I have been using the Plantronics Voyager 510S for over a month. I have used the headset every day and night during this time. I wanted to put it through its paces before writing about it. The precise product I have is the Plantronics Voyager 510S Bluetooth Headset System as it says here on the box.
The headset itself works with both an office phone and your bluetooth enabled phone/device. Included in the box is a headset lifter allowing you to take calls on the headset without having to lift the phone manually. There is also a sleek charging unit that stands on a desk and looks like something Apple would make if it was in the headset business. Apple of course would change the colors from business-like grey and silver to probably all white or white and blue.
The list of included items in this kit goes on and on. You will find an online indicator light letting others know you are on the phone. You also get a car charger and a USB headset charger and finally a pouch that allows you to carry the headset on your belt.
The pouch may not be needed as the headset can be carried just fine in a shirt pocket or just hanging from the top of your shirt if desired. You can also throw it in your pants pocket.
Even after doing everything I could to trip it up I must say the headset is amazing. It is near-perfect. It holds a charge for well over a day and certainly outlasts the battery life of my phone. I have used it two days in a row at a trade show without charging and it still worked great. I have talked on the headset for hours and hours at a time with no problems.
There is no need to avoid charging the unit nightly as the travel charger that Plantronics supplies is light and very small. It is perfect for throwing in a laptop bag or purse.
The entire headset experience has improved greatly from the first bluetooth headsets (M1000, M3000) the company produced a few years back. The interface is better. The tones the headset emits are more logical and intuitive. The headset feels like it is part of you. You don’t need to think when you use it.
The connectivity between the headset and the phone is amazing as I can take calls on the headset virtually instantaneously. Plantronics representatives told me they worked long and hard to make this happen.
The volume of the headset is amazing as well. Even in a loud car at high speeds you can hear everything clearly. In fact you can turn the volume up so much that it sounds distorted and hurts your ear. This is quite an accomplishment given the light weight, small size and long battery life.
If there is any problem with this headset it is the wind noise. I have complained about wind noise on Plantronics headsets before and I was amazed that the wind noise on this headset was as bad as any unit I have used before.
When I queried Plantronics representatives about the problem I received the following comments which satisfy me. Here are the comments from Plantronics.
Voyager Design Considerations
The Voyager headset was designed to work in two very different environments. The first is of course, the wireless mobile application, where lightweight and discreet were key requirements. This accounts for the short boom length and very small size for the parts of the headset that are visible.
The second application is the office, where ambient noise rejection, privacy, battery life and overall audio quality were regarded as important. This accounts for the use of a noise canceling microphone and a larger battery compartment located behind the ear.
To accommodate both applications, the design incorporates a noise canceling microphone with a fairly high directivity index (this describes how directional the microphone pick-up pattern is). Noise canceling microphones are more susceptible to wind noise due to turbulent pressure differences at each of the two sound inlet ports. Omni directional microphones used in many other products have less wind noise susceptibility, but sacrifice ambient noise rejection, which can degrade privacy in the office environment (neighboring conversations can be picked up…).
For this reason, the product has been shipped with a foam sock that fits over the microphone boom to all but eliminate wind noise at the expense of the sleek look of the microphone boom. With the foam sock, wind noise performance should be better than an unprotected “Omni” microphone, with no sacrifice of ambient noise rejection. With the foam sock removed, wind noise will be an issue. It is recommended that the foam sock be applied for mobile out-of-doors use or windy areas. In the office, the foam sock is not really necessary.
The Voyager headset performance has been carefully engineered to fit in the middle of the mobile and office applications, providing sufficient audio performance for both use cases with no sacrifice to comfort, fit or discreet size.
The sock as it is called is a bit ugly looking but not too big and will likely get lost quickly. That is why they give you two I suppose. I tried one on and felt like Geraldo Rivera. I immediately was compelled to don a t-shirt, fly to
In summary this is an incredible headset kit. It gives you tremendous flexibility, a multitude of charging options and everything you could want in a bluetooth headset.
I can comfortably recommend this device after more than 30 days of grueling testing where the headset was dropped and sat on repeatedly (please don’t tell company representatives as they want it back in perfect condition).
Interestingly enough this weekend marks the time where my home state Connecticut begins their new mandatory headset law. I strongly urge you to pick up a bluetooth headset and make sure your phone works with bluetooth as well. The wire most headsets use is unsafe in my opinion. It can get caught on a parking brake, shift knob or your arm while driving and can increase the risk of accident. Wireless headsets in the car are the only way to go.
To my fellow
September 2005 Archives
Marc Benioff has found more ways to keep his name in the news and that of his company than virtually any other tech exec I have ever seen. He is a master promoter. He took an ASP and guided it through the most turbulent tech market we could have had and somehow made it through to a successful IPO and has gotten to the point where Salesforce.com and Siebel are typically mentioned in the same sentence.
Even if you think he is over the top or too much of a promoter or just not buttoned down enough, you have to give him tremendous credit for what he has achieved.
Here is his latest announcement:
The on-demand revolution has never shown greater momentum. As the legacy client-server world consolidates, Salesforce.com has been posting record revenue, profit and subscriber growth. In its second fiscal quarter, salesfore.com posted a 77% increase in revenue and 331% increase in profit. Highly-qualified employees are a key part of that success. As of July 31, 2005, salesforce.com employs 1059 people worldwide, up from 594 a year ago.
We are actively hiring worldwide and need the most qualified people we can find to help us further expand our growing community of success. As you all know we already have a $5000 referral fee program in place for all employees worldwide who identify outstanding candidates that we go on to hire.
We are today also announcing a $5000 signing bonus for current Siebel employees that we hire before December 31st. Following the proposed acquisition of Siebel by Oracle many existing Siebel employees may be concerned about their career prospects, we want to offer them an alternative to an environment of declining commissions, confused customers and uncertainty around career viability. We would be delighted to hear from any Siebel employee that would like to join our company that meets our rigorous standard for excellence and dedication to customer success. Siebel employees can email us for a confidential discussion or meeting with a Salesforce.com executive through siebelsurvivor@salesforce.com We will also be holding recruitment events on October 19th in both
Aloha,
Marc
I’ve got a really busy travel schedule today and may not be able to blog as much as usual. The downside? I am an addict. I feel like I need to be in touch but I know it may be tough. I will be in the car for a while so I may just connect wirelessly with my laptop. We may have an e-mail interface on our blog software soon meaning I will be able to blog from my Blackberry. That will be very interesting when it happens. I can’t wait. Until then, I will do my best to be in touch.
As you may recall on my latest trip to Canada I wasn’t sure if my CDMA phone would work so I took a GSM phone and a WiFi phone as well. These are the chargers I carried on my trip:
- Laptop
- Headset
- CDMA phone
- WiFi Phone
- GSM phone
- Blackberry
So although I am already up to my neck in chargers I decided to get another device that needs one. Thankfully the Tissot has a slim USB charger which shouldn’t take up too much space or weight. At some point soon – the masochist that I am, I expect to have an iPOD nano which means yet another charger.
The watch also has the ability to work with MSN Direct meaning it can accept data transmitted over a data network running on an FM radio frequency.
I can get stock quotes, news, and sync with my Outlook calendar.
What I am waiting for is two-way data capability so I can use this watch to carry on a wireless VoIP conversation. Now that is going to be amazing when it happens. The challenge here is figuring out how to power the watch so you can have normal conversations. As it is the watch needs charging every few days or so. Another concern Is heat dissipation as WiFi phones get very hot these days – imagine a WiFi watch!
On a separate note, expect a huge announcement in the WiFi telephony area soon. Hint, we are reviewing an amazing WiFi phone that works on the world’s largest VoIP network and is made by one of the largest consumer electronics/tech companies. I can’t give you more than that but keep checking TMCnet for the latest on when this news hits. We should have the first product review on the market.
Until then I am trying to figure out how to use the watch and get it all set up. I hope it isnt as much work as I fear to get it up and running.
Yet another threat to WiFi is using your electrical socket. I am not referring to BPL or broadband over power line where data is transmitted by electric companies but instead allowing your electrical wires to transmit broadband signals and thus potentially eliminating the need for WiFi in homes.
The convenience factor of wireless is certainly something that cannot be matched by using the electrical sockets but with laptops constantly needing to be plugged in after a few hours of use anyway, will it be easier in the future to just stay plugged in?
Now I am not ready to give up WiFi any time soon but there are likely applications for this technology where WiFi just doesn’t reach or where the throughput of WiFi is not good enough or where there is interference or where too many people need to get on a limited amount of wireless frequencies. Then there is the issue of security – some companies just don’t trust wireless networks and wireless solutions are inherently less secure than wired alternatives.
From a security standpoint the issue with WiFi is that people outside your building can listen in and potentially decode your signals. This is less of a problem when you use electrical sockets as an intruder needs to be in your building or somehow tapping into your electrical system.
The latest advances in chips will allow us to explore using power sockets for broadband transmission. Recently in fact Matsushita Electric has come up with a chip allowing for data to be sent and received at 170 mbps. This is blisteringly fast and allows for HDTV to be streamed and lots of other exciting applications. The company makes a variety of appliances and expects to on day integrate the chips into many household items allowing us to turn off the stove from a web browser for example. A more useful example could be turning off your home air conditioner from the office or turning it on for that matter.
Of course many of these things can be done with WiFi as well and perhaps the competition from Matsushita will force companies making WiFi chips to respond with similarly priced chips.
The way I see it, if we are all being forced to be more and more connected, why are our appliances getting a break? If I need to be online 24x7 so will my stove, refrigerator and air conditioner. What I won’t appreciate is getting more e-mail and I just hope my refrigerator never sends me a message telling me to cut back on the junk food or that we need to buy more orange juice to keep me from catching cold in the winter.
If there is one thing you must credit Google with it is building momentum. The company is in the news virtually every day with a new announcement or another. Not all the news is good as there has been an ongoing problem in the book publishing field regarding Google’s unauthorized scanning and indexing of books. A similar problem turned up in the TV industry where Google planned on recording TV programs and allowing people to search and possibly view them.
But problems aside it seems Google is running on all cylinders and has evolved from being a verb to one of the most commonly used words in the world.
We all know that massive amounts of miniaturization brought about by space flight has been partly responsible for the rapid advance humanity has experienced in computing. NASA is responsible for many products we commonly use. Well at least indirectly. When you think of products directly resulting from NASA’s efforts, you like me probably think of the Tempurpedic mattress or if you are old enough you know Tang and Velcro were also invented for NASA.
But what has NASA contributed to society lately. Not too much. But this may be about to change as Google and NASA have teamed up. The precise details are a bit sketchy but we know that Google will become a tenant in the NASA Ames Research Center in
Google will also have access to scientists who manage one of the world’s most powerful supercomputers – Project Columbia. Google may not have direct access but they will be able to potentially create new products such as 3-dimensional maps.
Google will also gain access to NASA's space data and imagery. Google already uses satellite imagery in its Google Maps service and for its Google Earth software. Google can now enhance the imagery with data about temperatures or crop patterns, said Peter Norvig, director of search quality at Google. The company is also interested in extending its mapping prowess to outer space, he said.
``We already have Google Earth,'' Norvig said. ``We'd like to have Google Mars and Google Moon.'' He continued ``I didn't realize how much content and information was trapped in the accumulated history of these organizations,'' Schmidt said. ``Imagine if our supercomputing power can be applied to the problem.''
Prior to Google’s entry into mapping the most popular options were MapQuest and Yahoo! Maps. To compete effectively Google has steadily made progress in making a better and better mapping product. Technologies like AJAX have been used by the company to differentiate itself from other mapping companies and it’s Google Earth program too has been something relatively new and different in the mapping world.
If you are a Google shareholder you may be wondering how any of this translates into money. Indeed, we all know NASA is a huge contributor to the current deficit. Will NASA and Google be able to generate revenue from this relationship? Every taxpayer should want to know the answer.
Of course the answer is unknown but assuming Google is paying NASA for the privilege of working together then NASA is generating some extra revenue from this relationship. The next question is how will Google monetize this opportunity?
With massive data stores, Google will be able to further differentiate itself from other search companies. Who do Microsoft and Yahoo! partner with to compete effectively? The Russian and Chinese space programs? Even if they decided to do this the negative PR would be deafening.
With this differentiation comes prestige as Google has done something their competition can’t. Even if they can they will be second to the party.
So how does Google make money from all this? It is unclear. But there is one thing that is certain. With the ability to reach people across the planet easily and access to unique search technology and a slew of other software applications the company will have access to more ideas now. Brainpower if you will. Google has always hired very smart people. Many published reports explain that intelligence even trumps experience at Google. This massive store of brainpower has helped the company do many things such as launch a shopping comparison service Froogle, Google News, Google Sidebar, Google Talk and more. So now there is the ability to potentially tap into many thousands more scientists.
NASA could become the Bell Labs of Google. This is a very powerful concept – as long as Google can execute. Google will certainly have no problem executing in software as they have perhaps the best distribution system on the planet. Where they may have trouble is in the physical world where they may decide to get more active in providing broadband to customers. There are more opportunities for failure with these initiatives if the company isn’t careful.
There are no hard numbers being announced in this partnership that allow me to say this is a great financial decision for Google or not but the company has done extremely well turning ideas from bright people into money. How many more ideas are out there awaiting NASA and Google and how many billions more dollars will these ideas generate for Google and possibly the
Speaking of momentum, NASA needs some. This relationship is a real win/win for all involved as NASA too can claim they are more relevant than ever with this new partnership. Public opinion is crucial for NASA to continue receiving funding and Google may help NASA achieve more reach and generate more excitement for the space agency.
Of course the one area I didn’t delve into is the licensing opportunities that exist. I can see the t-shirt now… I Googled the Universe or Aliens Googled Me And All I Got Was This Lousy T-Shirt. How about bumper stickers for that matter. I imagine the next space shuttle having a huge bumper sticker on the back that reads powered by Google.
All kidding aside, this agreement is at least a great PR opportunity for both NASA and Google and it is good to see both organizations shooting for the stars.
Check out this cool webinar I am involved with. Someone who participates in this webinar will get a Bose Wave Radio. I was among the first to purchase a Bose Acoustic Wave radio – back in 1987 or so. This was a great radio to take to a field and listen to while you throw a Frisbee around. Better yet an Aerobie.
On another note – I worked for 5 years in the mailroom at TMC so I could purchase stereo system for over $2,000 when I was 13. No I am not kidding. You got a lot for $2,000 back then but those diamond styli (not the ones you use with a PDA – these were placed on the surface of the record) were killers – so expensive. Every summer and vacation, I was working here at TMC. I purchased a pair of Bose 901 speakers for $650. The speakers were recalled a few years back and for a nominal fee Bose gave me new 901s. I still have them.
Boy did I digress. Here is the info on the web seminar. Pretty unusual approach to web seminars. Don’t you think? I wonder if I am eligible to win this radio… Probably not. Too bad.
Going Beyond "Monolithic and Safe" to Succeed with VoIP
The Art & Science of Dragon Slaying... an IT Chief and Contact Center Manager's Guide for a VoIP Strategy that Delivers Tangible, Definitive Results.
October 13, 2005, 1:30-2:30 PM EST.
The "Dragons" have been around almost since | |
Why breaking free from the status quo is essential for your success. | |
Three "S" factors: Security, Scalability, and Standards | |
IP Telephony application trends -- far beyond screen pops and dialers . | |
The process to properly evaluate IP Telephony products and their impact on your business. | |
Attend and you are registered in a drawing for a Bose Wave Radio II engineered to a bold new standard for crisper, more accurate sound. The Wave® Radio II is simple to operate and small enough to use almost anywhere in your home. Attend and receive a free copy of the "IP Telephony and the Interaction Center Platform" White Paper. | |
There may be big problems with customer service at Comcast. I keep hearing complaints from people who use their VoIP service. It could be the massive growth the company is experiencing that’s contributing to the service woes. If you are interested in a funny trail of comments on the matter check out a recent blog post on the subject.
Tomorrow, those people not reading my blog will learn that GBH purchased CommuniTech. Von Bedikian the founder of GBH and Neal Shact are two telecom veterans I have known for 15 and 23 years respectively. Both great people – both great companies. Now there will be a single entity, GBH that is a market leader in distribution and resale. They were one of the first companies to sell videoconferencing products, have been a leader in headsets for years and are reselling IP PBXs as well. The company does well and Von runs a tight ship. Von and Neal together will make an incredible team.
Here is a photo of a company called DriveSavers helping to save hard disks from the floods in Katrina’s aftermath. 
No word on whether this drive was saved or not. I can imagine after Katrina that there are tens of thousands of drives that need saving – probably more. I know that most people just don’t back up data as often as they should and it takes losing your computer to understand why backups are important. Hopefully the drive restoration companies are having good success restoring important data that was lost.
Wow! No sooner did I blog about how TMCnet was in the top 1,426 sites in the world yesterday, today was an even better day. TMCnet is the top 1,275 sites today! Our reach was a record as well at 590 out of a million people. These are staggering numbers and puts TMCnet in an elite pack of b2b sites. TMCnet is one of the leading b2b tech sites in the world as ranked by Alexa. In communications, there is no site even close to our traffic levels or rank.
We can’t achieve these gains without you, our loyal readers. Thanks for coming to our site. We have invested heavily in servers and bandwidth and many of you have noticed that TMCnet is faster than ever.
On Friday we will be rolling out even more speed improvements meaning that if you have a fast connection we hope our site loads as fast or faster than any other news site in the world.
Again, thanks for your support. Enjoy TMCnet. Sign up for our newsletters or enjoy a defined RSS feed or even design your own RSS feed on your company name, your name or anything else you feel like tracking.
I have had great results testing the presentation software from Glance Networks. The software is extremely simple to us. I am on the Beta version 2.00.50 ( I am pretty sure this version is now live) and it is the only version I have used. People I speak with in the industry who have used the service love it. The only negative I am aware of is that once in a while a presentation I was viewing froze and I needed to log back in to view it.
How It Works
The way the system works is that you click on an icon that has a G on it. This icon lives on the taskbar. From there, you click on “Start Session.” From there your desktop is being shared until you tell it to stop sharing.
The Twins
I have two monitors connected to my computer and it defaulted to my left screen.
What Others Do
You are given a unique URL that you give out to others. These people go to the URL and type in a unique password the software supplies. From that point on a Java application loads and others see everything that you see on your screen. There is no download – the users just need to have Java on their computers.
Audio And Video
The system worked pretty fast in my testing and it was in 24- bit color. There is no audio support so you’ll need a conference bridge to connect via audio as well.
Pricing
You can have a single user account for as little as $49.95/mpnth or as little as $119/month for the enterprise version. Up to 15 people can share a web connection to see your screen.
Simplicity
The service is simple and easy to use. It is not as full-featured as many others but the flipside is that anyone can use it.
Conclusion
So far I can recommend this service as I think it is a great value and will meet the needs of many people who need to share their desktops with up to 15 others.
What is more amazing is our reach which on many days is in the 300 out of a million range. This number means that 300 people out of a million web surfers visit TMCnet.
Yesterday we were at 530! Pretty amazing.
For fun, click on this link and compare TMCnet to other sites.
I just received an e-mail on the merger and am surprised I didn’t read about it sooner.
After months of planning, US Airways and
We will initially continue operating as two airlines, but we are working hard behind the scenes to combine our operations. And we're already introducing new benefits that will make your travel with us more enjoyable and rewarding. You can begin to enjoy the following new benefits, for travel beginning October 5, 2005:
VoX wholesale just landed Aptela, a business VoIP service provider as a customer. Using a wholesaler makes it a great deal easier to deploy VoIP.
