Here’s a throwback: Verizon is launching a new LTE cellular phone, but it’s not your typical smartphone. It’s a phone that looks and feels like a desk phone, but it’s got LTE and eSIM for maximum mobility and easy set-up.
Verizon Business and Yealink announced the One Talk T67LTE wireless desk phone, based on the Android operating system. It’s available with Verizon’s One Talk service, which was launched about five years ago.
It’s a business phone system in the cloud but designed from the ground up to be mobile-first, according to Alex Doyle, executive director, Advanced Communications Products at Verizon. It’s not as easy as one might think to make a desktop phone that’s “mobile-first.” Most business phone systems today are wireline-oriented, and the biggest challenge here is making it work with existing infrastructure.
The One Talk service runs over the Verizon wireless network, but a lot of customers don’t use Verizon for their last-mile broadband.
In fact, it’s a first in that the One Talk desk phone is built and deployed to make it look and feel like a smartphone. It uses eSIM technology and over-the-air connectivity.