Top 5 Headset Features for Quality Audio at Home

Business leaders across industries around the world are quickly ramping up technology to enable employees to work from home due to the impact of COVID-19. In a 2019 survey, 57% of mobile workers noted collaboration and communication issues in their top frustrations when working remotely¹, but in today’s reality, companies are coming together to overcome hurdles and keep our economy moving.

We at Cisco are doing our part by expanding the capabilities of our free Webex offer in all countries where available, not only those impacted by COVID-19. 

Tips to Improve Your Audio Quality at Home 

There are many items to consider when enabling a productive and secure home connection, but one element that is often overlooked is ensuring audio quality.  A meeting can quickly come tumbling down due to poor audio; and let’s accept the realities, this extends beyond connectivity to dogs barking, babies crying, and spouses fighting over the “home office” to reduce distractions. While we can’t give you a bigger house or tips for calming the dog, Cisco helps you get the best audio quality no matter where you are working. So, if you find yourself reaching for a headset because your spouse laid claim to the home office, look for a headset with these top 5 features for mobile working as ranked by 1,000 users globally²: 

#1 Voice quality 
No surprise that 100% of participants ranked this as the most critical element of a headset. Rather it’s what you hear or what the person is hearing on the other end, a premium microphone, speakers, and advanced codes in a headset are essential for delivering high – quality audio.

#2 Wearing comfort
We’ve all experienced the chaotic work week with meetings scheduled back to back.  You could end up with an even bigger headache from those meetings if your headset isn’t designed for all day comfort.

#3 Noise-cancelling
No matter if you are working in the office, at home, or on go, noise-cancelling is essential to block out unwanted distractions. Our lives are busy, but high-quality noise cancelling headsets can filter out distractions so you can focus on getting stuff done.

#4 Ease of connectivity
Headset audio issues due to compatibility are common. With a PC/Mac, smartphone, tablets, and/or desk phone in your home office, you need a headset that easily connects to the devices and applications you use to get the job done.

#5 Audio customization
We use our headsets for a range of activities including calls, watching videos, and listening to music while working. We also all have our own individual preferences, so it’s important that you can customize your headset settings to what sounds best.

Headsets are a critical, but sometimes forgotten element of exceptional, mobile work experience. Over the past week, we’ve had many customers reach out to secure headsets to enable quality at home, work experiences. Cisco recognized the frustration of finding headsets that ensure quality audio, work seamlessly, plus can be easily managed by IT. We’ve worked hard to tackle these issues with a full range of headsets that are deeply integrated into the secure Webex platform delivering high-quality communication and premium user experiences.

Read more on what’s important for UC headset users in our eBook,
or visit www.cisco.com/go/headsets to learn how Cisco Headsets are seamlessly
extending the collaboration experience in the office, at home, or on the go!

Related Blogs

Intelligent, Integrated Management with Cisco Headsets

Calling Without Compromise When Working From Home

Work From Home Best Practices

¹ https://cdn.netmotionsoftware.com/wp-content/uploads/The-Mobile-Employee-Experience-Report-Summary.pdf

² Cisco’s “Business Headsets” survey 2019, global data