Plantronics CS361N Wireless Headset System (Noise Cancelling)

Overview of the Plantronics CS361N Wireless Headset System (Noise Cancelling)

The Plantronics CS 361N is being discontinued we’re running it out until stock lasts! The CS 361N is still a great binaural office headset that is being replaced by the brand new CS520.

The CS361N is one of only a handful of wireless headsets that are binaural (the headset has two ear cups). If you spend more than 4 hours a day on the phone, manufacturers suggest using a binaural model. With its twin ear cups it offers a less fatiguing listener experience, since the sound is heard equally in both ears and the volume can be set lower.

There is a small range of binaural headsets and the only other offerings are the Plantronics SAVI W0350, the replacement CS540, the latest SAVI 720 and the Sennheiser DW Office Pro 2).

Unlike the other models the Plantronics CS361N is an office-only wireless headset. This means it cannot connect to your computer, so PC calls and voice recognition applications are out. However, this aside the CS361N is a bulletproof headset that offers excellent sound quality and comfort.

Our advice is there is little difference n pricing between this and the latest SAVI 720 so spend just a little more for a much better headset!

If you’re looking to answer calls away from your desk we also recommend you buy a handset lifter. This device fits on your telephone base and lifts the hand piece up or down when you push a button on your headset, letting you answer and hang up on calls from anywhere in the office. An HL10 handset lifter for this headset is available separately, or is also available in a great value headset and lifter bundle pack.

The Plantronics CS 361N is certainly one of the most durable headsets on the market. Its 2-ear wearing style is really comfortable to use and the cushioning is excellent. It was originally designed for call centre applications and it makes other headsets seem very fragile by comparison. Talk time is exceptional at 9 hours.

The CS 361N gives you a noise cancelling mic, to ensure background noise isn’t transmitted to callers. In addition, noise isolation for the wearer is also great thanks to the twin ear cups, and is a huge improvement on single-eared designs. If you don’t want to hear the people around you while on the phone, no headset available compares to a binaural model.

The Plantronics CS 361N only sports one wearing style which can be limiting. However, most people tend to stick to a single type of wearing style once they find it, so as long as you like your headsets over-the-head, this won’t be an issue.

The main downfall of any office-only wireless headsets like the CS361N - and this includes the GN Netcom GN 9330e, GN Netcom GN9120ST, Plantronics CS70N and Plantronics CS351N - is that they don’t work on computers. The future of headsets is moving towards voice and computer convergence. This simply means that more people will also start to use their headsets for soft phone IP applications, VoIP calls (like Skype) and voice recognition software (such as Dragon Speak 11 and MacSpeech). Products like the CS361 N only work with an office phone.

The Plantronics CS361 N is durable, great sounding office headset and perfect is you don’t want to use it with your computer. However, if computer convergence is in your future - and it will be - we’d recommend spending a few extra dollars and getting either the great SAVI 720 or the even more outstanding Sennheiser DW Pro 2.