Business Headset

Snackbar

Greetings, H/A!

I've searched the forums a bit and found several threads concerning headsets, headphones, and microphones for use with PCs, but they are all generally related to gaming. I am in need of a good recommendation for a headset (headphones + microphone) that is durable, has reasonable sound quality (probably the least important factor here), and a solid microphone.

These headsets will be used primarily for inbound calls in a customer service/technical support setting. We're mostly concerned with comfort over a long period of time (8 hour days, broken up with lunches, bathroom breaks, etc.) and mic quality. They don't need to be surround sound, super high frequency range, or anything of that nature. I'm sure some people might use them for listening to music and such when not on calls, but that is not their primary function.

So far I've been looking into Sennheiser, Plantronics, Microsoft, and Logitech. I'm aware there are "business class" headsets available for this kind of setting, but they are difficult to find any reviews on.

Price range is around $50.00/per. If that price range is going to mean buying new headsets every two months, or not being able to hear our customers while they talk, then the price is probably negotiable.

Any suggestions?

tl;dr - Customer service/tech support headsets. Looking for comfort, mic quality, and durability. $50/per if possible, may be able to spend more if returns are great.

Spudge

We used Plantronics SupraPlus headsets at my previous job. Excellent headphones, poor connections (ones with external amps, the quick disconnect liked to break). Looks like they may have solved that issue with the latest rev, HW261N

The headphones are comfortable and the boom mic can put up with a lot of abuse before getting weak. They're a bit pricey at $122/ea but very well worth the price. I never replaced a single faulty unit, only the quick disconnect cable (like I said which seems to have been fixed). They are by far the best call center headsets I've had to support

That being said, we started buying these to replace our stock of Logitech sets. I love Logitech, what they stand for and the quality of most of their equipment, but their business line of headsets seem to be lacking in the reliability department

[Edit: they have 2 year warranties and if you have to ever replace a quick disconnect I believe they're about 15 bucks from the right sellers]

Wezoin

I don't really have any recommendations to add, but I had a quick google for that headset recommended above and found a store selling for $109 instead of $120, if you end up going that route. http://www.headsetsmart.com/Plantronics-SupraPlus-Wideband-HW261N-40Binaural41_p_90.html

Zeon

Yeah we just got some plantronics ones here to use with OCS, theyre nice. Youd probably be better off to go with the single ear piece rather than full over the head headsets, so that the people on the phone can still hear their coworkers speaking to them and what not.

Snackbar

Thanks for the input so far, everyone. It has been helpful.

Zeon - these will be used on a day-to-day basis by employees working from home, so the more isolation of noise the better. There will not be coworkers around for them to hear.

If anyone else cares to chime in, I'm still shopping around!

Spudge

Well if they're working from home yeah you may wanna go with something less expensive, in case they decide to grow legs. I had all my units locked to the computers to keep this from happening

That is unless you can actually trust the employees (I couldn't)

That being said I don't have any recommendations on that spectrum. I will recommend going straight USB though, so no one has issues if their sound card dies

Snackbar

I don't think we'll have an issue with them growing legs, to be honest.

Are the HW261N sets connected via USB? Looking at the User Guide, it only shows connection to a hard phone. I'm trying to find something that will connect directly to PC for use with a soft-phone software.

Spudge

The HW261N requires an audio processor or usb to quick disconnect adapter. That's the catch when it comes to those, a catch I forgot. The processors (Plantronics DA-60) are $150 each

How about these?