While there are bajillions of USB Skype phones available now and more are coming out every day. While they may work well with Skype, they typically don’t work very well with regular SIP or IAX softphones, and even then, most have simply horrible call quality. Quite some time ago we reviewed the Duet 250 speakerphone which blew our socks off and has ever since had a permanent home in my laptop bag. Recently, Polycom released the Communicator C100 which is also a USB speakerphone that works with both Skype and regular softphones. While our first thought was that Polycom had finally jumped the shark with such a low-end device, we decided to try it out and see how it really performed.

Features
The Polycom Communicator C100 is a USB powered speakerphone for use for softphones on Windows XP based systems. The front of the device features call pickup/hangup key, application launch key, volume adjustment keys and a mute button. When muted, the ring around the keys glows red.
The unit features dual high frequency response cardioid microphones, a 3.5mm headphone jack and built-in USB cable. The Communicator features automatic gain control and dynamic noise reduction.

• Size: 5.25” x 3.24” x 0.85”
• Weight: 5.4 ounces
• Interface: USB 1.1
• Call Pickup/Hang-up key
• Application Launch key
• Volume Up/Down keys
• Mute key
• LED light-ring for indication of call status
• Speaker Freq. Response: 300 Hz to 19 Hz
• 2 cardioid microphones 200 Hz to 10 kHz
• 3.5 mm headphone jack
• Automatic Gain Control
• Dynamic Noise Reduction
• Gated microphones with intelligent switching
• Full duplex operation
• Carry Case

Setup
There really isn’t much setup to do besides plugging the device into an available USB port on your computer. Under Windows XP, the Communicator will automatically be detected as a USB sound device and is then ready for use with any software that uses standard Windows sound calls. This means that the Polycom Communicator can also act as a sound card for PC games and is a great microphone for recording audio such as podcasts.

With the integrated USB cable, you will never be stuck looking for a lost cable again, simply wind it back up when you are finished and close the cover to secure it away.

Usage
The Polycom Communicator functions very nicely as an external sound device and the quality of the sound on both recording and playback is simply superb. Of course no test is complete without making a bunch of phone calls via a softphone. While several popular softphones where tested, the majority of the calls were placed with Counterpath’s X-Lite.

Besides Skype, our testbed was different trixbox systems running Asterisk Open Source PBX software. One system was connected to over the internet and then dialed out using a PRI circuit. The second was a local machine using VoIP providers and PSTN lines.

Using VOIP providers and PRI circuits the call quality outstanding on both sides and the full duplex operation was flawless. Calling out on a system over a traditional POTS line wasn’t quite as good as was to be expected as the capabilities of the Communicator far surpass the quality of cheap analog lines.

Results
The Polycom Communicator retails for around $149 which is about the same cost as the lower-end Polycom IP phones. This may seem like quite a high price for a simple USB speakerphone but there is nothing cheap or low-end feeling about the device. You get outstanding audio quality on both sides of the conversation as well as being able to use it for audio playback and recording. The integrated USB cable tucks away nicely in the back and means you will always have it available when you need it. Compared with more expensive dedicated speakerphone product, the Polycom Communicator CS100 is an excellent device at a very good price. If you use Skype or another softphone and you need a speakerphone device, you cannot go wrong with the Polycom Communicator. You can also use it as the microphone and plug in a standard cell phone headset into the jack on the side for when you need privacy.