End-user perspective on small office tools & technology

HDVoice Capable Sennheiser DECT Headset

Sennheiser is a name that I’ve known my entire career. They are a well respected name in pro audio circles, specialists in high-quality microphones and headsets. They are not as well known for headsets targeting computer and telephony applications, but it happens that they do have some offerings in that area.

In fact, this past week they were named in a press release from Telstra in Australia. In this release Telstra announced the launch of the Polycom VVX-1500 video phone, a device that I’ve written about previously. However, along side the VVX-1500 they were also launching the Sennheiser DV Office, a DECT wireless headset.

The Sennheiser DV Office is a good match for the VVX-1500 in that it supports wideband audio and the electronic hook-switch connection (EHS) to Polycom phones.

The VVX-1500 supports very high quality audio using G.722, Siren 7 (G.722.1) and Siren 14 (G.722.1C) codecs. Looking into the literature I see that the frequency response of the device is 150 Hz – 6.8 KHz in wideband mode, which seems at least appropriate for Siren 7 or baseline G.722.

It always seems paradoxical to me that we have these high-tech desk phones that require often require a mechanical handset lifter to toggle hook state when used with a cordless headset. There just something so wrong about that arrangement.

The Sennheiser DV Office looks like a real player in the space:

  • Intuitive user interface – Mute microphone and adjust volume up or down
  • Sennheiser HD Voice Clarity – Wideband sound for a more natural experience
  • Full workday Talk Time – 8 hours in wideband sound mode and 12 hours in narrowband sound mode
  • Intelligent fast charging – 50% in 20 minutes gives you 4 hours talk time
  • Long Distance Wireless Range – In typical office building: Up to 55 m and in line of sight: Up to 180 m.
  • Protected hearing – ActiveGard™ technology protects against acoustic shock and sudden sound surges
  • Boosted productivity – Noise-canceling microphone filters out unwanted background noise
  • Desk phone & softphone – Switch from one communication channel to the other. One touch on the base station to select the channel you wish to call from

A quick look around on-line shows them offered At $300 USD. Plus you’ll pay extra for the aforementioned handset lifter ($89) or the EHS cable ($85)

While that seems a bit pricey, there simply aren’t that many wideband-capable cordless headsets being offered yet, so every new model is worth mentioning.

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