In addition to the Rove, which is a brand new line, Poly has also announced the refresh of another DECT series, the Savi 7300.
The Poly Rove family
Unified communications vendor Poly has made a pair of DECT phone announcements, introducing a brand new series, the Poly Rove, and updating another, the Savi 7300.
Poly positions its DECT phones for voice-centric use cases, which are especially attractive in certain types of physical environments.
“For pure voice communications, DECT is really good,” said Chris Thorson, Senior Director of Global Solutions Marketing at Poly. “The downside is that it wasn’t designed for much data, but as a voice-centric tech, was very good for what it did. It even travels through brick well. DECT doesn’t compete with anything, unlike WiFi, and does everything from a voice perspective. You might need another network for data, but for voice in certain types of environment, like assisted living, retail, light industrial and auto dealerships, it’s an ideal technology.”
Rove’s ideal use case is for shift workers in these environments, where its Microban protection and IP 65 ruggedness level equip it to be a shared device between workers on different shifts.
“Rove isn’t for the kind of people in a business who get a company cell phone, but for front-line shift-based workers,” Thorson indicated. “This kind of device doesn’t leave the premises. If I’m working in a small flower shop where I move in a restricted area, I don’t need this, but if I’m a manager in a pizza place, where I’m moving between the customer service area and the back where the pizzas are made, then I might.”
It’s definitely a very different use case than the various Savi series of DECT phones that Poly also makes.
“Savi is for an individual in a contact centre type of space, and allows them to move a couple hundred of feet,” Thorson said. “Rove is designed around a phone model. Savi is a wearing device, that has to be connected to something. Rove has more than one base station, and is a system to provide sitewide coverage.”
Poly is emphasizing its exclusive partnership with Microban, and its built-in technology for a cleaner phone surface, as Rove’s major differentiator in the market.
“Microban inhibits the growth of bacteria without impacting the device itself,” Thorson stated. “It is baked in when it is manufactured. It doesn’t actually kill bacteria, but it does stop it from replicating, and so stops it from growing.”
Look for Microban to appear in other Poly devices in the future, Thorson added.
“This is the first of a direction that we are going towards,” he said. “We want to emphasize the health and safety factors from cleanliness.” Poly has an exclusive deal with Microban, although Thorson noted that Microban has competitors that Poly competitors might partner with if they chose to do so.
“Microban is also only one piece of the Rove’s differentiation in the DECT market,” Thorson stressed. “The technology also scales up, and can support over 1000 headsets. That’s another way we will win.” It also includes standard Poly features like pro-grade audio with HD voice, and enhanced background noise suppression for premium call clarity. The Rove has two members in the family, the Poly Rove 30 and the Poly Rove 40.
Poly has also announced the refresh of the Savi 7300 Office Series of DECT headsets for the contact centre market. It slots into the middle of the Savi line, under the 8300 at the top.
“The Savi 7300 now has some new guts, which enable it to fill a space in our lineup where we had a bit of a gap,” Thorson said. “We had three-way connectivity with the 8300, and single connectivity on the low end. This gives us dual connectivity – phone and PC – in the middle space, and also gives us a little better density than we had before.”
The Savi 730 features Polycom Acoustic Fence technology, which uses echo cancellation and multiple microphones to block noises from outside the ‘acoustic fence,’ which led to its being awarded the Microsoft Teams Open Office certification. The improves density in this version also lets more people to work in the same area without being overheard.
Both the Poly Rove and the new Savi 7300 are available now.
