Graves On SOHO Technology

This morning Daily Steals is offering the Plantronics Voyager Pro HD for a mere $29.95. That’s not bad for an HDVoice capable Bluetooth headset. It’s lists at $99 while I bought one a few months ago for the more common street price of $59.95.

I’ve used the Voyager Pro HD with my netbook, desktop, Nexus 7 tablet and Galaxy Nexus cell phone. It worked well with every device and handles wideband audio if the other ends also supports HDVoice.

In the past I’ve used the Voyager Pro HD with a Polycom VVX-500 desk phone. This was possible using the optional BT300 USB BT dongle from Plantronics. This worked well, but of course adds cost to the overall solution.

More recently I have used the Voyager Pro HD with the new Polycom VVX-600, which has a built in BT radio. In both cases the Voyager Pro HD provided long battery life, HDVoice and hook switch control.

At long last I’ve purchased a Polycom VVX-500 for my desk. A year ago I participated in the beta program for this outstanding desk phone. A such I’ve had one to use well before they launched in October 2011.

However, Polycom devices involved in a beta program ship with a boot loader that will only load beta firmware. Once the device was officially shipping and release firmware available I could not longer update the VVX in my possession. This wasn’t initially an issue, but when OnSIP started to support Polycom UC v4.0+ firmware with their provisioning server I thought it would be good to more completely integrate my desk phone with our OnSIP account.

I might like to review the VVX-500, but that seems a little weird. As I was involved in the beta program I was bound by the companies standard non-disclosure agreement during the period of the beta. Once the device launched various other people reviewed it. I’m not sure that it’s worth my time to commit to a full length review, but there are some items worth noting about the VVX-500. I can certainly point these out from time to time.

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If you spend a lot of time on the phone then I believe that you need a proper headset. Many headsets require some form of interface hardware to connect to a desk phone. Many IP phones, like my Polycom Soundpoint IP series, require the use of an “Electronic Hook-Switch” (aka EHS) cable or a mechanical lifter.

A mechanical lifter is a Flintstone-like approach to hook switch control by purely mechanical means. It literally lifts the handset to take the phone off-hook, replacing it down again to hang up the call. To me this is essentially a kind of telephony steam punk.

Moving to 21st century methods, an EHS cable allows some aspect of the headset to control the hook state of the phone electrically. That is, it allows you to answer or hang up a call using switching that’s built into the headset. This may be true with both wired and wireless headsets.

To be blunt, lifters and EHS cables just aren’t cheap. The few times that I’ve had to buy an EHS cable it cost in the $50 – $80 range. That’s a considerable price when compared to the cost of the headset or the desk phone itself.

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You may recall that in the spring of 2011 I reviewed the Plantronics Voyager Pro UC Bluetooth cordless headset. Even after it was replaced around the office by the Sennheiser DW Pro2 this little Bluetooth headset was a welcome travelling companion. That is, until our younger Labrador chewed it to bits a few months back.

At the time of the unfortunate incident I wasn’t exactly flush with cash so I decided to make due with the wired headset that came with my Galaxy Nexus. That headset has proven irksome. Last week I was compelled to order a new Plantronics Voyager Pro HD .

Occasionally manufacturers will provide sample gear for evaluation. While I might write a positive review about such a device, nothing underscores that opinion like spending from my own pocket to replace the when it’s lost. Such is the case with this headset.

Hopefully, in the coming week or two I can find some time to setup the Gigaset DX800A and find out if the VP HD handles HDVoice calls as well as the VP UC.

This mornings news dump includes a message from DailySteals.com who are today offering a notable item. The Jawbone ERA is a HDVoice capable Bluetooth headset for $39.99. While the list price is $90, I see it offered elsewhere for around $50, making the $39.99 deal not bad at all.

I have no specific experience with this wee device, but I’ve heard good things from fellow HDVoice enthusiast Steven Perich of Melbourne, Australia.

Of course, this offer is only good for a number of hours. Don’t dally or you’ll be stuck in a narrowband hell when the mobile HDVoice tidal wave hits.

This mornings email deluge reveals that BUY.COM is offering the Plantronics Voyager Pro UC Bluetooth headset for a rather modest $52.99. The variant that they offer is the v1 version that started my review about a year ago.

This version comes with the BUA200 USB BT dongle. It’s capable of HDVoice when used with the built-in BT radio on a similarly capable host. I was not able to get it to pass HDVoice to the BUA200 connected to a desktop. It also lacks A2DP, which means it’s great for voice calls but you cannot use it to listen to music or podcasts via your cell phone.

Even so, this is good price on a high-quality, HDVoice-capable BT headset that commanded $120+ not so long ago.