Review: Plantronics Voyager Pro UC v2

I was sent a Plantronics Voyager Pro UC v2 to review with no strings attached. This review has had no influence from Plantronics or any of their partner companies.

For me, the important qualities to have in a headset:

• Comfort
• Sound Quality
• Travelability
• Battery Life
• Ease of Setup

Comfort

As with the Savi 430, I previously reviewed, the comfort is amazing. I can wear the Voyager Pro all day long and hardly notice it is there.

I finally found out why Plantronics headsets are so comfortable. They test all their headsets on their wall of ears. In the video below, they actually show how the ears are made which can be kind of gross, but my point is that they put a lot of effort into testing their designs on lots of different ears.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rx-oMIY2xMk

Sound Quality

Sound Quality is great as long as you are not a great distance away from your PC or cell phone. In my house, I can typically go at least 30 ft and sometimes further, which is pretty typical for Bluetooth devices.

Noise cancelation is also great! I drove around in my Diesel Excursion and the person I was talking to couldn't hear the engine noise. I also kept turning up the radio until the caller could hear it on the phone conversation. It was surprisingly louder than I expected before it came through.

I've also been testing around my home office and the Voyager Pro UC does a great job of eliminating the noises of my family (I have five kids).

Don't get the impression though that my kids are running around like wild animals... if they did that I'm not sure it could handle that amount of noise.

Travelability

Plantronics got it right on this headset. Not only does it fold flat, but they have provided a carrying case that is compact. The case is also stiff enough to throw into a laptop bag and not worry about it. The headset fits snugly in the case and there is an additional pocket for the USB Bluetooth dongle.

The case does have a belt clip, but I have yet to wear it on my belt because I hate having things attached to my belt.

Battery Life

The Voyager Pro UC v2 has a stated Battery Life of up to 6 hours. Although I would prefer more, I'm not sure I would trade the additional talk time for less comfort.

When recharging the headset, the charge time can take as long as 1.5 hours.

Charging is done by plugging in an AC charger or USB cable (both are provided). There is no headset charging stand like the Savi 430.

Ease of Setup

So many electronic gadgets take a fair degree of intelligence to get any real benefit from them. The new Voyager Pro UC worked with Microsoft Lync out of the box with no configuration needed whatsoever!

Again, a simple procedure to pair with my smart phone and it simply worked.

All the controls are easy to find on the headset by touch. Also, when you press a button, there is either an audible tone or a voice in your ear giving you feedback as to what you just did.

One of my favorite audible feedbacks is pressing the power button and the headset will tell you how much talk time is left.

Hold down both the volume up and volume down and your mic is muted or unmuted (with an audible confirmation).

I also have to make mention of the new sensors that actually detect when the headset is on the ear... Absolutely brilliant. With Microsoft Lync you can actually answer a call by simply putting the headset on. With a cell phone it will do the same, but will also switch back to the cell for audio if you were to take off the headset.

Would love to see an improvement with Microsoft Lync where a user could specify a default device for the headset to switch to when the headset is not worn. Also, have the ability to switch from any other Lync device to the headset when it is put on.

Conclusion

This is definitely a headset that should be considered for any information worker that spends a great deal of time on the phone.

Also, because of the bluetooth features and carrying case, this headset excels for those that are road warriors that need a headset for in the office and when traveling.

I wouldn't hesitate recommending this headset to any of my customers.

Polycom/Lync Remote Camera Control in Silverlight

I don't have much information on the technical side of this solution but I thought I'd share the video because Polycom is using contextual integration with a Silverlight extension.

 

I haven't seen many 3rd Party developers using this yet, but I expect this to be an exciting area to extend the UC experience.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QR1k7AUwfuc

Lync 2010 NTLM Client Authentication Mismatch

I ran into a problem with NTLM Client Authentication Mismatch after I upgraded my Edge and Director to Lync Server 2010 from OCS 2007 R2. 

 

On my Lync Director I found the following error message in Snooper

 

TL_WARN(TF_DIAG) [0]06B8.0B20::01/29/2011-06:08:46.375.00018ce0 (SIPStack,SIPAdminLog::TraceDiagRecord:SIPAdminLog.cpp(145))$$begin_record
LogType: diagnostic
Severity: warning
Text: There is a mismatch between NTLM security settings on client and server computers.
Result-Code: 0xc3e93ee4 SIP_E_AUTH_NTLMMISMATCH
SIP-Start-Line: REGISTER sip:t2mdev.com SIP/2.0
SIP-Call-ID: 09774c9042d54469a7af4818e6364f95
SIP-CSeq: 5 REGISTER
$$end_record

 

A quick search of the net I found an article on Tin Cips and String blog that gave the key to solving the problem. Turns out the problem has more to do with the Operating System rather than Lync Server 2010.

 

I had to spend a little bit of time hunting for the group policy that the blog and technet article referenced. Here is where I found the group policy.

 

Default Domain Policy -> Computer Configuration -> Windows Settings -> Security Settings -> Local Policies -> Security Options -> Network security: Minumum session security for NTLM SSP based (including secure RPC) clients

 

Default Domain Policy -> Computer Configuration -> Windows Settings -> Security Settings -> Local Policies -> Security Options -> Network security: Minumum session security for NTLM SSP based (including secure RPC) servers

 

I changed the Default Domain Policy from Not Configured to Configured with the "Require 128-bit encryption" unchecked.

Plantronics new Calisto 800 series and Voyager PRO UC

I have been deeply involved with Unified Communications since 2003 and there is ultimately only one thing that can make or break a deployment.

The users experience.

Along with having a well-designed user interface, the audio device and quality of the call should be of utmost concern. If the user has consistently bad calls and problems configuring and using an audio device, then it makes no difference how great the rest of the features are. I've also found that users who have bad experiences remember those bad experiences for a very long time.

Today, Plantronics has announced some products that have some features that promise to improve the user experience and in some cases make using an audio device nearly effortless.

Calisto 800 Series

All three of the Calisto 800 series speakerphones blur the line between home, mobile, and office communications. There are options to connect to a PC, mobile phone, and even a standard analog line. A headset can be connected corded or cordless with Bluetooth.

Along with the usual features of full-duplex, HD audio, Plantronics has added an intuitive visual display that allows a user to control many aspects of the call from the speakerphone.

Users also have the option to use a wireless lapel microphone that gives the ability to move around freely.

How many times has someone done some white boarding and people on a speakerphone have a hard time hearing what is being said?

How many executives like to walk around their office while discussing their next big strategy to take over the world, but don't want to be bothered with a headset?

Voyager PRO UC Headset

Plantronics is trying to make using a wireless headset completely painless and they just might have succeeded.

They have now included smart sensor technology to detect when the user is actually wearing the headset.

Now, I thought with the release of the Lync client and the crazy simple ability to switch between devices was pure genius. But now, Plantronics even does the devices switching for you as you place the headset on your ear or if it is not on your ear it will send the call to your phone.

Brilliant!

I can't tell you how many times I've answered a call and forgot that the last time I made a call I was using a headset. All of a sudden, I'm hunting around for the call window so I can switch my device back to my desk phone.

This headset will even set your presence in Lync to busy if you have answered a call from your mobile phone using the headset.

Brilliant!

I simply can't wait to get my hands on a new Calisto speakerphone and Voyager PRO UC.

Plantronics product launch

Plantronics is launching some new products on January 26th at 12pm Eastern...

 

http://www.plantronics.com/launch/

How to replicate Remote Call Control (RCC) in a pure Lync environment

This morning I came across the article of how to "convert" RCC from OCS 2007 to Lync Server 2010.

http://blogs.technet.com/b/nexthop/archive/2011/01/19/enable-remote-call-control-office-communications-server-2007.aspx?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter

Although you can indeed enable RCC on Lync, it still blows my mind as to how many pieces there are to this solution and how complex it is to troubleshoot.

I understand the desire to utilize an existing PBX investment. After all I used to work for a PBX manufacturer. For some customers they may be required to keep the PBX for tax reasons.

But, for those that just simply do not want to let go of their phone because they like how a real phone feels, I have an alternative that is a pure OCS/Lync solution...
Are you ready for this?

A USB cable

That's right… A USB cable.
When Enterprise Voice is enabled on OCS/Lync there is an option to deploy an IP Phone or USB audio device. Both options, when connected with a USB port on your PC, automatically are detected and start to behave like an RCC solution.

You can make a call from your PC or your phone and if you put a call on hold using your phone you can pick up using your PC. Same goes for mute and anything else the phone can do. The PC client can even sign in the IP phone for you, saving you from that annoying LCD touch screen.

It is seamless, and easy.

Because it is so easy, I think a case could be made to justify the replacement of the PBX phones just in the cost of installing and maintaining RCC.

Total Cost of Ownership is a big deal with RCC because it either costs a lot to hire a professional that can understand both telephony and data, or you have a to pay a systems integrator that understands both telephony and data.

I have done a lot of RCC systems and none of them have gone smoothly. There is always some little issue that takes an enormous effort to resolve.
Nortel/Avaya Converged Office for the CS 1000 was probably the best solution for RCC, but once a customer had it installed they were disappointed by the lack of some features in OCS that a pure Enterprise Voice client would have (Simultaneous Ring for example)

With a USB cable, you have all the OCS/Lync features available and you can control a real phone on the desk. If it is an IP phone, then when the PC is gone or shutdown it will still operate as a stand-alone phone just like the PBX phone did.

So what do you say? Weeks and possibly months of troubleshooting or a USB cable.

Feel free to contact me (at jmckinney at time2marketllc.com) if you would like to talk more about this solution or to setup a demo so you can experience what this solution looks like.

Plantronics Savi W430 Review

I have been looking for a great headset to use with Lync 2010 and recently started using the Plantronics Savi W430.

For me, the important qualities to have in a headset:

• Comfort
• Sound Quality
• Travelability
• Battery Life
• Ease of Setup

Comfort

Normally, headsets and I do not get along well. Most of the time after about 10 minutes, my ear is so sore I can't stand it. That is why I've used a corded headset for so long (close to 5 years) even when I had another wireless headset in my laptop bag.

I'm not exagerating when say that I can wear the Savi W430 for a full day and hardly notice that I am wearing it. In fact, the only time I take it off is when I want to, or it needs to be charged.

For me, the smallest foam ear bud was the most comfortable, but the headset came with quite a few options depending on your preference.

Sound Quality

Sound Quality always is fairly high on my list, but it has been quite awhile since I've encountered an audio device that was horrible with sound quality. The Savi W430 is capable of Wideband audio, and there is quite a noticable difference from what I was used to on my old headset. Speech is amazingly clear and crisp for speaking and hearing when making a call.

The other item I noticed when making test calls is that background noise is dramatically reduced. Users no longer hear typing from my keyboard. My normal speaker phone picks up that type of noise up easily.

The background noise reduction is also very handy when working on home. Much of the noise that I used to be concerned with (and constantly muting myself) no longer is heard by the person I am calling.

The Savi W430 is also DECT 6.0 based so I can actually walk upstairs through most of my house and still maintain a converstaion.

Travelability

I have traveled an average of 50% for 12 years. Any headset that I use, needs to travel.  I've only had the Savi 430 for a couple of weeks, but it seems very durable. The headset comes with a travel bag and charging cord (different from the charging base pictured). Although sufficient, I would have preferred a hard travel case rather than just a little bag to put everything in.

The headset earbud/mic can also rotate so that the headset will lay flat and the ear bud or mic has a less chance to be damaged.

Battery Life

The Savi 430 has a stated Battery Life of up to 6 hours. Although I would prefer more, I'm not sure I would trade the additional talk time for less comfort.

When recharging the headset, the charge time can take as long as 3 hours which is not that impressive.

Ease of Setup

The Savi 430 was a breeze to setup. Lync 2010 automatically detected the headset and it appeared in the audio devices menu without the need to do any configuration or setup.

With Lync 2010, switching between devices is crazy simple now, and switching between this headset and a desktop phone during a call is no different.

I also found the Plantronics Knowledge Base to be the key to understanding how to use the products more advanced features. I could not find an explanation for all the different colors and blinking lights in the documentation that was shipped with the product.

Also, little things like how to mute yourself while on a call was not obvious, but once it is known, it is a very simple process. Here is the link to the knowledge base article I found on the Savi W430.

Plantronics Knowledge Base

Conclusion

Based on the comfort, sound quality and travelability and ease of setup this is the best headset I have used to date. Although the travel bag and charging time could be better,  I would not hesitate to recommend this headset to a customer.