some units have an additional audio out option to allow hearing impaired users to use the conference phones with ease. Mobility impaired users will benefit from Polycom’s inclusion of the large keys which incorporate a positive keypress action so that the user distinctly feels that a key has been pressed.

As above these features have been carried over in abundance into Polycom’s VVX business media phone range as well as the CX Series, which, (on the CX500, CX600, CX700 and CX3000 models), include clear and bright visual ringing capability

It is always refreshing to see that large corporations take into account the needs of all potential users and we at Best4Systems are always happy to advise on best practices in deployment of telephone systems and equipment in order to make every employee as happy and productive as possible.

View our Polycom Phones here

Polycom Accessibility Document