My work involves working with people in a variety of places, so I don’t go a single day without spending at least an hour on the phone, and some days it approaches six or seven.  So a good headset is a must for my work.  For the past six years I’ve been using a combination of a Plantronics H61N and an M12 amplifier.

It’s been a good system, and I especially like the binaural model because it helps me block out most of the sounds around me.  But I’ve found that working from a home office has some unique distractions that I wouldn’t have faced back in the office, like a whiny dog wanting to go out or someone at my front door.  I’ve been contemplating some sort of wireless headset, but what I was seeing just didn’t seem to fit my requirements.  There seemed to be only two approaches:  Bluetooth ear dongles and 2.4GHz phone systems.  I’ve never had much luck with over-the-ear/on-the-ear types of headsets.  With my oddly shaped head they just end up falling off or knocking my glasses askew.  Or should I manage to get one to stay on, eventually it feels like it’s going to bend my ear into some odd new shape:

So, that put Bluetooth out of the running.  The 2.4GHz systems were also out of the running because I’ve banned all non-802.11 2.4GHz devices from the house.  And aside from the frequency, I didn’t want a whole other phone system, I just wanted a headset (all the 2.4GHz devices were complete phone units).

Every so often I take another look around to see what’s out there and that’s when I stumbled across the Plantronics CS361N:

It’s binaural, noise-cancelling, and it operates at 1.9GHz.  It’s a little too futuristic-looking for my tastes (I like the old-style simpler look of the H61N), but it’s not as bad as the Bluetooth models.

Now the list price on this headset is a bit steep ($349.95), but I’ve found that Plantronics is bad about that.  There are tons of resellers that sell their stuff for significantly less than buying direct.  I have to wonder if anyone actually uses Plantronics’ web store at those prices.

I managed to find it for $261.81 at Amazon.com and it included the HL10 lifter (which is another $79.99 on the Plantronics site).

Most Plantronics headsets work by plugging into the phone and taking the place of the handset.  The handset plugs into the Plantronics adapter so you can still use it if you’re not using the headset.  This setup allows them to make headsets to work with just about any kind of phone.  The downside is that it means you have to life the handset off the hook before using the headset.  The HL10 is a little device that sticks to the phone and sits under the handset.  When you press a button on the headset it sends a signal and the HL10 lifts the handset so as to take the phone off the hook.  My phone, unfortunately, has a hanging hook that’s molded into the base and that fits into a slot on the handset (the phone is designed for desk or wall mounting).  So I had to do some fiddling to make it all work right.  At first the HL10 nearly threw the handset across my desk before I found the right spot where it would lift the handset about 1/2-inch without it falling down.  Now I can take the headset with me and answer calls just by pressing the button on the side.  The base unit will activate the lifter which will take the handset off the hook and then put it back when I’m done.

Anyhow, for the amount of time I spend on the phone, it’ll be worth it if this model works as well as the old H61 I have.  I suppose time will tell.  It’s got rechargeable batteries, which are the bane of my existence, but as long as they don’t have problems with memory I think I’ll be OK.  The few calls I’ve made with it so far seem to sound OK as well (sound quality is decent, although not quite as good as the corded model, but that’s to be expected).  And the HL10 is a nice addition.  Maybe the headset is a little dorky looking, but I find as I get older that my dorkiness quotient has increased so I’m not as bothered by it as I used to be.