Today we will test and discuss a little bit further about the new Poly Voyager 4245 Office Convertible Bluetooth Headset and we will compare it against its siblings from Poly, formerly known as Plantronics.
When Plantronics introduced its CS540 headset, they made a complete hit as people loved the versatility of being able to switch the wearing style of the headset, in either over the ear thanks to the included ear hook or over the head with the so included neck band or behind the neck thanks to the optional neckband. And as today the old venerable CS540 keeps running strong against more and more headsets on the market.
The Plantronics CS540 Wireless Headset is our base for this study, we have a well known design
and a wireless DECT frequency, this headset is the most reliable unit on the market, easy to use and fully compatible with virtually any office desk phone. Thanks to its hot pairing, if you need to replace your headset because got lost or damaged, simply get a replacement and it will pair directly by simply putting the headset on the base. The DECT frequency of the CS540 offers a range of up to 350 feet on line of sight, and thanks to that you can go thru walls without cutting in and out while in a call.
Get yours HERE.
Thanks to this design Plantronics back on the days decided to create
the Savi 8240 Office, this particular model allows the user to use this headset with virtually any desk phone, with the computer and with a Bluetooth enable devices, thanks to the built in Bluetooth on the base of the Savi 8240. For the same reason if the user wants to get the best performance of the headset while using it with the cell phone for example, the cell phone needs to be the closer to the base as if the user takes the headset and the cell phone and walks around the office, the probability of disconnecting is higher. However this unit is still a solid contender in the race for a one headset for multiple devices and that allows to be worn in different ways thanks to the included ear hook, head band and neck band. Order yours HERE.
Plantronics then noticed something interesting 
that people wanted and they were scared of getting a wireless headset, and you will ask: What is that? The simple answer is the battery talk time. In a really busy office space environment or call center with high grade of incoming or outgoing calls, having the best talk time life on a headset is extremely important. For the same reason Plantronics brought the Savi 8245 Office Wireless Headset Unlimited Talk. The model is similar to the sibling 8240, however as you can see, it has a tiny gate that opens and allows to have a secondary batter that is included charging all the time and the reason of that is if the user is on a call and start to run out of power, the battery on the headset can be replaced with the fully charged one, even in the middle of a call! The trustworthy DECT frequency is found here as well as the versatility of be worn on different styles. Get yours HERE.
Bothe of the Savi 8240/8245 bases offer dedicated keys to select device to use with, either with the desk phone, or computer or Bluetooth enable device and the base offers a discrete red light that allows the user to know when the headset is on mute.
Now on the new era and after finally merging together from Plantronics and Polycom as now Poly, they made a mix of all the previous headset and they took the best of each one of them and made it in a all new and improved family of headsets, this is the new Poly Voyager 4200 Office Series Family.
We will start with the Poly Voyager 4245 Office Convertible Bluetooth Headset.
This new unit is a Bluetooth Class 1 headset, thanks to that the headset has a similar range as the CS540, and as you can see, the design of this headset is pretty similar to the previous mentioned headsets. It allows you to use it with your desk phone, with your computer and with your cell phone, but he main difference here is that instead of pairing the cell phone to the base and leaving close to it as on the 8240/8245, you just pair it directly to the headset! Meaning that you can take the headset out of the office and keep using it with your Bluetooth enable devices out at home or on the road. A nice value of the Voyager 4245 headset is that as the sibling 8245, it’s considered a Unlimited Talk time headset with a hot swappable battery, so it is included an extra battery and a separate charger so you can charge the battery anywhere you take the headset as it’s not required to charge it on the base as the 8245. Get yours HERE.
Following next is the twin of the previous headset, now we have the Poly Voyager 4245-M Office Convertible Bluetooth Headset MS Teams. As you can see, the design of the
headset, the base and the included accessories are identical to the ones of the previous 4245, so you would wonder what is the difference?
The short answer to this is that the 4245-M has a dedicated Microsoft Teams key on the base as you can see in the picture, this key allows the user to launch Teams from the base, so no need to use the keyboard or mouse for those remote workers that
have their Teams meetings. Another feature is that it has a specific light color on that key and on the headset that will alert the user if they got a missing call or a message on Teams. The same range of up to 300 feet is found here and as it is a Bluetooth Class 1 headset, you can take it outside of the office and keep using it with a Bluetooth enable device. We have the extra battery and charger that keeps the headset with enough battery charge for all day of being on calls if needed. Get yours HERE.
Both of the 4245 bases have a new interface with touch screen style keys for selecting either desk phone use or computer, this makes it a nicer touch compared with the outdated keys of the Savi 8240/8245. A special mention over here is that the Voyager 4245 comes with an updated version of the fit kit, this updated kit now has redesigned ear hooks with a rubberized side, making it a nice update versus the old kit which was a solid plastic. The new rubberized ear hooks are more flexible and it allows the user to wear the headset with them even without the comfort foam sock for a period of time without being bothered. Using the foam sock gives a better and more friendly comfort to the headset and even makes it a nice option to keep all day long as the headset is ultra light and thanks to the different gel earbuds, let the user to choose the more comfortable to keep the headset on all day long. The base of the Voyager 4245 offers special ringing from the base for incoming calls on the computer or the desk phone. If want to mute this notifications, you need to do it from the Poly Lens software, under the Settings Tab, and on the Ringtones & Volume section.
All the mentioned headsets above are fully compatible with desk phones and fully compatible with Plantronics busy lights as well.
