Plantronics headsets have been on the wireless headset market since it began to gain in popularity in around 2003 after initially beginning in 2002. Plantronics now offer some of the highest quality headsets that are available on the current marketplace. Not only do they offer great quality headsets, the headsets are also reliable and comfortable, making them a great choice not only for office communications, but also for home use as well.

There are a number of different formats that Plantronics make headsets in. The first is the traditional over-head design that consists of a single ear-piece and a wraparound microphone. These are widely used in office settings and also in call-centres as the offer both comfort and also practicality as it is still possible to hear and communicate with co-workers without removing the headset. There is also a binaural version of this type of headset that can provide a greater level of noise cancellation as the input is through both ears, plus having a binaural headset it is possible to make the most of stereo sound inputs to the headset.

The third type of headset is the over-ear headset. These headsets are smaller and sit over one of the ears and have a wraparound microphone. This type of headset is smaller and lighter than the over-head versions and is suitable for many different uses that do not require the headset to be in place for long periods of time. Should a more flexible set-up be required there is also the option of having a convertible headset that can be worn as an over-ear device but can very simply be converted into an over-head device by clipping the over-ear device onto a head band.

All of the devices mention utilise Bluetooth and DECT in order to provide secure and reliable communications links to various different systems. A headset can be connected directly to a single system, such as a mobile phone or a landline, but a DECT base station can also be utilised as a hub to bring several communication lines together so that they can all be answered by a single headset.

DECT and Bluetooth are both digital technologies and so it is possible to pair devices easily and also to encrypt the communication signal between them. This combination of pairing and encryption ensures that the communications channel remains secure between the hub and the intended headset without there being a chance of the signal accidentally going to the wrong headset.

One of the reasons for having two types of communications technology within a single device is so that mobile, VOIP and landline connections can be used by a single headset. Bluetooth caters for the mobile and VOIP connections and DECT caters for landlines. It should be noted that there are several different DECT standards that are in use so a little research should be carried out before a headset is bought for use with an existing DECT base station to ensure that they are compatible.