Do you want the best headset? 
There are 100’s of office headsets available to purchase with a variety of sizes, shapes, prices, features, and connections. With rapidly changing telephone technology moving towards computer-based phones and integrated systems means making the right choice can be difficult.
You'll want to avoid the below mistakes so you can make the best decision for your company.
Make sure your headset is compatible with your phone service.
What happens too frequently is customers purchase a headset that they have to return because it wasn't compatible with their phone. Sometimes they get a headset that doesn’t work on all their phone devices such as their computer or cell phone so they are stuck with a product that only works on one device when they need to connect to multiple devices. Then they have to decide to purchase multiple headsets for each device or suffer with lack of connectivity.
We don’t want that to happen to you.
What we get asked every day is what headset will work with my phone?
If you have a traditional desk phone that sits on your desk from brands such as Yealink, Polycom, and Cisco you will need a headset that works specifically with your phone as there are unique parts and accessories work with very specific models of phones.
In this case you will want to make sure the headset you are looking for will seamlessly work with your brand of telephone.
If you need help with a recommendation our team is here to help. Click here to get a free recommendation.
Some phone systems have softphones that work on your computer only. With these systems you can typically just use a standard professional-grade headset that works via USB.
The biggest hurdle with computer-based phones is the ability to get the remote answering meaning you can step away from the computer grab a cup of coffee and still be able to answer and end the call while away from the desk. Unfortunately, this ability only works on a small variety of softphones and specific wireless headsets. If you want remote answering for your computer softphone please reach out to one of our advisors for the best recommendation.
Rapidly changing telephone technology gives you the ability to work from literally anywhere on the planet which means many phone systems allow you to use the phone on your cell phone, laptop, tablets, desk phones, and your computers. With all this freedom you don’t want to limit your headset technology to be able to work with just one of your many devices.
Many headsets can connect all your devices to one headset, so you don’t need multiple headsets for your different devices. You can be listening to music on your cell phone then seamlessly answer the phone when a call comes in all on one headset.
Get a headset that can adapt to future needs.
Desk phones that sit on your desk dedicated to your phone calls are rapidly disappearing because the phone technology is moving to computer-based phones.
What happens is customers will buy a headset that can only connect to traditional desk phones that they have on their desk today and then within about 6-12 months one of your IT guru get the bright idea to make the jump to computer-based phones which means all your newly acquired equipment will be useless and will need to be scrapped.
(BTW if that’s you we do have a headset trade-in program where you can get up to $60 each headset visit here https://lp.headsetadvisor.com/buyback)
Knowing that it’s a matter of time before your organization will be going to computer-based phones you should consider buying a headset that will work with your traditional desk phones and be able to work on your computer-based phones in the future.
The most popular headset for this situation is the Discover Adapt 30 because as a standard it connects to your desk phone but if your situation changes you can simply add an inexpensive cartridge and expand the functionality to USB or Bluetooth connections.
Learn more here: https://headsetadvisor.com/products/discover-adapt-30-wireless-headset
Bottom line. Make sure you get a headset that will be able to handle any phone technology for the next 3-5 years as that is usually about how long most customers will keep their headsets for.
Don’t buy Bluetooth headset for the office.
Bluetooth headsets are great for many situations as they can be used with your mobile phone and are typically more portable which makes it great for traveling.
That being said.
Don’t buy a Bluetooth office headset when you have agents dedicated to the office.
Why?
- Wireless range is usually 75-90% less than DECT comparable models. In my experience, I can usually get about 10 feet away from my desk before the call starts to cut in and out. With DECT headsets I can easily grab a cup of coffee no problem.
- If you have many users such as 30-50 agents in an area you may start to get interference and reduced range.
- Most Bluetooth options do not have replaceable batteries which means you will need to buy a new headset within 1-2 years depending upon your usage.
- If your agents take their headsets in the car or home, there is a good possibility that they will lose or misplace the headset leaving them without a headset at their main workstation and you may have to come up with additional expense or loss of productivity.
We don’t recommend a Bluetooth headset in most office environments for the above reasons and in fact, in some situations, we will refuse the purchase as we don’t believe it’s in the best interest of the customer.
That being said, if you have agents that are regularly on the move, work from a laptop or work strictly on mobile devices than it may make the most sense.
Make sure to get a remote answering device (Such as EHS or Lifter).
This is a hard situation for us because the perception is that a wireless headset should automatically answer and end calls right out of the box.
This is not the case because, with all the different models of phones and different brands of computer-based phones, they all require a different accessory or software integration to get this capability.
When you purchase a wireless headset we almost always recommend getting a remote answering device so that you can get the ability to answer and end calls away from the desk. Think about it, you have a wireless headset and you go to grab a cup of coffee but before you get to your precious cup your phone rings.. ugh. That requires you to run back to your desk to answer the phone.
Now when you get this accessory you can simply push a button on your headset to answer and end your phone calls so you can get your much-needed cup of coffee hassle free 😊.
Most phones such as Polycom, Cisco, Yealink, and etc. are able to have a device called Electronic Hook Switch cable which if your phone has the option, we always recommend rather than having to use a handset lifter.
If your phone does not have an option to use EHS cables then we do recommend using a handset lifter which is a mechanical device that attaches to your phone to mechanically lift the phone receiver to answer and end your phone calls.
Not sure what device you need? Our team is here to help we will provide a free recommendation: https://lp.headsetadvisor.com/free-headset-recommendation
Consider purchasing wireless headsets instead of wired.
Many companies choose to purchase wired office headsets because of the attractive lower upfront cost, and in some cases, it does make more sense.
The average cost per employee per minute not including benefits or overhead expenses is about .50 per minute.
If being wireless allowed your agents to be just 1 minute more productive per day. That means .50 per day times 240 working days per year is about $120 savings per year!
If 2 minutes it could be $240 per year..
You see where I’m going here. If wireless headsets were to make your employees more productive with their time then actually it would likely be costing you more money to have wired headsets than to have wireless because of the loss of productivity.
The average lifespan of a wireless headset is about 5 years so it could be a savings of $1,200!
Now you may ask yourself how do wireless headsets make your agents more productive?
Your employees probably get up to get coffee, ask supervisor questions, print, or grab a snack. Now if they miss that call what is the net effect of that call? Missed sales, dissatisfied customers, or maybe more workload for other agents.
With a wireless headset agents can easily step away from the computer and when a call comes in press a button on the headset to answer and end calls while away from the desk.
What about the agents having the ability to stand up and walk around the office? Not only is that healthier for your employees but studies show that this elevates your heart rate and will give you more energy on your calls which means your customers are going to have a better experience with your agents. Not to mention if there’s an area that is quieter for your agents, they can have a better call with the customer and both sides of the call will be able to hear each other more clearly and effectively.
The hassle of the cord, I’m constantly testing out the latest headsets to stay up to date in the industry and when I’m testing the wired headsets I find myself spending time managing the cable moving it aside when I need access to a drawer or it interferes with my mouse, or I just am having to take additional time to adjust it for a variety of reasons.
And if that wasn’t enough to convince you, consider this that wired headsets do not have replaceable parts so that means all the wear and tear on the headset and cable will give you a much shorter life span. Wireless options have replacement parts such as batteries, or headbands and accessories.
Wireless headsets should be of high consideration because in a lot of cases the increased productivity, happier agents, and longer useful life wireless will be a lower overall cost when you look at the big picture.
Did you know?
We offer a month to month wireless headset rental program where you can get options as low as $8 per month! Click here to learn more.
BONUS Consider purchasing a few additional units to have on hand.
Traditional desk phones are starting to vanish in the office where phone service is moving to computer-based phones which means headsets are becoming a must have device to use the phone for many organizations.
Having your agents down for a full day or many days awaiting for their replacement headset to arrive could be devastating to your productivity.
Keep your agents with 100% up time and always operational it’s a very smart idea to have about 5% spare units on hand so your team can always easily swap the units out to keep them working. When you collect a few defective or broken units then you can get warranty replacements to get your spare units stocked back up.
