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Bluetooth headsets are often confused with Wireless telephony headsets as they both give you the freedom to move around the office while talking on the telephone. You are no longer tethered to your desk. They are both described as "wireless", which is even more confusing. They both "talk" to base cradles (or in the Bluetooth case, other Bluetooth enabled devices).
However, before purchasing a wireless headset you need to understand the significant differences between the Bluetooth and Wireless families.
The first difference to consider is RANGE. Bluetooth headsets have an official range of 10 metres (30 feet). Wireless headsets have a range of 100 metres (300 feet). So if you need to move a reasonable distance from your desk you need to have a Wireless headset. These distances are impacted by your office environment - walls (and what they are made out of) may reduce the actual range that you can achieve, open areas (i.e. line of sight) may actually help you get further than the official figures.
The next major difference is CONNECTIVITY. A Bluetooth headset can connect with up to 7 different devices (including your telephony base cradle of course). A Wireless headset can only connect to your telephone base cradle.
All major headset manufacturers now offer Bluetooth headsets. GN Netcom has the GN 6210 and Plantronics the Voyager 510.
All Bluetooth headsets have an optional handset lifter that enables you to answer telephone calls while you are away from your desk. These devices work by being fitted on your telephone, underneath the handset. When a call comes in your headset gives you a beep. Simply pressing a button on your headset causes the headset to tell the handset lifter to rise, lifting the handset, and you can converse with the caller. You press the button at the end of the call and the handset lifter lowers the handset back onto the telephone hanging up the call.
The latest models of telephony Bluetooth headsets are very reliable - the earlier versions had problems but don't let that worry you, they have all been rectified.
The most frequent problem now is "loss of pairing". This occurs when the headset stops talking to the base cradle. From our experience, this only happens infrequently (mainly when the base cradle loses power while the headset is not in its cradle). But, when it does, you lose all use of your headset - this is very disconcerting. DONT PANIC. The fix is very easy. You simply ensure that the headset is charged and undertake a process that re-establishes the pairing (i.e. connectivity).
The pairing procedure is different for each headset model. However, courtesy of AAAHeadsets, Pairing Documents for various headsets are below.
To restore your headset pairing, download the correct PDF file for your headset and follow the instructions: