Quick Disconnect Headsets

Which quick disconnect headset matches your cord

Three different plugs get sold as QD, and each takes its own cord. Read the headset's part number: HW510 is Poly QD, HW510D is the six-pin digital version, and anything named Biz or GN is Jabra. PW models are HW headsets sold with a cord already included.

Brands never cross. A Plantronics headset needs a Plantronics or Poly cord and a Jabra headset needs a Jabra cord, however alike the plugs look. Check the name on the headset before you pick a cord.

Which QD cord set your desk phone takes

The phone picks the cord, never the headset. Find your phone's brand and model on the underside, then match it here:

• Avaya J100, 1600 and 9600: the HIS cord.
• Avaya 2400, 4400, 4600, 5400, 6400 and 9400: the HIC-10 cord. It isn't interchangeable with HIS.
• Cisco 7900, 8900 and 9900: the Cisco U10 cord (26716-01).
• Polycom IP and VVX: the U10P Polaris cord, with a smoke RJ9 plug.
• Yealink, Snom and Grandstream: the U10P-S Reverse Polaris, with a clear RJ9 plug.
• Nortel, NEC and ShoreTel: the A10-16.
• Cisco SPA and Linksys SPA: a 2.5mm QD cord, because the port is a 2.5mm jack.

Don't order a QD to RJ9 cord by the shape of the plug. RJ9 was never a wiring standard, so phone makers put the microphone and speaker on different pins. A cord can click into the port and still carry no audio.

Identifying the QD cord you already have

Three things identify a Plantronics QD cord: the code embossed on the QD connector (A10, HIC, HIS or nothing), the size of that plug, and the color of the RJ9 on the phone end. Tilt the plug toward a light to read the code. Hold the phone end against white paper to tell smoke from clear, which is the only visible difference between the Polaris and the Reverse Polaris.

Any Plantronics or Poly headset built from 2008 on takes a current QD cord. Connectors made before 2005 don't mate with today's cords, so a headset that old needs replacing along with the cord.