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Plantronics Gaming Teams Up with Riot Games as Official Headset Partner of th...
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Logitech Wireless Headset H820e Review

The Logitech Wireless Headset H820e targets the UC space nicely, sporting an amazing 300 foot wireless range, call indicator LED to let co-workers know you're on the phone, and wideband audio. The H820e is available in mono and dual versions and I took the dual version for a spin.

After initially charging up the headset I made a test call using Skype. After putting on the headset the first thing I noticed was how well this headset seems to block out ambient noise. They did a good job with the speaker padding and it's also worth mentioning they were kind enough to put padding on the underside of the TOP of the headset so you have some cushion and comfort when the headset is on your head all day.  The call quality was very good.

The boom sports a mute button that I didn't even notice since it's recessed into the boom's rubbery and flexible material. The mute button is also black like the boom, so it really blends in. If not for the 6 small bumps I may not have noticed it all. The 6 slightly raised bumps make it easy to be on a call and slide your index finger and thumb down the boom mic until you feel the bumps, allowing you to mute/unmute without taking your eyes off your computer screen. Very handy. Some headsets you start pressing the wrong button thereby increasing or decreasing the volume, causing the headset to enter pairing mode or do some other function you didn't intend. I know I've had to remove headsets in the past just to look at the button labels and then put it back on. There's no mistaking where and how to mute with this headset! Also, when you are muted, a red LED mute indicator lights up at the end of the boom.

Although the 820 has an in-call indicator LED light, it didn't work with Skype. Apparently, it only works with Microsoft Lync and other leading enterprise UC software. Bummer.

Curious if this headset had decent bass response for music I played some Journey and noticed the low-end was definitely missing. Definitely sounded a bit tinny to my ears. I switched back to my Plantronics wired headset which has nearly identical speaker sizes and the full richness of the Journey sound returned. I was a bit puzzled why the decent-sized speaker couldn't handle low frequencies, but it dawned on me that this product was designed with UC in mind - talking to customers and coworkers and not necessarily listening to music. So I can understand designing speakers optimized for voice. Still, I'd imagine executives are loathe to want to switch headsets just to listen to music. Having two headsets when discussing "unified communications" seems like a contradiction to me.

But I cannot fault Logitech for this. They are following the TIA/EIA-920 specification for audio wideband, which is defined as 150 Hz to 6800 Hz. The low-end (150 Hz) obviously doesn't touch the bass frequencies and obviously missed some of the higher end frequencies as well that crashing cymbals (& other music instruments) can generate. Although, the specification gives "minimum" requirements, so there's nothing to stop Logitech and others from offering an even wider range of frequency response in their speakers. As telephones and computer entertainment merge, it would seem to make sense to do so.

In any event, I also tested the microphone and it performed very well and it was very good at not picking up ambient noise. It's flexible/bendable so you can bend it left or right and you can rotate the boom up or down for the best voice pickup. It's also worth mentioning that the H820e headsets automatically pair when placed in any H820e charger dock, making it easy to use the headsets with any workstation in large deployment or hot desking situations.

Interestingly, there is a wideband/narrowband switch on the base. Why would you ever want narrowband? Well, you can switch to narrowband for even longer talk time.

Features:
• Double-ear (dual) or single-ear (mono) wireless design options
• Digital Enhanced Cordless Telecommunications (DECT)
spectrum wireless connectivity
• In-call LED indicator light
• On-boom mute button and mute indicator LED light
• Intuitive on-ear call controls
• Up to 10 hours of wideband talk time
• Up to 100-meter (more than 300 ft.) wireless range
• Optimized for Microsoft® Lync™; compatible with most leading UC platforms
• Auto pair by docking
• Flexible microphone boom
• Padded leatherette headband and earpad
• Visual incoming call indicator
• Acoustic echo cancellation and noise-cancelling microphone
• Wide band/narrow band switch
• Digital Signal Processing (DSP)
• Contemporary, ultra-lightweight design

Product Specifications
Part #: Dual: 981-000516, Mono: 981-000511
Dimensions: Headset: 6.75 x 6.5 x 2 in (174 x 165 x 50 mm), Base: 5 x 2.8 x 3.25 in (128 x 73 x 82 mm)
Weight: Dual: 4.5 ounces (128 g), Mono: 3.1 ounces (88 g), Base: 16.8 ounces (475 g)
System Requirements:
Windows® Vista, Windows® 7 or Windows® 8 (32-bit or 64-bit), Mac OS® 10.7 and higher, Linux®, avalable USB port
Inside the box:
Headset, charging stand, AC power adapter, USB cable, Quick Start Guide and warranty info

Microphone: (Tx)
Type: Bi-directional ECM
Frequency response: 100 Hz – 7 KHZ
Sensitivity: -45 dB +3 dB
Distortion: <10% @1kHz, 10dBPa (MRP) input
Operating voltage: 1.4 – 5.0V DC

Speakers: (Rx)
Frequency response:
150 Hz – 7 kHz (ITU-T TIA920)
Sensitivity: 103dB +3 dB at 1KHz,
Input 1mW/Type 4153 artificial ear
Max output: <100 dB SPL
(compliant to EN60950-1)
Distortion: <4% @1kHz, 0dBm0, 1kHz
2 yr warranty

Price: Dual: $199.99, Mono: $179.99

Overall, I really like the Logitech 820e. It sounds awesome on a VoIP call using Skype, Lync, my SIP app, or any other voice app. The wideband audio quality really shows - on both legs of the call. I just wish this wireless headset could be my all-in-one headset. Then I can blast Journey in my wireless headset while simultaneously walking 200 feet down to the cafeteria to buy my lunch.


Ratings Score Installation Features Usability & Design Voice Quality Music Quality Overall

Tags: 820e, echo cancellation, headset, logitech, lync, microsoft, review, uc, unified communications Related tags: wireless headset, ambient noise, frequency response, worth mentioning, using skype, headset

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Detailed WebRTC Research Report Out
Well, it was inevitable - a detailed and possibly first WebRTC research report is out with full analysis of the WebRTC marketplace & value chain. I've been blogging on VoIP since 2004 and writing about VoIP since 1996, when I wrote what I believe was the first VoIP product review (Vocaltec). But I've never been as excited about a new VoIP technology as I am WebRTC. WebRTC is going to be huge, which is why TMC launched a show WebRTC Conference & Expo focused exclusively on WebRTC.

So I'm interested to check out this research report which measures 160 pages in length, including detailed commentary, analysis, forecasts and over 50 tables and charts with over 70 WebRTC companies discussed. Here's a sample chart:

Cisco Strengthens Products For Midmarket

Cisco today announced a series of news surrounding their midmarket product line and their partners that sell Cisco products in this space. A quick overview is that they announced some enhancements to Cisco Business Edition 6000, their midmarket collaboration platform, a new Cisco Express Collaboration specialization, simplification of Telepresence Advanced Technology Programs, and tools for Midsize Business Marketing Campaigns.

I spoke with Marc Inderhees, Senior Manager, Worldwide Collaboration Channel Sales about this news. He stated that Cisco sees the midmarket as 100-1000 employees with over 3.7 million midmarket businesses worldwide. According to Cisco, 1 in 6 employees work for a midmarket company. Marc said that the consumerization of IT is affecting the midmarket dramatically due to the explosion of devices infiltrating their business. While larger enterprises may have the IT resources to deal with this, the midmarket often does not. Cisco aims to reduce this pain point of increased consumer devices on the network.

One big piece of news is that the enterprise-scale Cisco Business Edition 6000 (BE 6000) is now dropping down from 50 to a 25-user starter package with improved licensing. Technically, this also hits the SMB and not just the midmarket, but often a larger company will deploy a small trial run or at a branch office and then if it goes well they'll fully deploy. Still, the enterprise-class BE 6000 can now technically hit the enterprise, midmarket, and SMB space. With features such as unified communications (UC), Cisco Jabber, Cisco WebEx, telepresence, messaging & paging, and mobility/wireless features, this is a powerful platform that address business's needs of all sizes. It serves up to 1,000 users and 50 sites with support for Survivable Branch (SRST).

Another new feature is that they've virtualized Cisco TelePresence Video Communications Server (VCS) and have loaded it onto the BE 6000 for free. This is huge, since the licensing for this software was in the thousands. This really opens the door for video conferencing in the SMB and midmarket space. Yet another new feature is Singlewire InformaCast paging for doing overhead paging, mass notification, emergency notification to IP phone endpoints and other devices.

On the partner side, Cisco announced some enhancements to their Cisco Express Collaboration Specialization program including a 50% lower partner training & investment requirements along with Premiere Certification and access to their technical support (TAC). Relatedly, they announced a refreshed Telepresence Advanced Technology Programs (ATP) that is more streamlined and with reduced requirements. They also announced 3% Cisco Capital Financing offer to help close deals on the Cisco Business Edition 6000 portfolio and eligible Cisco TelePresence endpoints, an offer that is available until July 31, 2013. Finally, they are offering a "Demand Generation Kit" (available mid-February) that features email campaigns, customer interest offers (whitepapers, analyst reports, etc.), partner marketing guide, and seminar-in-a-box. They are also offering a playbrief, call guide, competition battlecards, and copy blocks.

We also briefly discussed competitive advantages and Marc mentioned that many of their competitors such as Avaya, ShoreTel, and Microsoft (Lync) often have to partner to complete the feature-set. For instance, ShoreTel has to partner for telepresence, and Microsoft has to partner for certain call center functionality. I think Cisco partners and VARs will welcome the new 25-user license pack, lower cost of certification, and improved functionality (telepresence) in the Cisco Business Edition 6000.

Tags: business edition 6000, cisco, midmarket, partners, resellers, smb, telepresence, uc, var, voip Related tags: cisco business, business edition, technology programs, express collaboration, collaboration specialization, cisco

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