Seriously, I bet I’ve purchased eight of those little beasts over the years, ever hopeful that each would be the one that was actually usable…possibly even a pleasure to use…but I was always disappointed. This cycle has gone on for long enough that I’d pretty much written off Bluetooth devices as a pointless waste of time.
Over the period that I’ve been writing this blog I’ve tried to cultivate a good relationship with manufacturers in the space. As it says clearly on my disclosure page, sometimes I review stuff. Sometimes it’s offered to me, other times I just buy it myself.
In the case of Plantronics I’ve done both. I’ve purchased some of their wares, and after reading what I had to say about those items, the company has offered me some newer gear to try. Amongst the things that they’ve offered there was a Bluetooth headset, but you’ve not seen me write anything about that little device. I suspect it would have gone into the little leather box.
However, a couple of months ago as I was making plans for Astricon it occurred to me that it would be seriously cool to actually give the HDVoice presentation using a wideband capable wireless headset & a small Asterisk server. That would be the ultimate sort of “eating my own dog food.” So I approached Plantronics and asked what they could offer. They responded by sending me a Savi Go convertible Bluetooth headset.
In truth, I was still skeptical. I would have been more comfortable with the Savi Office WO-100 which is DECT based. But that device is considerably more costly…and simply was not offered. Oh well, beggars can’t be choosers. I had already invested a considerable sum in support of the Astricon HDVoice presentation.
The Savi Go comes packaged with a charging stand and a USB Bluetooth dongle. There’s also a USB charging cable that’s more convenient for portable use than the charging stand. Finally, they provide two options for wearing the headset. There’s a simple hook that goes around the ear (as pictured above) and also a more traditional over-the-top headband (pictured below.)
I’ve used it with my laptop while traveling, my desktop while in my office, and finally with my trusty Blackberry Pearl. I’ve used it with various soft phones including Skype, Eyebeam, PhonerLite, PhoneFromHere‘s Java/IAX2 plug-in, the newly launched Blabbelon voice chat service for gamers and the Vivox voice chat application for Facebook. It works well with all of them.
It’s a class 1 Bluetooth device which means higher RF power output. It’s supposed to provide a 100 foot range when used with the mating USB dongle, which is about consistent with my experience thus far. The range is shorter when paired to a cell phone, but that’s not typically a problem in the real world.
The device is certified for use with Microsoft’s Office Communication Server (MS OCS) but that means nothing to me except that truly is wideband capable. From what I can tell MS only certifies devices that can provide a genuine wideband (aka HDVoice) call experience. MS OCS uses a combination of their own RTA codec for point-to-point calls and Polycom’s Siren14 for conferencing.
So, what do I like about the Savi Go? Let’s start with the basics. It sounds good to my ear. It’s definitely well suited to wideband calling using G.722, which is my most common use case. It generates enough volume in the earpiece, which has been a problem for me with other headsets.
As to how it sounds, you don’t have to take my word for it. Here is a recording of my voice made using the Savi Go (MP3 or WAV). I recorded the first couple of paragraphs from a Polycom paper on Applications Of Stereo Conferencing. I read the text into the Savi Go over a call placed between Eyebeam 1.5 and a Polycom SoundPoint IP650. The call was G.722 encoded and recorded to a WAV file on the IP650. The wave file was trimmed and converted to an MP3 using Cool Edit Pro v2.1.
The spectral energy display offered in Cool Edit Pro (also the newer Adobe Audition) clearly shows that the Savi Go provides voice energy all the way up to the 8 KHz limit imposed by G.722 coding. Click on the image above to see the full resolution display if you like.
I also like the fact that it has a microphone boom that comes a considerable distance around to the corner of my mouth. I’ve said this several timed previously (here and here), a mic mounted on the side of my head makes me uneasy. I much prefer a traditional boom mounted mic out in front. I accept that this is a matter of personal preference, and makes the headset a little less portable.
I like the fact that it can be converted from wearing on-the-ear to over-the-head. For portable applications the on-the-ear approach is preferable, but I really like a proper headband for long-term use in office-bound situations.
Battery life has been good. I used it heavily on a few days, including about 6 hours in one day on conference calls and didn’t have a power problem. The only time I had it run completely down was when I left it off the charging stand for 36 hours, then used it for 5 hours straight the next afternoon. In that case it issued a warning beep every couple of minutes for the last 10 minutes before it actually shut off.
The charging stand that comes with the headset is a very good idea. It gives the headset a safe place to rest on my desktop, which can be a chaotic place. It makes it easy to locate the headset when a call is ringing through to my soft phone.
There is also a cable that allows charging directly from the USB port on a laptop. That both charging methods are provided is ideal. The USB charging cable, along with the over-the-ear style clip, stay permanently in my laptop bag for traveling use.
The headset has a single control. Pushing the button in and holding it will turn the headset off/on. Sliding the button fore or aft adjusts the earpiece volume up and down.
When the headset is used in conjunction with Plantronics’ PerSono Software the push-button acts to answer and incoming call or hang up a call. The PerSono Suite supports several of the more common enterprise UC clients (soft phones) including those from Avaya, Cisco and Microsoft. However, with the exception of Skype the consumer soft phones that I use were not supported in this manner.
The fact that the Savi Go is a complete package, including the Bluetooth dongle, is a welcome change from that prior circumstance. I know that if I have a problem I can trust that Plantronics will handle it in any case, whether the issue is with the headset or Bluetooth dongle. To my delight, I’ve had no such troubles. The Bluetooth dongle has worked on my Windows XP desktop, HP notebook and even my HP Mini 2140 netbook running Windows 7 RC.
Prior Bluetooth headsets that I’ve tried priced from $49-119. Those headsets were only useful with a cell phone and then only in narrowband. To use them with a PC required that the PC have built-in Bluetooth, or I could add an external Bluetooth interface at an added cost. In contrast, the Savi Go is more expensive. While it lists for $199 I found it at a variety of online vendors for $150-180. Overstock.com had about the best deal I could find at $139.
This pricing, even discounted, makes the Savi Go the most expensive Bluetooth headset that I’ve tried…but not by much. I find that the incrementally higher cost is easily justified given its flexibility, features and performance.
So now I find myself in a most awkward place. After years of dismissing Bluetooth headsets as just a waste of time & money I have found one in the Savi Go that I truly enjoy using…and would even recommend to others.
As to my original idea of using the Savi Go as a presenters headset, that never worked out. It turns out that the latency inherent in using the headset via an IP-PBX presented me a serious problem as a speaker. It also created the very real possibility of introducing echo in the room.
The idea that I might be able to do this at all this stems from having worked with various TV talent over the years. They often literally “parrot” a pre-recorded narrative that’s playing back in their ear from a small recorder. In that case the recording leads them through the dialogue.
That ability to speak to the recording in real-time is a skill that I failed to appreciate at the time.When the feed in your ear is yourself delayed about 40 ms it proves very confusing. It was simply unworkable for me. So I was forced to abandon the idea of using the Savi Go for the Astricon presentation.
Giving credit where it’s due, Polycom CTO Jeff Rodman suggested that I’d have such problems. He was right, but I had to try it anyway.