Which headsets are suitable for calls?

Why not regular headphones

Headphones for music were built so that you hear well. Headsets for calls were built so that the other side hears you well. That is a big difference. In regular headphones, if there is a microphone at all, it sits on the cord or in the earpiece — far from the mouth, and it picks up the whole room: the colleague at the next desk, the air conditioner, and the typing.

In call headsets, the microphone is on a small boom, a few centimeters from the mouth. It is aimed at your voice and ignores the surroundings as much as possible. The comfort is different too: they were built to sit on the head for six or eight hours, not for an hour on a commute.

Someone who is on the phone for a large part of the day and holds a handset between shoulder and ear feels it in the neck by the end of the week. A headset frees the hands to type, write, and look things up during the call.

Types: one ear or two

• One ear (Mono) — one earpiece, the other ear open. Suitable for reception and secretaries, where you also need to hear the person standing in front of the desk.
• Two ears (Stereo) — more isolated from the surroundings and allows concentration. Suitable for a noisy call center and for people who make long calls.
• Over the head, behind the neck, or on the ear — a question of comfort. Let the employee try before you order for the whole team.

How to connect it

Many IP phones have a dedicated headset jack and a key that switches between the handset and the headset. On some models you can also answer and hang up from the headset itself, without touching the phone — depending on compatibility between the phone and the headset.

What to look at when choosing

• A microphone with noise filtering — the most important of all. In a call center where ten representatives talk in one room, a good microphone is what keeps the customer from hearing everyone.
• Comfort — soft padding, light weight, reasonable pressure on the head. What is comfortable for ten minutes in a store is not always comfortable for eight hours.
• Durability — a cord that disconnects, a boom that breaks, padding that falls apart. With very cheap headsets this happens fast.
• Controls on the cord or on the headset — mute, volume, answer. A one-press mute saves a lot of embarrassment.
• Hearing protection — many professional headsets limit sudden jumps in volume.
• Hygiene — in a call center where several shifts use the same station, each representative needs their own headset, or at least replaceable ear pads.

Wireless or wired

Wireless headsets give freedom: you get up from the desk, go fetch a bag, and keep talking. But they have a price — a battery that needs charging, sometimes slightly lower sound quality, and "why won't they connect" in the morning.

A rule of thumb: for a representative who sits in a fixed place all day — wired, simple and durable. For a manager, a building manager, or a secretary who moves around — wireless with a base. Bluetooth suits mainly a mobile phone, because in an office with many devices it can get confused between connections.

Who needs what: examples

• Service center — ten representatives in one room, call after call. Two ears, a microphone with strong noise filtering, a durable cord.
• Yeshiva secretary's office — the secretary answers the phone and also receives parents and students at the counter. One ear, maybe wireless, so she can get up to the filing cabinet.
• Fundraising evening at a nonprofit — volunteers answering calls from home, from the softphone on a computer. Simple USB headsets that each volunteer plugs in and starts.
• A manager working from home — many conference calls, in a relatively quiet place. Wireless is convenient, with a good microphone.

What they all share: a headset with a microphone close to the mouth is better than a laptop speaker. A speaker and a microphone in the same device create an echo, and the other side hears themselves. And when calls are recorded, there is another advantage: a clean recording, in which both sides are heard well, is much easier to play back and review.

Common mistakes

• Buying for everyone without trying. What suits one person hurts another. It is better to order two or three models, let the team try them, and only then order for everyone.
• A microphone in the wrong place. A boom pointed at the chin or the nose — the voice is faint or "breathy." The microphone should be at the side of the mouth, about two fingers away.
• Not checking compatibility with the phone. Headsets that are excellent for a computer won't necessarily work in the jack of a desktop phone.
• Forgetting the computer. When working with a softphone, you need to select the headset as the audio device in the software. Otherwise the sound comes out of the computer's speakers.
• Saving money in a call center. Very cheap headsets break quickly, and the representatives use them all day. This is the place worth investing.

Tip: after you buy, make a test call with a colleague and ask how you sound to them — not how they sound to you. The other side is the one who knows whether the headset is good.

Wired, wireless with a base, or Bluetooth: a detailed comparison

A term worth knowing: EHS (Electronic Hook Switch). This is the connection that lets a wireless headset answer and end a call on a desktop phone from the button on the headset, without going to the phone. It requires a small cable or adapter that matches the phone model. Without EHS, a wireless headset works, but you have to go back to the desk to answer — and that cancels most of the advantage.

Ergonomics: eight hours on your head

A headset that is comfortable in the first minute is not necessarily comfortable in the sixth hour. A few things you only feel after a while:

• Weight. Light professional headsets weigh a few dozen grams; heavy models with thick padding feel luxurious in the store and weigh on the neck in the afternoon. For someone who talks all day — the lighter, the better.
• Headband pressure. A headband that presses hard isolates more and hurts more. A simple test: after half an hour, if there is a red mark above the ear, the pressure is too high.
• Padding. Foam padding breathes and wears out; leatherette padding isolates and warms. In an air-conditioned room, leatherette is better; in a warm room, foam. In both cases, replaceable padding is part of maintenance.
• Glasses. Headsets that sit on the ear press the arm of the glasses against the head. For people who wear glasses, a model that surrounds the ear or a very light on-ear model is more comfortable.
• Head coverings. A headband over the top of the head doesn't always work with a hat or head covering. There are models with a band behind the neck or an ear hook, built for exactly this.
• The microphone boom. It should bend easily to the side of the mouth and stay there. A boom that springs back with every movement is annoying, and a boom that breaks after a month is common in cheap models.
• Volume and hearing. Someone who talks eight hours a day tends to raise the volume slowly. A rule of thumb: if a colleague sitting next to you can hear the call from your headset, it is too loud. Built-in volume limiting in professional headsets is not a luxury.
• Breaks. Even with the best headsets, taking them off for a few minutes every hour makes a difference at the end of the day.

Checklist before the first day

Ten minutes of testing saves a morning of "wait, I can't hear you." Go through the list with every new station:

1. The audio device is selected. On a softphone and a computer: the headset is both the speaker and the microphone, not the laptop's built-in microphone.
2. Microphone position. At the side of the mouth, about two fingers away, not in front of the nostrils.
3. A test call to a colleague. Ask them: am I too loud? Too quiet? "Breathy"? Do you hear noise from the room?
4. A test call to voicemail. Leave a ten-second message and listen to yourself. This is the only way to hear what the other side hears.
5. The mute button. Press it, talk, and make sure the colleague doesn't hear. And check how you can tell that mute is on — a light, a tone, or nothing.
6. Answering and hanging up. From the headset, from the phone, from the computer — which of these works? With wireless headsets and a desktop phone, it depends on EHS.
7. Walking with a wireless headset. Go out of the room, to the kitchenette, to the printer. Where does the sound start to break up? That is the real limit.
8. Battery and charger. Is there a fixed place for the base? Does the employee know the headset goes back to it at the end of the day?
9. The ring. When a call arrives — can you hear it in the headset when it is on the desk? In some systems you need to turn on the ring on the phone's speaker as well.
10. What happens in the recording. If calls are recorded, listen to the recording of the test call. A recording in which one side is faint is a sign of a microphone that isn't aimed correctly.

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