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Permalink | | Email this | CommentsThe Right Tools for the Job
In today’s fast-paced business world, it’s a vital requirement for businesses to have the very best equipment at their disposal. Fortunately, the constant evolution of technology, which has seemed to quicken immeasurably over the past ten years, has meant that workers today have access to some of the most advanced – and useful – kit available.
Here, we take a look at the three different types of business employees and find out how the latest technology is helping them to do their jobs.
Web Designers
Gone are the days when designers had to get by working on tiny, 14-inch cathode ray tube (CRT) monitors. These days, the average web designer is usually to be found benefiting from crystal clear high definition, flat screen, 32-inch beasts that make their predecessors look like relics from a 1980s TV sci-fi film. Having bigger monitors lets designers work in higher resolutions, which is increasingly useful in an age where the power of the image is paramount. Other advances to have helped web design workers include innovations such as Google’s Browser Size tool, which shows how much of a web page the average visitor is likely to see on first load – a vital reality check when you’re engrossed in your gigant-o-vision workstation screen.
Telephone Support Staff
These days, any worker whose job requires them to give technical support over the phone is likely to need the use of both of their hands during the call. Most tech support staff work at a computer screen with fields to fill in, scripts to read and diagnostic flowcharts designed to help solve customer problems. Since doing all of this while holding a phone in one hand and typing with the other would be a nightmare for most people, headsets have come into their own. Clip-on, in-ear models such as the Plantronics CS60 allow workers to take phone calls while maintaining full use of their hands. This ability is also useful for anyone else who might need to use the phone at work: the wearable nature of the CS60 allows for other office tasks such as photocopying (or coffee making!) to be carried out during a call.
Sales Workers
Sales reps – or as they are now more commonly known, business development managers – need to be out in the field, constantly on the hunt for new opportunities to sell products or acquire new clients. Because they are away from the office a lot, business development managers need a great mobile device in order to stay in touch with their colleagues at base and with their potential leads. Time was they’d rely on a car phone (remember them?) but today, of course, the mobile phone market is bigger than ever. Business development managers cannot suffice with just any old handset though; they need one which offers a savvy mix of good connectivity, office apps, email and usability. One of the most popular business handsets to date has been the Blackberry in its various forms, which combine superb email facilities with a tactile QWERTY keyboard. Then there’s the touchscreen smartphones such as the ubiquitous iPhone, Palm Pre or the HTC HD2, all of which make sure that sales reps can take the office with them no matter where they go.
Blackwire C610 and C620 UC Headsets
The Plantronics Blackwire C600 Series headsets are corded headsets designed for professional business users who are looking for a cost-effective UC headset that delivers high quality audio and all-day wearability for someone who is a frequent phone user.
The Blackwire C610 and C620 are specifically designed for people looking to get maximum benefit from the growing unified communications opportunities being realised by many forward thinking office workers.
Typical Blackwire C610 and C620 users will spend hours each day on long conference calls, webinars and video conferencing. Using this headset allows you to participate by voice and to have hands-free for IM, email or other tasks.
Plantronics Blackwire C610 and C620 Features
- Noise Cancelling Microphone
- Hi-Fi Audio with Stereo Sound
- QuickAdjust Boom
- Monaural – Plantronics Blackwire C610
- Binaural – Plantronics Blackwire C620
- Soundguard Protection above 118dBA
Plantronics Blackwire C420 UC Headset
The Plantronics Blackwire C420 corded headset is designed for busy professionals who need a high quality headset for use with their mobile phone and laptop, or PC, to utilise their UC – unified communications – apps and software applications.
The Blackwire C420 is ideal for use in airports, coffee shops, hotels, on the train, in fact, anywhere when you are out of the office.
Plantronics Blackwire C420 Features
- Folds flat for easy storage
- Soft travel case
- Noise cancelling microphone
- Echo cancellation for full duplex speaker phones
- Hi-Fi Audio with Stereo Sound
- Wideband Microphone
- Comfortable
- Total-focus sound reduction
- Soundguard Protection above 118dBA
Plantronics Blackwire C210 and C220 UC Headsets
The Plantronics Blackwire C200 Series headsets are corded headsets designed for office workers who are looking for a low-cost office headset that delivers high quality audio and all-day wearability.
The Blackwire C210 and C220 are specifically designed for people looking to get maximum benefit from the growing unified communications opportunities being realised by many forward thinking office workers.
Plantronics Blackwire C210 and C220 Features
- Noise Cancelling Microphone
- Digital Signal Processing
- Hi-Fi Audio with Stereo Sound
- Wideband Microphone
- Easy to use Controls
- Monaural – Plantronics Blackwire C210
- Binaural – Plantronics Blackwire C220
- Soundguard Protection above 118dBA
Headsets – making life easier
There was a time when anyone who used the phone regularly, particularly at work, was bound by the inconvenience of having to hold it to their ear, meaning that not both of their hands were left free to do other things such as type, or perform other-office based tasks during the call.
The arrival of cordless phones meant that people were no longer shackled to their desks while speaking, but the ability to walk around is, in some instances, rendered useless by the presence of a handset – how familiar is the sight of someone performing manual tasks while cradling the phone between their head and neck? A cordless handset, no matter how much pacing and leg-stretching it allows for, is nonetheless a hindrance when it comes to using a photocopier while making a call.
Thankfully, the problem had an obvious solution, with designers only needing to look as far as the humble personal stereo headphone for inspiration. While the technology inside is somewhat more complicated, the basic premise of attaching audio output directly to the ears by way of a headband remains the same.
Next came the means of including an input device – in other words, a microphone. Workers in air traffic control and police operations rooms had been using combined input/output headsets for years and as soon as the technology became cheap enough, the mass manufacture of headsets for sale in the general telecoms market began in earnest.
Today, hundreds of thousands of people around the world, working in call centres and offices use headsets on a daily basis, giving them greater comfort and freedom than they ever could have imagined while burdened by a handset. Plantronics headsets, Jabra headsets and others made by manufacturers such as Alphacom are among the most popular used in business communication by workers now thankful to have both hands free during calls.
Elsewhere, advances in mobile phone technology have meant that Bluetooth headsets are now helping people to hold conversations behind the wheels of their cars, something which is incredibly useful and important giving that holding a handset while driving is an illegal offence. These headsets can also be worn while on foot, leaving phone users free to walk around, make coffee or even play video games.
In the case of that last example, a whole new generation of headsets have appeared, popularised by the rise of online gaming and an ability offered by many of the latest online games, whereby players can speak to their competitors around the globe over headsets. Xbox 360 headsets are perhaps the most-used on the planet, with thousands – maybe millions – of gamers using them in games such as Call of Duty to co-ordinate team mates and taunt enemies simultaneously while staying in complete manual control of the game.
With headsets making such inroads into our everyday lives, one begins to wonder how we ever coped having to hold a phone. Can you imagine cradling a mobile next to your ear while trying to play Forza Motorsport? Headsets have made our lives immeasurably more convenient and whether used in the office, in the car or at home, we would be lost without them.
Headsets – Making Life Easier
Headsets – Making Life Easier
There was a time when anyone who used the phone regularly, particularly at work, was bound by the inconvenience of having to hold it to their ear, meaning that not both of their hands were left free to do other things such as type, or perform other-office based tasks during the call.
The arrival of cordless phones meant that people were no longer shackled to their desks while speaking, but the ability to walk around is, in some instances, rendered useless by the presence of a handset – how familiar is the sight of someone performing manual tasks while cradling the phone between their head and neck? A cordless handset, no matter how much pacing and leg-stretching it allows for, is nonetheless a hindrance when it comes to using a photocopier while making a call.
Thankfully, the problem had an obvious solution, with designers only needing to look as far as the humble personal stereo headphone for inspiration. While the technology inside is somewhat more complicated, the basic premise of attaching audio output directly to the ears by way of a headband remains the same.
Next came the means of including an input device – in other words, a microphone. Workers in air traffic control and police operations rooms had been using combined input/output headsets for years and as soon as the technology became cheap enough, the mass manufacture of headsets for sale in the general telecoms market began in earnest.
Today, hundreds of thousands of people around the world, working in call centres and offices use headsets on a daily basis, giving them greater comfort and freedom than they ever could have imagined while burdened by a handset. Plantronics headsets, Jabra headsets and others made by manufacturers such as Alphacom are among the most popular used in business communication by workers now thankful to have both hands free during calls.
Elsewhere, advances in mobile phone technology have meant that Bluetooth headsets are now helping people to hold conversations behind the wheels of their cars, something which is incredibly useful and important giving that holding a handset while driving is an illegal offence. These headsets can also be worn while on foot, leaving phone users free to walk around, make coffee or even play video games.
In the case of that last example, a whole new generation of headsets have appeared, popularised by the rise of online gaming and an ability offered by many of the latest online games, whereby players can speak to their competitors around the globe over headsets. Xbox 360 headsets are perhaps the most-used on the planet, with thousands – maybe millions – of gamers using them in games such as Call of Duty to co-ordinate team mates and taunt enemies simultaneously while staying in complete manual control of the game.
With headsets making such inroads into our everyday lives, one begins to wonder how we ever coped having to hold a phone. Can you imagine cradling a mobile next to your ear while trying to play Forza Motorsport? Headsets have made our lives immeasurably more convenient and whether used in the office, in the car or at home, we would be lost without them.
Doro HS125 Headset with Flexible Boom
Doro Headset Monaural Extendable with Flexible Mouthpiece and Mute for Cordless Telephone Ref HS125
More info coming soon.
