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Headset Cordless Phones?

Posted by Cliff on from the ditching-the-handset dept.

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?"

16 of 39 comments (clear)

  1. Normal Cordless + Headset by bdahlem · · Score: 5, Insightful

    I know you said you didn't like the cordlesses with a box and headset, but what about a normal cordless phone with a headset. Most Midrange 900 Mhz and 2.4 Ghz models allow you to plug in a headset that looks like the one you showed, and attach the handset to your belt or drop it into your pocket. This gives you the added bonus of not needing the headset for short calls, and being able to switch back and forth.

    BD

    1. Re:Normal Cordless + Headset by Manic+Miner · · Score: 3, Informative

      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.
    2. Re:Normal Cordless + Headset by EricWright · · Score: 3, Informative

      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

    3. Re:Normal Cordless + Headset by Crazyscot · · Score: 3, Informative

      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 ;-)

  2. BOTH EARS! by gnovos · · Score: 3, Interesting

    When you talk on a regular phone, you have to flip ears every so often, right? Well the same is true when you wear one of these after a while. Get one with two ears and you'll never have to do that... and it's a very cool effect. It sounds like they are right there with you!

    --
    "Your superior intellect is no match for our puny weapons!"
  3. Headsets by Detritus · · Score: 2

    When I worked on a console at a network control center, we used Plantronics Starsets. They were very comfortable. You would have to plug it into a cordless phone.

    --
    Mea navis aericumbens anguillis abundat
  4. Spend the extra money by duffbeer703 · · Score: 2

    On Plantronics or GN Netcom.

    If you get a cheap headset, you'll suffer from poor clarity and a sore ear. You'll sound like you are on a payphone in a bus depot to whomever gets to talk to you.

    --
    Conformity is the jailer of freedom and enemy of growth. -JFK
  5. I want one with an audio line in by smartin · · Score: 3, Interesting

    I haven't found anyone making one of these yet but what i'd like to see is a set of headphones that are usable both as a hands free set for a phone and for listening to music from my computer. It seems like an obvious device but so far I have not been able to find such an animal.

    Alternatively a simple box that plugs into your handset jack on your phone and then lets you plug in a set of head phones, a mic (or combo of both) and line out from you pc, would do the trick. I could have a simple selector button on top to choose between phone and audio.

    --
    The difference between Canada and the USA is that in Canada healthcare is a right and gun ownership is a privilege.
    1. Re:I want one with an audio line in by smartin · · Score: 2

      Not sure about the second one but the plantronics thing looks like what I have in mind. Thanks!

      --
      The difference between Canada and the USA is that in Canada healthcare is a right and gun ownership is a privilege.
  6. Cordless phone and headset seperately by stienman · · Score: 2

    I found that a $20 cordless phone (900MHz - 2.4GHz interferes with 802.11b) and $12 headset works perfectly for me. Make sure the cordless has a belt clip and headset jack. A hold button is nice...

    -Adam

  7. Plantronics 900MHz by gus+goose · · Score: 2

    I telecommuted for 14 months (From canada to UK), and much of my day was spent on the phone (Don't believe people when they say that telecommuting == e-mail correspondence).

    After literally getting backaches, I purchased a Plantronics (clip on belt) style phone. Has headset with boom mic.

    I love it. Seriously, it was / is (nearly) perfect for me. The sound quality is superior to normal phones, and the convenience is great.

    If only it had Caller ID. I found (and people differ so YMMV) that the headset-on-a-wire was not perfect, but it was good enough that I could put the 'block' in my pocket, and wonder through the house making coffee etc. while in the middle of a conference call... it has a 'mute' button which is a must... For me the price/convenience/performance ratios were good, and the next level o functionality was prohibitively priced (at the time) although in retrospect I would have got CallerID.

    Anyways, IIRC, it was about $170CND.

    gus

    P.S. I have no other relationship with plantronics other than a happy customer.

    --
    .. if only.
  8. There's this thing called a search engine. by Wakko+Warner · · Score: 2

    For God's sake, USE IT!

    Google is your friend.

    - A.P.

    --
    "Remember when the U.S. had a drug problem, and then we declared a War On Drugs, and now you can't buy drugs anymore?"
    1. Re:There's this thing called a search engine. by dubl-u · · Score: 2

      I grant that for many Ask Slashdot questions, they would have been better off going to Google. But for things like this, you're missing the point.

      He's not asking what exists, he's asking what people use and recommend. Most of the information that Google comes up with is marketing drivel. And even the personal opinions out there may not be helpful to us geeks: Slashdot readers are likely to be much more fussy about high-tech tools like this.

  9. Headset + cordless handset AND amplifier by Malc · · Score: 2

    Anybody know if the Plantronics headphones can be unplugged from one of their amplifiers and then plugged into the handset of a cordless (Siemens Gigaset), or even combined with an adapter for a cell phone (Qualcomm)?

  10. BAM! by DRACO- · · Score: 2, Informative

    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.
  11. I have this one by vanguard · · Score: 2

    I've had this one for about 15 months now and I really like it.

    It's comfortable, the battery last a long time, and the range is good. Because we have a two year old (1 year when we got the phone) the style of phone that had a cord down to the belt cliped pack was terrible. She would grab the cord and rip it off my head (or my wife's head).

    The only downside is that lately when we adjust the mic it makes static. It's only while we're moving the mic so we consider it livable. However, it's not ideal.

    --
    That which does not kill me only makes me whinier