Customer Reviews:
Showing reviews 6-10 of 34
 Not good for the long haul October 17, 2002
Bridget Sullivan (Chicago)
6 out of 9 found this review helpful
When I bought this phone about two years ago I was excited, expecting for the price that it would be a great speakerphone and have other good features.All during my phone usage people I talk to through the speakerphone say it's echo-ey. My my office may be a bad place for a speakerphone. Along with some other reviewers, I have found the volume too low. In the past year:
The ringer on line one has stopped working,
The hand set has stopped working,
The headset has begun to squeak in a piecing tone. Overall, I'm in the market for a new phone, and this one is not on my list! Especially for the price--no way.
 Great Speaker phone January 31, 2003
6 out of 9 found this review helpful
Got this phone because of the great success I had with Polycom phone systems in conference rooms accross Enterpise America. I am not disappointed. It is VERY loud and everyone has said I sound great. I think the echo-ing is a function of room dynamics. Mine are fine, but I have been in rooms where this has been a problem. If you like multi-tasking while on the phone, this is your phone (and mine). Full-Duplex is a must.
Big disappointment February 10, 2004
5 out of 12 found this review helpful
bought two. returned both. first unit broke after two days of light use, and was completely non-functional. Second unit confirmed performance issues I had with the first before it broke, so it was returned as well. The speakerphone's full duplex action is not nearly as good as the marketing suggests. The microphone is rather weak, so my listeners tell me. The unit runs very hot all the time, which is a little worrisome. And even the handset doesn't give good voice transmission. i recorded a message with the handset and then listened to it, and it was mediocre quality. Sounded like I was on a headset, not the handset. Wish this thing was as good as it looked. Still looking for a true top of the line quality 2-line speakerphone without voice mail.
 Polycom SE-225 ... Simply the best.... worth every penny April 18, 2006
D. Romo (Dallas, Texas United States)
4 out of 5 found this review helpful
In short, this is the best phone I've used in over 20 years of telecom experience and selling over the phone. The sound quality is the best I have ever had... by far... and I have used everything from Nortel, Lucent, AT&T, Panasonic, Motorola, etc... The speakerphone is flawless in both directions (the receive side is particularly good with richer bass and smooth treble frequencies).
I like the whole "feel" of the unit. The keys have a soft but positive-feeling touch to them, and it is difficult to mis-dial because of inadvertent double entries from the key pad. Practically every key provides a unique "one button" function (i.e., speed dial, choose a line, etc..) and it is easy to begin a new call or drop an old one off the 3-way conference function.
I also love the ease with which one can move from handset to speakerphone to headset... and without the slightest chirp to the far end letting them know you are changing postions or putting them on mute. It's as easy as pressing a button. And you don't need to leave the handset off-hook when using the speakerphone. That's really nice!
The only criticisms I have about the unit are:
1) No backlight in the LCD screen (not a biggy, but makes me position it differently in my office)
2) Too long a button sequence to go through in order to check missed incoming calls (5 button presses)
Other than that, it is perfect, and well worth the $200 you will pay to get one (check eBay for deals, though). Do yourself a favor and buy one; you won't be disappointed.
No silver bullet but closest I've found December 11, 2006
Rich G (Salem, MA)
4 out of 4 found this review helpful
The smallest things irk me so don't be too put off. Have had this one for 2 wks, been looking and trying misc brands for 6 months. Would buy Polycom again. It's a well made phone that performs admirably, esp in speakerphone. The 225 is the same as the 220 except it has more (99 vs 10?) memory number storage. Only 10 are true 2-key speed-dial though (a 2-button process, press the "speed dial" button then a number 0-9. You can scroll thru your 99 stored entries then hit speed dial button but that's not really speed dialing, ie there are no memory registers 11-99. In addition the 225 has a single cable to the phone that incorporates power and a single 4-wire L1+L2 connector...nice.
The good:
=Line in use by you is green, by another is red. Flashing red means message waiting on the Ma-bell or VOIP answering service. Easy to quickly see and discern what's what.
= We have a VOIP line and a Verizon landline; it works fine on both. Volume and all else is equal.
= No need to press line1/2 to get dial tone before dialing. Just start dialing digits and phone automatically activates the line. This is a love-hate thing. If you make a mistake dialing you can't go back 1 digit to correct and when ready then press Line1 to activate and dial like the Siemens gigaset (junk quality and 2.4GHz which is bad btw but that's another rant)
= Speakerphone quality great - people say they didn't know they were on one until I asked them.
= Timer to know duration of call as it progresses. Does not save call's elapsed time after you hang up and review past call list tho.
= Ring tones are great - nice selection and the ability to choose something that isn't jolting. The ring volume can be lowered to quite a nice low setting (or off for each line) which makes the key-beep/speakerphone volume minimum setting problem that much more apparent. see below.
The bad:
= I wish I could lower the volume of the key-beep when dialing, as well as the speakerphone itself. While not obnoxious, in a quiet home office near a sleeping room, you'd wish for a lower minimum setting. I have yet to find a way to disable the key beep - not sure you can.
= The LCD screen is a tad too flatly positioned. Anything more than 2 ft away from you and you'll have trouble reading it. Not a deal-breaker, you can see fine in a traditional setting, but worth a mention.
= Keypad and other function buttons not backlit.
= No speed-dial template to write down who is on the list. I taped a skinny piece of paper to the handset with my 1-10 entries.
*note not in manual: when formatting numbers from incoming calls before adding to speed dial list, press the # key enough times and you will see an option to strip the (1) prefix from a 10-digit number...a handy thing for VOIP users.
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