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Headset Cordless Phones?
PeteCool asks:
"Lately my phone calls, mostly the technical ones, are getting
longer and longer. The usual phone set isn't acceptable, and the
'shoulder trick' to hold the phone when using the keyboard isn't
enough anymore. I've been looking in stores in the area for
all-in-the-headset handless cordless phones - the ones with a little
box wired to the headset that holds on your belt don't look
comfortable at all - but I haven't found anything really great.
I've found this
all-in-one model from GN Netcom, but it's way too expensive for me.
I'm certainly not the first one looking for that kind of phone.
What have you guys found, what do you use, what do you recommend?"
I agree, get a digital cordless phone and then get a headset. This is my solution and it works brilliantly.
I would recommend a Platronics headset, they sound great with the added bonus of being able to plug into a mobile phone with the approriate adapter. The model I bought (M130) has great background noise cancellation, so good that I have answered the phone in my car doing 70Mph+ and they didn't realise I was in the car until I told them!
You can find pictures of the headsets here but don't go to www.platronics.com as it re-directs to a site not suitable for work viewing ;)
If you ever drop your keys into a river of molten lava, let'em go, because, man, they're gone.
I have to agree... I was working from home for a short period, and I never got the hang of "the shoulder trick". Went to Sears, plunked down $14 bucks on a single-ear headpiece with swiveling microphone, plugged it into my cordless. Works great. If you're going to mostly be sitting at a desk coding, troubleshooting, etc., just put the cordless somewhere non-obtrusive and go with that.
Eric
It's Plantronics. ;-)
You can get them for desk phones as well as cordless/mobile. I can vouch for the desk models being excellent (bought one from Ebay myself); next move is to get hold of either a cordless I can connect one to, or a second-hand cordless I can hack
Take a look at a 43-007 at your local Radioshack. Its a combo Desktop and Headset Cordless phone. The headset looks very weird (the headset speakers don't actualy touch your head..take a look) but is very comfortable. Orig. Retail was $199.99, now disc. for $89.99.
The VTech model VT 1511 phone has 4 pieces in the box: a desktop phone (sort of lightweight, but no problems so far) with the transceiver; a desktop charging stand which uses inductive coupling to handle passing the EMF around; a headset (two ears, molded parietal-region battery/transciever area -- no wires of any sort!); and a credit-card sized, neck-strap having dialer unit with an IR interface to the headset.
I think it's a damn great model. The MSRP is like $199, and Staples.com delivered for $99, but I ended up getting a price match for $69 each on two.
It's 900 MHz digital, and its range has been as far as I have had opportunity to use it (about 100 feet through 1 internal, 1 external wall still sounded more or less crystal).
No belt clip, no nothing. I like it a lot. It does feel rather cyborgesque to see someone who has forgotten they're wearing the comfortable headset unit.
Shop around, they should be well under $100 now online (delivery non inclus). Also, check your standard product rating sites, etc, if any exist which are either still funded or noncommercial.
R
Hello Direct's headset page in their catlog
They seem to have really expanded their selection since the last time I saw it.
DRACO-
Consider yourself blessed if you are sneezed on by a dragon and only get wet, it could have been a fireball.