Touch Technology isn't just for fingers...
Celebrating the company's 50th anniversary, Plantronics on Wednesday unveiled the latest product in its line of wireless headsets for office scenarios, the Voyager Pro UC v2.
Utilizing capacitive touch sensors, the Voyager Pro UC and its new software suite can intelligently interact with softphones and mobile devices based simply upon the user's physical contact with the headset.
The headset can be paired with any Bluetooth phone, and it comes with a pre-paired Bluetooth USB dongle for connection to PC Softphone clients. From there, it just requires one piece of desktop software to tie the Voyager Pro UC tightly into the user's different communication tools, such as Cisco, Avaya, Microsoft Lync (Office Communicator,) and Skype.
Once the Plantronics software is integrated with the user's softphone clients, the Voyager Pro UC can then respond to whichever device receives a call.
If a call comes from the mobile phone, the headset will pick it up, if it comes from skype, it will pick that up, if the user switches on Windows Media Player or Winamp, the audio will be piped through it. And when one voice line is being used, the other lines automatically switch to a "busy" status.
Plantronics has managed to create a seamless bridge between different communications protocols.
But the most disruptive thing about the Voyager Pro UC is that its capacitive touch sensitivity means you don't have to wear it if it's not convenient. When you're wearing it, the desktop software knows you're wearing it, and it makes all of the communications tools react accordingly.
For example, if you get a mobile phone call, and the headset is tucked in your pocket, you can pick up and talk on the phone without the audio being routed to the headset. Likewise, if you get a mobile call and you're not wearing the headset, all you have to do is pop it in your ear, and it automatically picks up the call once it's "docked" in your head.
It also features the ability to escalate IM conversations to voice conversations simply by putting it on. If you are using Skype for an IM conversation, for example, you can put the headset in your ear, and Skype will automatically call the contact you're Instant Messaging.
The seemingly simple concept of touch-based availability has rejuvinated the cumbersome act of multi-profile Bluetooth pairing, and the Voyager Pro UC is extremely easy to integrate into a workspace with both SIP and cellular lines.
The Plantronics Voyager PRO UC retails for $199.95 and is available in the United States today. It is expected to be launched in Europe and Asia next month.