Firstly there are two generation of phones:
- Tanjay (originally released with OCS 2007)
- Touchscreen
- Expenses
- Now end of life (EOL)
- Full AD logon
- No Contact Photo
- Aries (release with Lync Server 2010)
- Non Touchscreen
- Pin Logon
- Lower price point
- Contact Photos
Secondly there are four manufacturers of devices:
- LG-Nortel (Tanjay device only) – no longer available
- Aastra (Aries device only)
- HP (Aries devices Only)
- Polycom (Tanjay and Aries devices)
Thirdly with the Aries device there are three classes devices
- Common Area Phone (Aastra/HP/Polycom)
- Desk Phone / Information Worker Phone (Aastra/HP/Polycom)
- Conference Device (Polycom Only)
All Aries devices largely run the same software, for the most part the key differences between the desk phone and common area phones are:
- USB Port for connect to PC for pairing and USB audio
- Two-Ethernet Ports (although Aastra and HP have this on their common area phones too)
- Speaker Phone although HP have this on their common area phone)
- 10/100/1000 Gigabit Port (vs 10/100 only) (although Aastra and HP have this on their common area phones too)
- Presence Indicator (although Aastra have this on their common area phone too)
- Message waiting indictor (MWI) aka voicemail light (although Aastra and HP have this on their common area phones too)
- Speaker Phone (although HP has this on their common area phone and Polycom’s has listen only)
- Headset port
- One click conference call join
- View Outlook Calendar
For further details see ‘Lync IP Phones Comparison Table.pdf’ in Unified Communications Phones and Peripherals Datasheets
http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=16857
