IP Communications Featured Articles

When selecting a Unified Communications (News - Alert) solution, the knowledge worker, must be taken into account. If workers today are expected to take-in, analyze and share information they need the proper tools to do so. One such tool in the knowledge workers toolbox is their business grade headset, and a high-end headset can deliver some real value in various ways—you just have to get your team to embrace it.

Let’s take the example of a knowledge worker employed in a contact center. On the phone all day, the headset must be comfortable because choosing to not wear them can discount the entire UC deployment. Moral to the story, comfortable headsets mean happier and more productive knowledge workers.

A second characteristic to be taken into consideration is quality. Sound quality and noise cancelling are two key factors when selecting a headset, but don’t forget about durability. Noise cancelling technology will alleviate much of the din from a loud office, coupled with high audio quality one can clearly hear the party on the other end of the line. If an enterprise is going to invest in a UC solutions and business grade headsets for its team it won’t want to replace them every year, so choosing a durable solution can provide savings over the life of the implementation.

 A tangential benefit of a high quality business headset is plug-and-play convenience. IT departments are already tasked with a multitude of responsibilities in the enterprise so it is vital that firmware updates can be done on all devices automatically. Outside of IT, team members must be able to easily switch gears while working—moving from taking phone calls to listening to music or what many refer to as ‘concentration mode.’ If the solution is easy-to-use and compatible with the way an employee works, it will be a homerun—if not, a strike out swinging.

Last but not least we get to the piece management is heavily concerned with, cost and financing. Businesses are now being offered new financing options using its operating budget. This avoids a cash flow strain when selecting a solution.

UC is gaining popularity for the functionality it offers. By increasing productivity and morale, the ‘right’ headset can make that much of a difference. Having worked in call centers, I can tell you there is nothing worse than having to constantly fix your broken headset, or ask people to repeat their query due to poor audio quality. The decision of what headset to use with your UC deployment may seem superfluous but in the long run can pay big dividends.