What else does a contact center agent need, if not a powerful, sophisticated and comfy headset? Contact Centers are busy, especially with an open office floor plan and potentially dozens of people.
Just a few people in one room talking over each other can be a serious issue while dealing with customers. If awkward headsets distract your agents or they cannot hear well during the calls, their productivity and efficiency will suffer. Chances are your customers will be increasingly dissatisfied with your service.
Now that most of us use some compact earphones or earbuds with our mobile phones, it’s worth looking at professional headsets that our employees need for their work.
1. Durability
We often think about the sound quality and design of headsets while taking the durability of the construction for granted. Headsets that break easily will increase your expenses because you’ll end up continually buying more headsets.
Manufacturers’ basic materials to produce headsets are PVC, plastic, rubber, artificial leather, memory foam, ceramics, copper and other metals. Some of the most durable headsets use top-quality materials like surgical steel. The vast majority of headphones use magnets in their drivers. Headphone drivers are the transducer elements that effectively convert audio signals (electrical energy) into sound waves.
2. Noise-Cancelling
Noise-canceling headsets are essential for call quality and maintaining your customer experience. Noise-canceling headsets don’t just passively block sounds with a physical barrier; they use technology to add an extra layer of Active Noise Cancelling (ANC).
ANC cancels ambient noise by using a trick called “phase inversion” to create “anti-noise.” The tech manipulates sound waves. If you were to take two identical sound waves and line them up with each other, matching up the peaks and troughs, the two waves are said to be “in-phase,” which results in an even larger wave and louder sound. ANC delays one of the sound waves by exactly one-half wavelength, matching up the troughs with the peaks, compressing the waves and canceling the extraneous sounds.
3. Comfort
Comfort is equally as important as durability and sound quality. With the Great Resignation and the shortage of labor, employee wellness and engagement are huge issues in the workplace.
You don’t want your employees to have headaches from wearing headsets all day long. Your best bet is a headset with comfortable ear cushions with lightweight and padded headbands to avoid exerting added pressure on the top of the head. Most call centers use dual earpieces for the best audio quality for both the employee and the caller.
Heads Up
The good news is that there are several models of headsets for call centers that are well designed and robust. We can work with you to source high-value, high-quality headsets for your clients including with this month’s iAgent call participant, Headset Advisor.
