BeoCom 5 is a fixed line/VOIP (Voice Over Internet Protocol) speaker phone offering the usual high-quality Bang & Olufsen sound quality. Replete with a 400-contact electronic phonebook, customisation possibilites allow for individual family-member storage of personal telephone numbers and personalisation.

Display versatility, nine different colour displays and a choice of ring tones make the BeoCom 5 stand out from the crowd; a total of eight handsets may be added to each phone system when used with the BeoLine 2.

The telephone also offers the possibility of using two separate phone lines and/or IP telephony, permitting the user to combine a normal landline with IP telephony (see below). BeoCom 5 - as speakerphone - also allows others to join in conversations without having to use the handset.

Taking inspiration from existing Bang & Olufsen automotive sound system loudspeaker design, the hands-free speaker phone is a circular cabinet with a top surface manufactured from a curved, perforated anodised aluminium sheet.

In creating the speakerphone a full-duplex solution was used in order to offer more natural voice reproduction. The materials used for the hands-free speaker unit were selected from so-called ‘dead’ materials which offer no acoustic reasonance. The loudspeaker design within is based on a closed-box principle which offers excellent reproduction with enhanced bass.

Ringing out loud & clear

Eight individual pre-recorded ringtones are available for the user to choose from.

Colour me blue…

…and red, green, yellow, turquoise, light blue, orange, purple and white. To differentiate between individual handsets in a system, the colour of the display text and graphical elements may be selected from nine different predefined colour themes, the default being white:

“The individual colour theme is only revealed when the handset is activated, giving each handset a distinct visual expression and supplementing the original design in an unobtrusive way. In standby, the display will return to black, expressing both elegance and mystery, and when placed in the charger, only the dimmed clock reveals the chosen colour. This way it is possible for each family member to have their own personal handset.”

Two lines are better than one

BeoCom 5 allows two separate telephone lines to be used in the same phone system. This could be useful for different family members or for separating work calls from private calls.

The telephone is intended to function with its own dedicated base, BeoLine 2. The base - which includes a built-in 400-number electronic phonebook - may be connected to two separate lines on a network simultaneously making it possible for two external calls to be accessed at the same time.

A maximum of eight handsets may be used within one system and differing handsets can be active at the same time. In this way, for example, two external calls and one internal (intercom) call may be handled simultaneously.

Also supporting VOIP, BeoCom 5 may be connected to the Internet for cheap Internet telephony calls. The phone can also utilise a normal telephone line at the same time.

Advantages of the BeoCom 5 two-line system include the following alternative solutions:

•     2 VOIP lines

•     2 fixed lines (PSTN) or

•     1 VOIP line and 1 PSTN line

The right connections

BeoCom 5 can be used as a two-line phone only when registered to its dedicated BeoLine 2 base. However, it is also possible to use BeoCom 5 with earlier BeoLine base models, as well as the previous BeoCom 6000/BeoCom 2 base, but it will then only work as a ‘one telephone line’ handset. BeoCom 5 will only support those functions that the base to which it is registered supports.

As far as Bang & Olufsen mobile phones are concerned, the phonebook in BeoLine 2 may be synchronised with the electronic phonebook in the Serene. Automatic synchronisation between the Serene and BeoCom 5 is made each time the Serene is placed with its dedicated docking station (and vice versa). This function does not work between the BeoCom 5 and the Serenata as this particular mobile phone does not function within a DECT system.