Designer: Gideon Lindinger-Lowy

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BeoCom 750

Bang & Olufsen BeoCom 750

In the mid 1980s, Bang & Olufsen entered the field of telecommunications. This was partly because of the merging of the applied technologies and partly because the company needed to acquire experience in digital communication. This led to the formation of a separate company, DIAX, for the development of digital telephone exchanges. Later followed the formation of TELECOM for the purpose of developing telephones for consumers.

‘Bang & Olufsen Telecom’ began production of telephones in 1986 following an approach from the then Jydsk Telefon. Inspired by B&O’s proven competence within the audio-video segment, the Danish telecommunications company was eager to exploit this expertise within the field of telephones, especially in terms of design and sound. Seeing telephony and telecommunications as future areas of interest – and anticipating steadily increasing convergence between telecommunications and the A/V systems of the future – the Group formed a partnership with Jydsk Telefon.

In addition, B&O had experience with transmitting sound to the ear – via earphones. The result – Beocom 750 – broke with all conventional telephones in terms of design, sound and functionality. Launched in Jydsk Telefon’s teleshops in December 1986, Beocom 750 was adopted by other telecommunications companies after only a few months in the market. In April 1987, the first Beocom 750 was exported.

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BeoCom 600

Bang & Olufsen BeoCom 2000

BeoCom 600, the classic telephone from Bang & Olufsen… what else is there to say?

A well-equipped telephone with superb sound quality. The design is truly timeless. BeoCom 600 is a simplified version of the BeoCom 2000 and lacks the extensive display and memory facilities but has the same sound quality. In addition to high sound quality and ergonomic design, it has a display, short number memory, call waiting loudspeakers, listening-in function and volume control.

The ergonomically arranged keypad with large easy touch buttons makes using BeoCom 600 a delight from the very start. With a bass reflex speaker in the handset, 10 numbers in memory, 3 quick call keys, last number redial, volume control, microphone mute (for secrecy), tone ringer with 2 settings plus off.

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Beocom 2100

Bang & Olufsen Beocom 2100

Good business is also about good communication. The telephone and the computer are important work tools for any business. As they sit side-by-side on your desk anyway, it makes sense to connect them and extend the capabilities of both. With BeoCom 2100, when a customer calls your business, his file on your computer’s database is automatically displayed. (The phone was not available in the UK).

BeoCom 2100 has a capacity for up to 250 individual entries, dependent upon the length of the telephone number and name. These can also be accessed and edited directly via the computer screen. The Caller ID function requires connection to a direct line

A matter of choice

BeoCom 2100 is a telephone for the home office, the small business or anything in between. It’s the first telephone to be built specifically around the services offered by the telephone companies and gives you one-button access to the services and functions you use the most

Functions and options

But it’s not only the improved access to external services that makes BeoCom 2100 a special telephone; it contains its own 250 name and number electronic telephone book and includes a headset connection and the opportunity for hands free operation

ISDN enhanced by Beoline 1200

The role of BeoCom 2100 in an office setting is further enhanced when it’s combined with a Beoline 1200 adapter. This makes it possible for traditional analogue equipment to communicate digitally via an ISDN connection Available in: Denmark, Netherlands and Sweden (2001) – Not available in the UK

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BeoCom 2000

Bang & Olufsen BeoCom 2000

Beocom 2000, the classic telephone from Bang & Olufsen… what else is there to say?

Beocom 2000 was unlike anything which had been introduced by Bang & Olufsen before.

All the parts of the phone were made by the company itself and not imported from other manufacturers. A well-equipped telephone with extraordinary sound quality, a tradition carried on with all of the Beocom range of telephones.

The design is truly timeless. The display gave information on which number your were calling and the time connected. All standard functions were of course, also available, like volume control and numeric memories, and for the more advanced user there was a special headset available!

This phone was also available in a more simple version, Beocom 600, which didn’t have the display but had the same sound quality.

The memory bank of the Beocom 2000 enabled you to store your personal top twenty, and at the touch of just a few buttons you were connected. With display, bass reflex speaker in handset, 20 numbers of memory, quick call key for an often-use or ’emergency’ number, redial of last 3 numbers called, pause function, adjustable volume control, microphone mute (for secrecy), built-in speaker for listening, adjustable tone ringer with 8 settings plus off. There was even a hidden note pad which could be used by raising the lid on the right-hand side of the unit!

Up to 1993 Beocom 2000 was produced with different coloured keys. However, from this time a more mellow design was offered with all the keys complementing each other. On its bright display with large characters the Beocom 2000 could offer you the last three numbers for redialling

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BeoCom 1000

Bang & Olufsen BeoCom 1000

BeoCom 1000 was similar to BeoCom 2000 but it was not fitted with a loudspeaker or an LCD display. This lowered the cost while at the same time offering the usual high quality sound There was a choice of four colours: black, blue, green or red.

Bang & Olufsen did not invent the telephone. They just developed it a little further Bang & Olufsen’s Telecom Vision is to “constantly question the ordinary in search of surprising, long-lasting experiences”

Loudspeaker quality

Earphone coupling loss factor, receiver loudness rating value and acoustic leakage are technical terms that mean little to most telephone users. They are just some of the things that Bang & Olufsen test for to determine the sound quality of a BeoCom telephone.

The enhanced sound of the BeoCom telephone range is the result of Bang & Olufsen’s long-standing specialisation in the miniaturisation of high-performance loudspeakers. Every BeoCom handset contains a built-in pressure chamber loudspeaker that ensures optimal natural sound reproduction while minimising distortion and sound leakage.

But Bang & Olufsen telephones are not only the result of theoretical calculations and complicated acoustical analyses, the final test is the human ear itself. A listening panel made up of people with an extraordinary sense of hearing provides the most crucial evaluation of BeoCom telephones.

Telephone competence: even good telephones have bad days

Telephones are used a lot more than other electronic equipment and sometimes under tougher and more hazardous conditions. Design and technological features mean little if your telephone lets you down when you need it most, so the anticipation of what can happen to a telephone has been turned into a fine art at Bang & Olufsen.

Our telephones are exposed to extremes of heat and cold, we spill coffee over them, blow dust at them, step on them and subject them to a whole series of bumps, vibrations and falls.

And it’s not only the unexpected that’s tested for, a robot assesses daily wear and tear by methodically lifting and replacing the handset of a telephone 100,000 times, while a mechanical finger dials telephone numbers over and over again. In a space of days, we simulate the life of a telephone and everything the modern world may throw at it.