Plantronics/Poly Voyager 4245-M Office Wireless Headset (CD)

Plantronics/Poly Voyager 4245-M Office (CD)

The Voyager 4245 Office - CD headset is designed to work with desk phone, PC/Mac AND mobile. It has 3 wearing syles included; headband, earhook AND neckband. The Office-CD version comes with a base unit that charges the headset and attaches to your desk phone & computer via cable. Additionally it comes with a spare battery and charger (more on why Poly did that later).  You use the base unit to toggle between the phone and PC. It can also be used independently with your mobile phone in or out of the the office.

This '-M' model is certified for use with Microsoft Teams. It is supported by Microsoft for troubleshooting (when used with Teams) and has a dedicated Teams button on the base for instant access to the Teams app on your PC. The base uses a standard USB connection (AKA USB-A) to connect to a PC.If you don't intend to use it with Teams or S4B, go to the Voyager 4245 Office CD.

Other models include the Voyager 4210s;  mono headband style and Voyager 4220s; duo style.

To help you decipher all the different variants of the Voyager series...

Connections to devices

• D = works with Desk Phone + Mobile
• CD = works with Computer (PC/Mac) + Desk Phone + Mobile
• UC = works with Computer + Mobile

What do all those other letters mean?

• -M = Certified and optimised for MS Teams (Skype for Business only in older models)
• USB A = Standard USB Connection from base to PC/Mac (CD / UC only If not defined, assume standard USB)
• USB C = USB C Connection to PC/Mac (CD / UC only). This is a smaller, oval shaped connection on modern laptops & PCs

PHEW! Now that's all cleared up can we move on?

If you’re looking to answer calls (from your office phone) away from your desk you'll need a HL10 handset lifter or an Electronic Hook Switch depending on the phone you have (call our staff for assistance). It seems odd that such an advanced headset can't answer the phone on it's own but, because the headset connects to your desk phone via the base unit, not by Bluetooth directly, and because there are so many requirements in all the different model phones, Poly (and all headset manufacturers) have to make this a separate part. To find the correct solution for your phone, you can hit the green 'Add to Cart' button and follow the prompts, or just call our friendly team for assistance!

So let's start by reviewing

The Voyager series are trailblazers; You can use them with all your devices in the office then use it out and about with a mobile.  That may seem simple but its actually very rare and jolly exciting for us headset nerds! Unlike the 4200 series Poly are only making this convertible 4245 version as a trifecta for all 3 devices. 

If you want to use this at home and in the office you can get a BT600 dongle and use it with PC and mobile independantly. BUT you'd need to re-pair the headset to the base unit when you're back in the office and you'd also want to take the spare battery & charger with you.

The headset may look VERY familar to you.  It's modelled on Poly's best selling CS540 style.

Why have Poly supplied this with a spare battery and charger?  Becuase the battery life is crazy low - just 5 hours.  However, as long as you keep the 2nd battery charging (3 hours for a full charge) you can use the headset all day and night,  even swapping the battery mid call if you get caught short. Bear in mind that you'll need another USB port for charging the spare.

You can stream music from your mobile, tablet or PC and control volume skip tracks etc. Having a long microphone boom means the mics are closer to your lips to pick up more of your voice and less background noise BUT you might feel a bit of a ninny out on the street.

NB Voice assistant is only active when used out of range of the base with you mobile

Nifty stuff

The patented Soundguard technology will protect your ears from sudden loud noises (above 118 decibels)

The Office CD range work with Plantronics Manager Pro - giving IT managers insights into usage and allowing mass firmware upgrades amongst other cool features.

The base unit can be set to ring.

The 4245 has a TiLE app find my headset feature.

Other things to consider

Other headsets in the Plantronics/Poly range (and other brands) allow you conference in other headsets which is useful for training & call monitoring; the 4200 Office headsets cannot do this.

If you need extensive range, or the best quality sound, this is best achieved with a DECT wireless headset, rather than a Bluetooth like the Poly Voyager Office series. DECT wireless headsets advertise a range of up to 180m (depending on the model), this is expected to reduce to about 55m in a standard office, so the Bluetooth range that Poly advertise on this model of 100m may also be substantially shorter in reality, depending on a variety of factors. This 100m is from the base unit. Expectaround 15-20m from a mobile.

The Verdict

If you want wearing style options in your headset and to work with all your devices, this is a superb (indeed only!) headset given its ability to carry on a mobile call as you leave the office. Just make sure that the specs such as range and sound quality are going to be enough for the way you'll use it.