Unified Communications Comes to Your Headset

Mobility has become the watchword for many employees at small and medium businesses. As they move from place to place, they often find themselves working with different devices, such as wired phones, cell phones, and computers. One vendor has made it simpler for them to access information with a new multi-system headset.Plantronics, whose focus is on audio communications systems, announced two wireless, unified communications headsets. Savi Office enables office workers to mix desktop phone calls with PC audio, such as web conferencing and multimedia streaming. The product includes a software application, PerSono Suite, that provides a one-click interface so users can listen to desk phone calls, mute calls, or put callers on hold. The Savi Go headset system provides the same features between a PC and a mobile phone. Both products work with unified communications systems from system providers, such as Avaya, Cisco, IBM, and Microsoft, as well as services, such as Google Talk and Skype.

Plantronics has focused on an interesting area, the need for employees to be able to easily multi-task as they roam move from device to device. Busy executives may find the products helpful as they move from their phones to their computers. The headset enables them to use their hands while they talk. However, the headsets are being sold as add-ons to existing systems and come at a premium price, about $300 each, a price may be too high for many companies to justify in these tough economic times.