VISION MEDIA QUICK BUSINESS HEADSET SELECTION GUIDE:

With most of us now requiring to spend time on virtual calls such as zooms. teams, google meets or other kind of tele-conferencing, the headsets has become one of the most important tools for our modern days workers and even student.

With so many choices of headsets out there each with their different functions, to make the right choice could be difficult. In this article we will try to simplify this complicated process and allow you to quickly find the headsets that best suits your needs.

1. Consumer vs Business use headsets

Consumer headsets - Consumer headsets are primarily design for home & entertainment usage. They focus on features such as audio quality, surround sounds, and long usage comfort to provide users with immersive experience when they enjoy their favorite movies or games.

Business Headsets - Business headsets are primarily use for office and work settings. They focus more on features such as noise cancellations, clear calls quality and easy compatibility with tele-conferencing software such as Zooms, Teams, Cisco Jabber, Skype and many more.

For Vision Media, we carry mostly business use headset, so we will focus the balance of our article on this range.

2. Connection Type (Wired vs Wireless)

Wired Connection - Wired connection are those using 3.5mm jack, USB type-A / type-C or QD coil Cord (for deskphone). The advantage of wired connection is that it is easy to use, reliable and you don't have to worry about battery life or complicated pairing with your laptop or tablet before a call. Just plug it in to your laptop and it will work.

Wireless Connection - Wireless connection are those using bluetooth, wireless USB dongle or DECT cordless (for deskphone). The advantage of wireless connection is that there is no messy wired dangling around during your calls and you are free to move away from your laptops and still be present in the calls.

3. Headsets Design (Monoaural , Stereo, On Ears, Over Ears, In ears)

Monoaural - Monoaural are one sided headsets. The benefit of this design is that it leave one of your ear free to listen to your surrounding. This is useful if you want to be aware of your surrounding while on a call.

Stereo - Stereo headsets are headsets that covers both your ears. The benefit of stereo headsets is that it will be able to block out background noises and let you focus on your task or calls. Stereo headset also has better audio quality as sounds are played back usual dual channel instead of one.

On Ears - On ears headphones sits directly on top of your ears instead of in your ear or over your ear. They are the in between of over ears and in ear headphones. The main advantage of on ears headsets is that it is smaller and easier to pack for travelling purposes. On ear headsets also won't get as hot after long period of usage. On ears headsets are one of the most common type for business headset.

Over Ears - Over ears headphones the size of the ear cups cover your ears entirely. The benefit of over ears headphones are that they are comfortable to wear as they don't press against your ear cup, and also they block out external noises to provide you deep focus during work or calls. Audio also sound much better using over ears headset as usually they have larger audio drivers. Over ears headsets are harder to find from business headsets due to these type of headset are more common on consumer range models.

In Ears - In ears headphones are normally call earbuds. These earbuds sit directly inside your ear canals. The main advantage of these type of earbuds is that they are extremely portable and easy to bring around as they are very small and does not come with a mic stick. Some user may also prefer in-ear headphones as they are able to create a tight seal in the ear canal and block out external noises.

4. Headsets Function (Active Noise Cancelling, UC/MS Certified, Busy Light)

Business headsets also come with their own unique features that is cater for business purposes. Some of the more common features are as below:

Active Noise Cancelling - Active noise cancelling features meant that the headset will pick up ambient noise using your mic and generate an "anti-noise" mirror output to cancel out the sound. This type of noise cancellation is closest to a complete noise free experience.

Passive Noise Cancelling - Passive noise cancelling is achieve purely through hardware or the headsets design. This method is usually called noise isolation as it seeks to cancel out the external noise by either using a cushion ear pad that covers your ears or create a tight seal in your ear canal that blocks out external noise such an those use by in-ear headphones.

UC Headsets - UC headsets stands for Unified Communications. UC certified headsets are made to work out of the box with almost all common type of softphone or teleconferencing software use by businesses. Usually it will come with convenient tele-conferencing features such as ability to control volume or take/end calls directly through the headsets buttons. This is also the main difference between a business headset and consumer range headset. Most consumer range headset are not configure out of the box to work with business tele-conferencing software and user might required to pair/sync the headset before able to use it with their business teleconferencing software.

• MS Headsets - Under UC headsets, there is also a sub category label as MS. MS headsets stands for Microsoft certified. Essentially UC/MS headsets have all the same features. The main difference with MS headsets is that it is further program to work seamlessly with additional features available on Microsoft software such as Teams, Lync, Skype. If your company is using Microsoft teleconferencing software, choosing the MS version will offer better compatibility and convenience.

Other Features - Business headsets also have other features that set it apart from each other and consumer headsets. Some of it are as follow:

• Enhanced Call Clarity - Some headsets will also come with Noise Cancelling mic technology to reduce background noise such as office chatters, keyboards/mouse clicks or traffics noises to allow you to deliver high clarity calls and presentations when you speak.
• Busy Light - This is a features that uses lighting around your headset to indicate that you are busy and act as a "do not disturb" sign for your colleague.
• Multi Device Compatibility - Another important features of business headsets is that some will come with the features that allow you to connect seamless with your desk phone, softphones and mobile phones. This features will allowed you to only use one device to handle all your daily business communications in the office without the need to constantly switch from headsets to headsets.

In the end choosing the perfect business headset will come down to each individual preferences and their priority. Do you prefer comfort ? Is budget a main constraint ? Is portability important ? Wide compatibility with business software an important features ? Is call clarity what you are looking for ?

Regardless of your preference, at Vision Media we will surely have a business headset fit for you. We carry full range of business headsets from well known brand such as Jabra, Poly (Plantronics), Logitech, and many more.