Plantronics/Poly CS540 Headset With HL10 Lifter

Plantronics CS540 with lifter

About This Bundle Pack

This is the bundled value pack for the Plantronics CS540 with lifter headset. It includes the headset, base station and matching handset lifter at a discounted price, to save you money!

How does this lifter work?

Designed for Plantronics wireless headsets, the HL10 handset lifter connects under your phone’s hand piece like a robotic cradle. When the phone rings, your headset will beep in your ear. You simply hit the button on the side of your headset and this sends a signal to the robotic cradle to lift the hand piece up. This then accepts the call and you start to talk through the headset To hang-up, you simply hit the button on your headset again and the cradle puts the hand piece back. In this way you can answer and hang up on calls away from your desk when using a wireless headset. Remember, however, that the lifter will not let you perform any other phone function like transfer or conference. It purely provides a convenient way to take calls from anywhere in the office without having to return to your desk. Some modern phones require a different solution called an Electronic Hook Switch or 'EHS'. If you're not sure what kind of lifter your phone needs, give us a call, we're happy to help

The CS540 works with your desk phone only and comes with multiple wearing styles and is good for either over-the-head or over-the-ear users. It’s lightweight, stylish, and comfortable and it has quickly established itself as one of our more popular wireless headsets just like the previous CS60 it replaced.

This pack also supplies 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.

So let’s start by reviewing…

The Good

The Plantronics CS540 looks great. Its design is modern and Plantronics claim that it is the lightest DECT headset available in the market. What we like is that it allows both over-the-ear and over-the-head. It is much more comfortable than the previous CS60 for over the ear wearing and the headband compliments the design and user for over-the-head wearing. This means that it will suit virtually every user and you won’t have to buy different models for different staff which is important. The sound quality in all the new CS500 series headsets is very good and incorporates their Enhanced Digital Signal Processing (DSP) technology which is said to deliver more natural voice sounds. We don’t dispute it but we think you’d have to be in a lab or have canine hearing to pick the difference. They have also cleverly incorporated a new Voice-Dedicated DECT™ technology which means that it eliminates interference from wireless networks you may have in the office. As more and more devices go wireless this is very important.

The CS540 also offers a noise cancelling too microphone. This cuts down much of the background noise (for your client) and really is a must in any busy office environment to give a professional impression of your company and not make you sound like you're in a crowded call centre. If you have a very loud environment you should look for an “ultra” noise cancelling headset. The Plantronics CS540 also allows you the ability to conference in other headset users (up to 3). This is a brilliant feature of most modern headset and really useful in most offices & call centres for training, call disputes and conference calls.

Plantronics has also given the CS540, and their other models in the new line up, a very intelligent adaptive power system that increases or reduces power consumption, based on your distance from the base station. This extends battery life and gives you up to 7 hours talk time. Other headsets offer longer talk time and the compromise is because of the lightweight design as the battery has to be smaller than normal. If you are on the phone all day do consider other brands or look at the CS510 and CS520 for which you an purchase an extra long life battery.

The CS540 wireless headset also features SoundGuard technology. This protects phone users from loud, potentially harmful noises. These ‘acoustic shocks’ are transmitted down phone lines as a result of dangerous customers yelling, blowing whistles, electricity spikes, weather conditions, transmission faults and the like. Without this feature you could potentially suffer from temporary/permanent hearing loss. Plantronics SoundGuard means you’ll be protected whenever you are using your headset. All modern headsets have this technology and brand it in their own way. We recently had such an issue at Simply Headsets - on a conference call with Plantronics we experienced an odd intermittent high pitched very loud beep on the line which just wouldn't go away. This wasn't an issue for Sophie who was wearing a modern headset (Sennheiser DW Pro 1 if you're interested) but Kim had still been clinging to the past with an old CS351N and had to hold the ear cushion so far away from her head to avoid the searing pain the beep caused that she couldn't hear most of the conversation. This was the tipping point for her and she now has a lovely new headset that also protects her hearing.

The Not-So-Good

The main downfall of all office-only wireless headsets like the Plantronics CS540 is that they don’t work with your computer too. The future of headsets is moving towards voice and computer convergence. This simply means that more people will start to use their headsets for softphone IP applications, VoIP (like Skype) and voice recognition software like Dragon Speak 11 and MacSpeech. Products like the CS540 and the other 500 series models are all for the office phone only. Plantronics have recognised this and brought out a cable that replaces the base to phone with a base to USB cable so you can use the CS500 series with computers, However this cable makes the headset significantly more expensive than just purchasing a headset that connects to both devices anyway and let you easily toggle between the two.

More & more business use mobile phones as well as desk phones so they're always contactable. Again the CS540 just won't work with a mobile (and there's currently no way it ever will as it's a DECT wireless headset, not Bluetooth). If you need this functionality check out other models like the Jabra Pro 925 to add this convenience. Of course you can also get Tri-fecta headsets that work with desk phone, computer and mobile. Please, we implore you - think about what your future might hold - it works out MUCH more cost effective to get one headset to do everything than just getting another headset for PC or mobile down the track, not to mention the added convenience of one headset to easily flick between devices.

Due to the modular nature of the headset there is a bit of a design flaw which is MOST unlike Plantronics. If you wear the CS540 in the headband style and like to flip the microphone up out of your way this is quite stiff and you need 2 hands to do so, plus it can fall out of the headband - clearly not ideal. You can get around this, just be super careful when moving the microphone boom out of your way. If you're not the careful type and already know you want a headband style, take a look at the super comfy CS510. or CS510. or Jabra Pro 920.

The Verdict

For office only phone applications the Plantronics CS540 is a genuinely good headset. It ticks the boxes for about 90% of buyers who will only ever use a headset with a land line. The only real detractors are the talk time (if you are busy on the phone all day it may not be up to the task) and the headband issue.

Other Headsets You Should Consider Before Buying

Alternatives To The Plantronics CS540 Wireless Headset

You must look at the Sennheiser D10. It's their offering in the budget-friendly range and absolutely worth the very little extra for the additional features - particularly if you're on the phone a lot. It also comes with 2 wearing styles in the box. If you like Plantronics, the Poly Savi 7200 Series offer other wearing styles

Most people are buying multi-use headsets to keep their options open. If convergence is in your future, it's a good idea to pay a little more to cover your bases now, rather than having to replace your headset down the track. For just a little more, you can look at products such as the Jabra Engage 65 series. and the truly awesome Sennheiser DW Pro 1. If you're looking for mobile phone connectivity, as well as office and computer, then this is also offered by the Poly Savi 8200 Office series Poly Savi 8200 Office Headsets, and the beautifully intuitive Jabra Engage 75s.

Most people are buying multi-use headsets to keep their options open. If convergence is in your future, it's a good idea to pay a little more to cover your bases now, rather than having to replace your headset down the track. For just a little more, you can look at products such as the Jabra Engage 65 series. and the truly awesome Sennheiser DW Pro 1. If you're looking for mobile phone connectivity, as well as office and computer, then this is also offered by the Poly Savi 8200 Office series Poly Savi 8200 Office Headsets, and the beautifully intuitive Jabra Engage 75s.