You might wonder why Polycom would be releasing a consumer product. The company is best known for its business-oriented teleconferencing equipment, especially its tri-cornered phones that let a room full of people participate without the usual audio feedback problems. Polycom has taken that same conference-room expertise and applied it to the Polycom Communicator ($129 list price), which brings conference-phone capabilities to your Skype-equipped notebook or desktop computer.
It plugs into any USB port with a lightweight cable that folds back into the unit when you’re done. The front-mounted buttons adjust the volume up and down, mute the microphone, run the Skype program on your computer, and hang up the phone. It has a stereo headphone jack for private conversations, as well as a slim carry case for easy portability. Given Skype’s rock-bottom prices for domestic and overseas phone calls, this would be an excellent way to add phone service to your WiFi or cellular-modem equipped laptop.
I found the audio quality to be very good on my end, though someone on the other end of a call mentioned the audio sounded a bit tinny. That was probably a result of the Skype Internet connection, not the fault of the Communicator, as the built-in speaker and dual microphones seemed fine when I used them for other computer-based functions.