headset needed for teams calls

Author
Discussion

shirt

Original Poster:

23,454 posts

208 months

Tuesday 22nd October
quotequote all
i have been using sony xm4 earbuds upto now but seems that whilst they're great for me, they're not great for those on the other side of the call.

i will be using teams a lot more in my new job. i have several pairs of decent audio headphones so really looking for a dedicated set, so something designed for speech not music. i'd prefer in ear if possible, not sure if that's a thing though. definitely travel oriented with a case etc. i'm too good at breaking stuff that gets flung in a bag.

Mammasaid

4,317 posts

104 months

Tuesday 22nd October
quotequote all
I use these one's now for Teams, they're cheap and cheerful and I'm told the sound is fine.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B0BTYCRJSS/ref...

If you want ANC, the equivalent is these

https://www.amazon.co.uk/soundcore-Cancelling-Wire...

surveyor

18,139 posts

191 months

Tuesday 22nd October
quotequote all
Personally I keep it simple.

Hate the Bluetooth stuff colleagues use, which is always crap and unclear.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Plantronics-Blackwire-Ste...

bunchofkeys

1,128 posts

75 months

Tuesday 22nd October
quotequote all
surveyor said:
Personally I keep it simple.

Hate the Bluetooth stuff colleagues use, which is always crap and unclear.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Plantronics-Blackwire-Ste...
Another vote for the Plantronics brand of headsets.

Tycho

11,842 posts

280 months

Tuesday 22nd October
quotequote all
surveyor said:
Personally I keep it simple.

Hate the Bluetooth stuff colleagues use, which is always crap and unclear.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Plantronics-Blackwire-Ste...
Agreed, the BT stack in Windows has always been poor IMO.

chrisch77

698 posts

82 months

Tuesday 22nd October
quotequote all
Another vote for Plantronics or Jabra DECT headsets for work calls, another league from bluetooth alternatives both in terms of sound quality and range so you can roam whilst on a call!

wyson

2,691 posts

111 months

Tuesday 22nd October
quotequote all
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0KLJJ9EBtZo

Here you go.

Make sure it has a boom mic.

wyson

2,691 posts

111 months

Tuesday 22nd October
quotequote all
I use a company issue Jabra Evolve Bluetooth, Teams certified headset for calls.

I can always tell when a colleague is on the call without it.

Earbuds are the worst. I actually find people who use these a little bit selfish and rude.

High end over ear headsets like the Sony XM4’s are better but still not great, especially if the background situation is difficult eg, someone mowing outside. Overall, these are acceptable however.

Like I said in another thread, you always want the mic to be as far away as possible from the speakers and as close as possible to your mouth. On an earbud, there is hardly any separation between mic and speakers and the mic is a long way from your mouth, so the DSP has to work overtime to the detriment of call quality, especially in challenging situations such as in an echoey corridor.

Probably best to avoid earbuds, unless you want to be known as a quiet talking mumbler with a distorted and robotic voice.

Edited by wyson on Tuesday 22 October 14:24

Mars

9,093 posts

221 months

Tuesday 22nd October
quotequote all
I quite like the Microsoft wireless headset issued by my company. Usually I prefer the larger "over the ear" types like the Bose QC35s for the noisy data centres I sometimes work in, but for normal desk conversations, the "on the ear" MS headphones work well. In fact, I would prefer a single-ear device as I find I talk too loud if both of my ears are covered, so I rest one ear-piece on my head behind my ear.

They aren't Bluetooth either - they come with a USB dongle, so there's no setting-up. The dongle has an LED in it, facing me when inserted into my Surface Pro, and the boom mic works as a mute/talk button when you swipe it up or down. The dongle's LED shows red when you're muted and green when you're "on".

It's simple to use, has excellent battery life (weeks) and is charged by USB-C.

shirt

Original Poster:

23,454 posts

208 months

Tuesday 22nd October
quotequote all
wyson said:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0KLJJ9EBtZo

Here you go.

Make sure it has a boom mic.
Thanks, that was a much better vid than the ones I’d seen.

I was thinking buds but I’ve had 2 calls today for the new role and on both there were people with terrible comms who got cut out of the conversation. I don’t want that happening to me, especially as I already rejected their headset offering.

Jabra evolve2 55 looks a good option.

shirt

Original Poster:

23,454 posts

208 months

Tuesday 22nd October
quotequote all
Found it for £95 on Jabra’s German Amazon store, so ordered that. Thanks all

wombleh

1,912 posts

129 months

Tuesday 22nd October
quotequote all
Expensive but worth going with jabra. Crystal clear audio, and great noise cancelling.

Been on calls when we had building work going on with drilling/cutting the wall in the room next to me, I was apologising for the background noise and folk on the call saying there was none.

x5tuu

12,140 posts

194 months

Wednesday 23rd October
quotequote all
Appreciate the OP has ordered but another option for anyone else considering that has been totally flawless for me was Logitech (or Logi) Zone 2 Wireless headset - bluetooth and USB connectivity, boom mic, ANC - really decent build quality and highly recommend them.


The Hofff

220 posts

178 months

Wednesday 23rd October
quotequote all
Jabra for me, have been using the Evolve2 65 with stand for both home and work setups.

Very good audio for music and calls, good interfacing with MS Teams also.

The Jabra direct app allows you to set it up to your liking with a multitude of menus

FlossyThePig

4,099 posts

250 months

Wednesday 23rd October
quotequote all
When I was WFH (before I retired) the company provided me with a simple headset (MPOW) which had a dongle that fitted in a USB port.
All TEAM meetings and individual team member calls were much better after I used it.

surveyor

18,139 posts

191 months

Wednesday 23rd October
quotequote all
The Hofff said:
Jabra for me, have been using the Evolve2 65 with stand for both home and work setups.

Very good audio for music and calls, good interfacing with MS Teams also.

The Jabra direct app allows you to set it up to your liking with a multitude of menus
My previous Jabra came with a really naggy app that always wanted updating, which took an IT person's permission to do.

ATG

21,339 posts

279 months

Wednesday 23rd October
quotequote all
Depends where you're set up, but the mics built into Logitech cameras are surprisingly good. I used to used a jabra headset at home, but not i just use the laptop's speakers for sound and the camera's mic. Works really well and is more relaxed and natural.

GlenMH

5,274 posts

250 months

Wednesday 23rd October
quotequote all
FlossyThePig said:
When I was WFH (before I retired) the company provided me with a simple headset (MPOW) which had a dongle that fitted in a USB port.
All TEAM meetings and individual team member calls were much better after I used it.
I have also got an MPOW headset and it works very well.

ATG said:
Depends where you're set up, but the mics built into Logitech cameras are surprisingly good. I used to used a jabra headset at home, but not i just use the laptop's speakers for sound and the camera's mic. Works really well and is more relaxed and natural.
Agree with this too. Logitech streamcam is surprisingly good as a mic.

Honourable Dead Snark

553 posts

26 months

Thursday 24th October
quotequote all
I don’t like using headsets so have been using apple earphones for 4 years now without an issue. The mic on them is actually quite decent.

RizzoTheRat

25,995 posts

199 months

Thursday 24th October
quotequote all
surveyor said:
Personally I keep it simple.

Hate the Bluetooth stuff colleagues use, which is always crap and unclear.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Plantronics-Blackwire-Ste...
We have these at work. They work so well I bought one for personal use, and when my wife kept nicking it bought the next model up, the C5220.

In my opinion anything without a boom mic is waste of time, it might sound fine to you but the person on the other end is getting all the background noise in the room. A friend uses Apple ear buds and you can hear her kids in the background. I've had my wife and I both on the same call in the same room and people the other end getting no echos from my mic picking up her voice and vice-versa.

My mother has a Bluetooth Jabra headset with a boom mic that also works well.

Edited by RizzoTheRat on Thursday 24th October 10:39