TELEPHONE HEADSET SELECTOR
TELEPHONE HEADSET SELECTOR
This site is sponsored by Crucible Technologies. It has information on telephone headsets and is designed to help you choose the most suitable telephone headset for the job.
If you would like to work out which headset is most suitable for your telephone, then use the flow chart below. Click on the RED help? next to the questions if you want more explanation. Click on the GREEN box for a headset that will meet your requirements.
Some phones are designed to work with a headset and provide an additional socket for the headset. These phones often provide the user with a volume control to enable the caller’s voice to be adjusted to suit the operator.
RJ11(square) or 2.5 mm (round)
RJ11: This is the most common type of connector used on telephone headsets. The connector has 4-pins.
2.5 mm jack plug: This plug is not very common. They are used on some DECT telephones and also on some Panasonic system telephones.
Most analogue or digital telephones have a curly cord leading from the base or side of the telephone to the handset. This is usually detachable and enables an adapter or amplifier to be inserted into the socket to allow a headset to be used.
If you have a home or office telephone then these are easily replaced with telephones that already have a headset socket built in. There are some choices below.
If you have a digital, isdn or VoIP telephone which does not have a detachable headset cord or a headset socket, then unfortunately you will not be able to use a headset with this type of telephone. These telephones are generally known as system telephones and cannot be used as a normal telephone.
About 90% of telephone headsets use an industry standard wiring on the headsets. However, some manufacturers have used a different wiring configuration which can cause compatibility problems. Telephones from Cisco, Ascom, Philips, Plantronics, Panasonic and Avaya (Callmaster) use a non-standard configuration.