Satisfied with the telephone sitting on your desk but still wishing for the convenience of a headset telephone? Plantronics lets you have both with its S10 telephone headset system. The device sits between your telephone's base unit and its handset and enables you to do much more than just talk hands-free. The base unit for the S10 plugs into the handset jack on your telephone, so it will work with any active line of a multiline phone. (Unfortunately, this also prevents it from working with most cordless phones.) Once the base unit is installed and plugged in you can put on the headset and begin answering calls. The headset is great--it is practically weightless, and the microphone is the type that sits beside your mouth instead of extending in front of it. Three ear hooks of varying sizes are included, along with a standard headset band that fits over your head. It is easy to detach the band from the integrated headphone/microphone unit and install an ear hook instead. We preferred the hooks since the unit is so light, and after a few minutes we were able to forget we even had it on. The headphone speaker doesn't press tightly to your ear, so it's possible to wear the headset for hours in complete comfort.
The S10's base unit has a switch that lets you shift between using the headset or the phone's handset, and it also controls the amplifier. There are volume controls for incoming and outgoing audio and a tone control for adjusting the bass and treble of incoming calls. Once everything was adjusted, all of our calls sounded great, and it was difficult to go back to a normal phone that didn't have the handy amplifier adjustments. All headset phones should be so comfortable and easy to use. --T. Byrl Baker
Pros:
- Headset is extremely light, especially when ear hooks are used
- Amplifier controls allow for perfect fine-tuning
- Unit makes it possible to use your phone's handset if you prefer
Cons: - You have to take handset off the hook when answering calls (even if your are using the headset)
