Office 365 Cloud PBX: Handsets vs Headsets – You Decide

[Chris Thorson (cthorson)]

With the recent news from Microsoft about Office 365 Cloud PBX services with PSTN calling and the great cost savings and productivity enhancements it will bring, a past blog post topic I wrote—Microsoft Lync: Handsets vs Headsets – You Decide—deserves a refresh. Adoption of Office 365 as a PBX replacement (powered by Skype for Business Online) will continue to bring up the discussion of what type of telephony devices a company should deploy. For those new to Skype for Business, the answer is sometimes “we’re not deploying hard phones because we don’t want to spend all that extra money. We’ll just use our PCs and maybe some headsets too.” While this may be a perfectly valid choice for some companies—more and more I’m seeing organizations make the switch back to the tried and true desk phone, and here’s why…

Desk phones always work – In my 20 years of experience in the telephony industry, I’ve just never heard people complain that their desk phone doesn’t do the job it’s designed to do. With desk phones you never have to worry about wireless interference or have to remember to charge your phone. And when it comes time for that all important client call or webinar presentation, I always reach for my trusty Polycom VVX 600. Always on, always reliable.

High quality audio – Sometimes we take for granted the inherent quality of a wired desk phone. With a large ergonomically designed ear cup and speaker (plus things like HD voice) there’s always sufficient volume to hear the conversation. Similarly, having a speakerphone built-into a hard phone provides you with the flexibility to move around and stretch your legs while being able to have a friend join your call too.

Easy to set up & use – While headsets are certainly convenient devices and provide you with workspace mobility, they can be cumbersome to set up, get your pairing code entered correctly and sometimes even get confused as to which device you want to connect with. With OpenSIP phones qualified with Microsoft, setup and configuration couldn’t be easier. Plug in your OpenSIP VVX series phone or CX phone, enter your Skype for Business credentials once at installation, and you now have a phone that is “always connected”.

And let me not forget the most important feature of all, the all-important, statement making, slam the receiver down when someone on the other end has really annoyed you. There’s just something about the ability to slam a handset down that just feels good and I somehow don’t get that same feeling by pressing the end call key on my Bluetooth headset.

Want to know which Office 365 Cloud PBX phone is right for you? Read the blog Polycom Phones Ready for New Skype for Business Online Cloud PBX Services from Peter Huboi. Join the conversation and share your thoughts.

Additional Resources:

Quick Reference Guide: Polycom VVX Business Media Phones, Skype for Business Edition

Quick Reference Guide: Voice Selection Guide for Office 365/Skype for Business Online

Forrester Report: The Total Economic Impact of Polycom Voice Solutions For Skype For Business