Introduction to Telephone Headsets

Telephone Headsets attach to the telephone and allow hands-free operation. Telephone headsets are most commonly found in the offices of telephone marketing companies and call centres. Headsets allow comfortable conversation for long periods of time.

The telephone headset industry groups headset users into different categories. The traditional telephone headset user is referred to as "headset dependent" and uses a headset for six to eight hours a day. The second category of user is known as the "headset intensive" user. These are users that spend four to six hours on the phone a day. Finally there is the the "occasional" user who uses a telephone headset for protracted calls during the day or for periods of one to three hours at a time.

Telephone headsets usually plug into either the telephone line or to telephone handset jack via a headset adapter or amplifier unit. Most telephone headset adapters have controls to alter the microphone sensitivity and headphone volume and tone.

While it may appear that telephones and the handset jack interfaces appear simlar, it should be noted that not all handset connections are similar. There are a number of different types of microphone elements that each individual telephone set utilizes. The three main categories of microphones in use in the telephone headeset industry are: carbon, electret, and dynamic. These three types of telephone headset microphone work differently so if you have a headset that was made specifically for one of these three types, it will not be possible to use them with a microphone of another type.

The manufacturers of telephone headsets build their products so that they can be interfaced according to the phone manufacturer's specifications. Each manufacturer has application engineers that work with them in order to ensure that all new phones and current telephone products are properly identified and matched up to work with compatible telephone headsets. With this information, headset suppliers are able to initially recommend telephone headsets that work with specific phones. Best4Systems can investigate the purchasing of compatible telephone headsets for your specific needs.

Some telephone headset manufacturers also make general purpose headset adapters that enable the use of more than one type of headset. This is possible through the inclusion of switches for microphone amd wiring type selection. There are also a number of modern telephones such as wireless telephones that have a 2.5 mm stereo jack so that compatible telephone headsets can be plugged directly into them.

A range of telephone headsets from Best4Systems can be found on the following pages:

Telephone Headsets