Choosing the right headset can be tough.
Where do you start when searching for the right kind of telephone headset? Wired or wireless telephone headsets, cheap or quality?
It can be a mine field if you don’t do the ground work first. The best and simplest way to do this is to answer the following questions in order to ensure you are buying the correct headset for you!
Cost –
This is first as the cost affects all the following sections. Do you have a budget in mind e.g. less than £55 (cheap telephone headsets), £79 + (professional quality office telephone headsets)
Noise Cancelling
Is it noisy where you work, are there people either side of you who you can hear when talking to someone on the phone? All our headsets are noise cancelling and is pretty much standard now across all the major professional headset manufacturers.
Comfort
You get what you pay for in most cases, the cheaper they are, the less attention to build quality and ergonomics (comfort design, call quality etc) goes into the headset. The major telephone headset manufacturers spend millions of pounds on design and technology.
Quality
Does the headset need to last, does it have to be durable and be used on a regular basis, for long periods of time?
One ear or two?
Monaural headsets (one ear) make up over 90% of the market , Binaural (two ear) headsets tend to be used where it is noisey and concentration on the call is essential.
Wired or Wireless
Wired headsets are often less expensive and can offer better sound quality in some headsets. They do not require batteries as they are powered by the phone. They make up about 75% of the headset market. Wireless headsets are “hands free” allowing you to roam around the office, desk or warehouse etc freely. They are usually more money and connect with all phones via Bluetooth.
They require charging on a regular basis as they are powered by a battery, talk time and overall battery life differs from one headset manufacturer to another. “We will happily show you the different battery life and features of all our Wireless headsets, just ring us”
Connectivity What are you connecting to?
Make and Model
Firstly we need to know the make and model e.g. Cisco 7960G IP telephone
Analogue or Digital
Wireless or wired is fine, you may need a headset switch or amplifier (see Headset Myths below) if the headset does not have its own dedicated port or jack for the headset. Older phones don’t, newer phones do “as a rule of thumb”
VOIP - IP telephone
Wireless or Wired is fine but IP handsets usually require increased amplification for better call quality. They often require Wideband headsets that work on a wideband frequency to allow for better call clarity, just tell us your phone model and we can suggest some examples. PC or Soft phone – you will need a USB headset
Brand
We tend to be creatures of habit where brands are concerned and we often come across the larger businesses that will specify a particular brand and will not shift away from that brand no matter what! Is this right or wrong? Well telephone headset technology moves at a swift pace, especially in the top manufacturers like Jabra, Plantronics, Sennheiser / EPOS and Altesys. They are always trying to develop better call quality, build quality, comfort and to a degree, price!
Our professional opinion is to organise a free trial with a few headsets from us for a week or so, pass them around the staff that will be using them and see what fits.
Don’t get too carried away with “But we have always used Plantronics headsets”
Use your own experience, to choose the right headset for your business.
Headset Myths
All telephones have dedicated headset jacks or ports (to plug the headset into)
Wrong, many older phones require you to connect the headset by removing the receiver by taking the curly cord out and plugging the headset directly into the port where the receiver was originally. “The problem with this is you do not have the use of the receiver and can only hear a call when the headset is being used”
Solution – get a headset handset switch, this sits between the phone and the headset. It allows the use of the headset and receiver by simply pressing either handset or headset but you still have to lift the receiver and place at the side of the phone in order for the headset to work.
Note: The new breed of telephone have dedicated headset ports and even EHS (Electronic Hook Switch) this enables a wireless headset to automatically answer and finish a call remotely, but only if you are using a wireless Bluetooth headset.
More questions? Just ring us on 0800 644 0424 and we will try our very best to ensure you choose a telephone headset that fits your requirements.