Question:  What are some features of the Plantronics wireless headsets that set them apart?

Answer:  Well, we could talk about 50 years of being a leader in headset design and performance, the ease with which their wireless headsets integrate with most phone systems, they come in styles to fit every need, and did we say unified communications.  Yes, the reasons are many and varied.  Let’s briefly consider these points, and others, that set Plantronics wireless headsets apart.

“That’s one small step for man; one giant leap for mankind”.  By the time Neil Armstrong uttered those now famous words (yes, on a Plantronics headset) Plantronics had already spent several years in designing quality headsets for the aerospace industry (they were the first headset in space).  When they began designing headsets for the office and residential market, they quickly became the industry leader in the headset market.

By the time wireless headsets gained in popularity, Plantronics had established itself as the benchmark in quality and innovation.  Today they continue to lead the way in wireless technology and innovation with voice dedicated 1.9 GHz frequency that eliminates wireless interference, 10 hours of continuous talk time that gets you through your busiest day, 300’ and beyond of roaming distance so you stay connected at all times, to name a few.  Plantronics wireless headsets have over 90% connectivity with all brands of phones.  With convertible, headband and over-the-ear style headsets you’re sure to find one just right for you.  Their latest Savi line of Plantronics wireless headsets designed for the new unified communication technology allows the user to switch seamlessly between their landline phone, computer and mobile phone, opening up limitless multimedia applications and all this at the touch of a button.  So, once again they find themselves in the forefront of cutting edge wireless headset technology.

So, check out the latest in wireless technology at www.headsetsdirect.com or call one of our headset specialists at 800-914-7996 to help you see what Plantronics wireless headsets can do for you.

	1) CS55- With two different wearing styles already included in the package, your choice is what matters.  How will you wear the headset that is the most popular model made by Plantronics?  With uncompromised audio quality that ensures minimal interference from other office wireless systems. The extended boom and noise-canceling microphone enables crystal-clear voice delivery every time you answer the call.  You don’t need to worry about how it feels, it only weighs only 26g, and it comes with a one year warranty.
	2) CS55/Hl10- With the lifter on this headset you can literally be anywhere in the office and answer the phone.  You can wear your headset either over your head or over the ear. Simply by pressing the headset button on your headset the lifter will raise the handset up so that the connection is made.  When you are finished with your call you simply push the button again and the handset lifter will lower your handset.
	3) CS70N- Oh joy of joy, my favorite style of headset.  Voice-dedicated DECT 6.0 technology ensures call privacy with digitally encrypted security.   The CS70N has a light weight over-the-ear design that delivers all day wearing comfort.  Blocks interference from other wireless devices with the voice dedicated 1.8 GHz Dect frequency.   It has a 300-foot range from your desk for getting to the file cabinet or fax machine.  The volume control and mute control on your headset make it easy to control your voice while away from your desk.  With 6 hours of talk time, I simply charge my headset during lunch and I have more than enough for an 8 hour day.  This has a one year warranty, and weighs in at 21g.
	4) W720 – This may be one of the newest headsets out there, but it is already becoming one of the most popular models.  When you look at the advantages that this has, you will be pleasantly surprised.  One of the features is that you can now put a person on hold FROM your headset.   You may use your desk phone, mobile phone, or computer.  With this binaural headset on and the features that can give volume control along with mute, you can be jet setting through your day.  You have nine hours of talk time, more than enough to get you through your day.  The W720 has a range of 350 feet away from the base.  Leave your cell phone by the base, and you will have the same roaming distance.  Put it in your pocket, and you have about 33 feet.  The headset has advanced wideband audio CAT-iq technology for high-definition voice quality.  The noise-canceling microphone reduces background noise interruptions, and enhanced Digital Signal Processing (DSP) provides more natural voice sounds. This headset weighs 94g and comes with a one year warranty.
	5) WO100 - This may be one of the newest headsets out there, but it is already becoming one of the most popular models.  When you look at the advantages that this has, you will be pleasantly surprised.  One of the features is that you can now put a person on hold FROM your headset.   You may use your desk phone, mobile phone, or computer.  With this binaural headset on and the features that can give volume control along with mute, you can be jet setting through your day.  You have nine hours of talk time, more than enough to get you through your day.  The W720 has a range of 350 feet away from the base.  Leave your cell phone by the base, and you will have the same roaming distance.  Put it in your pocket, and you have about 33 feet.  The headset has advanced wideband audio CAT-iq technology for high-definition voice quality.  The noise-canceling microphone reduces background noise interruptions, and enhanced Digital Signal Processing (DSP) provides more natural voice sounds. This headset weighs 94g and comes with a one year warranty.

If your deciding between models, it never hurts to see what the most popular models are, because chances are other customers have purchased headsets and found what they liked and continue to purchase them. With the models listed above, they’re all top of the line business grade/professional grade wireless headsets made by Plantronics that are durable, comfortable and built to last. Choosing any will increase your productivity by allowing you to roam your office while continuing to talk on the phone. Once you try a wireless headset, you will find it hard to be without.

Here at Headsets Direct, educational training is part of what we do.  It all starts in house, we practice educational training on a regular basis to further our headset knowledge, and we love to pass on that educational training to our customers!  A couple of our more popular and inquired about educational training topics are headset training adapters, and how to pair a Plantronics Savi Office system headset to the Savi office base, such as a WO100, WO200, WO300 and WO350.

Training: When it comes to training, we have our “Wireless Training Adapter” (model 03929-63) for use with the Plantronics wireless headsets, and the Plantronics “Y-Training Cable” for corded headsets.  These training adapters help our customers to perform their own specialized educational training, in their own environment.

Wireless Training Adapter model 03929-63 was designed to be used with the Plantronics wireless headset systems.  The Wireless Training Adapter (03929-63) will allow you to connect two Plantronics wireless headset systems to one telephone for training purposes.  The Wireless Training Adapter (03929-63) has mute buttons for each wireless headset that is plugged into it, so you can mute an individual’s microphone for training or you can leave both headsets un-muted for a conference call which requires both people to participate in the conversation.  Although the Wireless Training Adapter (03929-63) was designed to work with the Plantronics wireless headset systems, it will also work with the Plantronics corded headset systems as well, including the corded headset systems that do not have the Plantronics “Quick Disconnect” plug such as the Plantronics corded S11 and S12 headset systems.  The Wireless Training Adapter (03929-63) will not work through a dedicated headset jack on a phone, it must be plugged into the telephone’s handset receiver jack to work properly, or it can also be plugged into an S11 / S12 base as well and used with two headsets.

Plantronics Y-Training Cable model 27019-03 was designed to be used with the Plantronics corded commercial grade headsets that have the Plantronics proprietary “Quick Disconnect” plug, such as the Plantronics corded “H-series” headsets and the older discontinued “Polaris P-series” headsets.  The Plantronics Y-Training cable (27019-03) has the Quick Disconnect plugs on both sides, so it plugs in between the Plantronics headset and the bottom cable, such as the cable that goes into an amplifier like the M22, or a direct connect cable that plugs into the headset jack on a telephone such as the A10 cable model 66268-03, the Plantronics Avaya HIC (49323-44) & HIS (72442-41) cables, and the Cisco direct cable model 26716-01.  The Plantronics Y-Training Cable (27019-03) will also work with the Plantronics USB adapters such as the DA40, DA45, and  DA60.  So basically anything with the Plantronics Quick Disconnect will accommodate the Plantronics Y-Training Cable (27019-03).  The Y-Training Cable has a toggle switch that allows you to choose the person that should be speaking on the phone call, both people can listen at the same time but only one person can talk.

Savi Pairing: How to pair a Plantronics Savi Office system headset to the Savi office base, such as a WO100, WO200, WO300 and WO350.  Pairing a Plantronics Savi office headset system is a snap and only takes a few seconds.  The Plantronics Savi office models such as the WO100, WO200, WO300 and WO350 have a black stripe that runs down the base, there is a skinny silver button that has a light at the bottom of the black stripe.  We begin Savi Pairing with the Plantronics Savi headset in the base unit, simply double press the silver button at the bottom of the black stripe, the light at the bottom of the black stripe will flash red and green for a few seconds, the Savi pairing is complete when the light turns solid green.  That’s all there is to it!  Savi Pairing is quick and simple.  Plantronics really did a great job designing the Savi Pairing procedure.

Educational Training programs vary, but for many companies, a lot of them will involve listening to telephone calls to learn.  The ROI of a headset and training adapter or cable is well worth the investment for your educational training.  If this Educational Training blog on the Wireless Training Adapter (model 03929-63), the Plantronics Y-Training Cable (model 27019-03), and Savi Pairing for the wireless Savi Office systems WO100, WO200, WO300 and WO350 was beneficial for you, please be sure to check out our website and informative blogs regularly to stay in the know.  And it just may help with your own internal Educational Training program.

Problem: I’m looking for good quality headsets for an office with 10-15 employees.  Some will not be leaving their desks but others will be moving around.  I have a standard multi-line PBX office phone system.  What do you recommend?

Solution: PBX (private branch exchange) is a broad term that covers many brands of office phones.  Knowing the make and model of phone is what’s necessary to find an exact fit but these guidelines should help you in your research.  First, we’ll consider corded headsets for your office phones.  An office phone will generally fall under two categories with regards to headsets.  The phone that requires an amplifier, such as Panasonic, Vodavi or RCA, and the phone that can use a direct connect cable, such as Cisco, Mitel or Nortel.

Plantronics’ most popular amplifier, the M22, is compatible with more than 92% of the office phones on the market today.  It is compatible with both single-line and multi-line phones, and features their patented quick-disconnect cable which allows you to select any number of their office phone headsets.  Regardless of what environment you work in or what style you like, with the M22 amplifier they’re sure to have an office phone headset to fit your needs.  A word of caution: some phones have a 2.5mm jack for headsets but Plantronics does not recommend routing office phone headsets through this jack since the power requirements are greater than this jack can put out.  Check out our headsets at http://www.headsetsdirect.com/plantronics-corded-headsets/office-headsets.html or call one of our office phone headset specialists at 800-914-7996 to see what’s best for you.

Another corded solution is the direct connect cable.  You use the same office phone headsets but, depending on the make and model of phone, you can use a specific cable to connect your headset, bypassing the need of an amplifier (e.g. Cisco IP7960 uses cable # 26716-01).  Here you will need to know what phones you’re using since there are several cables to choose from.

Now, let’s briefly discuss wireless office phone headsets.  Have you heard of the Avaya Partner phone?  We bring it up because it’s unique among office phones.  It’s an analog system that can use the CS55H wireless headset without the need of a handset lifter or electronic hook switch for remote answer / end.  The CS55H’s unique connecting cable (TR-1) allows it to connect to the auxiliary jack on the bottom of the phone bypassing the need of the lifter.  What about wireless headsets for the other makes and models of office phones?  Most will require the handset lifter (HL10) for remote answer / end since you will be connecting the headset to your office phone through the handset jack of the phone.  You can choose between the CS line (e.g. CS55) and the Savi line (e.g. WO100).  There a few office phone models that can use an electronic hook switch (EHS) for remote answer / end, bypassing the need for the handset lifter (HL10), however, thus far the lifter has proved more reliable. You can check all our wireless headsets at http://www.headsetsdirect.com/plantronics-wireless-headsets/wireless-office.html or call us today, 800-914-7996. Our sales team is ready, willing and very able to help.

The Savi Office Systems will work with most single & multi-line phones, but it will also work on your computer with SKYPE or whatever other software you may have.  And it’s all integrated into the base of the system, no extra devices needed.  There are currently four models offered, the Savi WO100, Savi WO200, Savi WO300 and the Savi WO350.  The WO100 is the convertible model which gives you the option to wear it over the head or over the ear, you just snap on whichever attachment you’d like.  The Savi WO200 is the over the ear model which loops over your ear and has an ear bud that goes in the ear, which resembles the CS70N headset.  The Savi WO300 is a monaural headband model that goes over the head and covers one ear, and the WO350 is over the head binaural dual ear version.

The Savi Office systems have a range of up to 350ft, while still using the same rock solid 64 bit encrypted DECT 6.0 technology to keep your calls secure.  You can also easily pair up to four of the Savi headsets to one base unit for conference calls, you can even conference between your landline phone and your softphone.  As more and more individuals as well as companies are starting to venture out and use programs like SKYPE and other Unified Communications software to be totally connected, these types of systems are quickly becoming a much needed valuable tool for us to get the job done.  The Savi systems are compatible with the standard HL10 Handset Lifters for remote one-touch answering and can also be used with specific EHS’s (Electronic Hook Switches) for certain phones.  So if you’d like to use the same wireless headset on your telephone and computer, you really have to check out the Savi models to see what they can do.