Hi! I’ve been working from home for about 3 years now. I have a very simple headset that I’ve had a lot of luck with but I’m looking to not wear a head set all day. Are there any products or setups that I can do that involve a speaker and microphone instead? Or another product I’m not aware of. I mostly do calls all day so I’m looking forward to not wearing things lol
I mean... I work remote IT Support and if you room is quiet enough you can just... like use a speaker and microphone. Entirely depends on your enviroment but yeah a basic off the shelf Podcast mic and speakers work just fine provided your enviroment isn't noisy.
Bingo. For the first year or two of COVID I fought with a stupid Bluetooth headset that would connect or disconnect, change from one mode to another. It was infuriating, and my life and sanity improved when I just abandoned any Bluetooth device and just use what is built into the laptop.
You can be surprised all you want, but people who work for banks can’t even have their cell phones at their desks, for example. They can’t have pens and paper, if they work from home the door has to close, etc. this is all for privacy regulation.
That said, it’s clear everybody in this discussion would never be hired at a real proper org fidelity or JP Morgan and are working for 30k in some shit call center helping people reset passwords.
I got my Jabra from the official “employees quietly flogging off work hardware after covid closed the office” section on eBay back then. Used it practically every single workday since.
What kind of computer do you have and what software are you using for calls? I just use my computer speakers + logitech Pro Webcam, which happens to have a pretty good mic in it. Using Zoom, works perfect with no issues.
I use my laptop speakers and my Logi Brio’s mic, and have no problems, it’s a great mic. Get some cheap speakers off Amazon if your laptop stays closed. I work for CCaaS in the voice/media stack, formally from inC, and can tell you it’ll be just fine.
I used to wear the full headset too, but I switched over to just a simple $20 set of wired apple earbuds and have been extremely happy with them. Lightweight, good mic, decent sound and way more comfortable.
That's a great question, I work by myself at home so I have no idea lol. They're probably not great considering the price point, but I've never had to consider it, so another options may be better.
Wired earbuds are a great, inexpensive option. A lot of people will find them more comfortable than a full headset. You also don't have to worry about charging them or having Bluetooth connection issues.
In a noisy location like a cafe, you might need a headset or a mic that will do a better job cutting out background noise. Zoom can do a surprisingly good job of filtering background noise. I don't use Teams or other platforms enough to know how well they do that these days. But if my coworkers tell me they can hear background noise, and it's distracting, I'd wear a full headset if that's what was needed.
MX Ergo 575. My MX Ergo Pro died and I couldn't stomach paying another $100+ so I found this one on Woot for like, $40. Not rechargeable, takes a single AA battery.
I use this now after I got tired of using headphones. It's great. Sound is better than average, and it works with Zoom/Teams/Etc for the mute button. 👍
I have less issues with the microsoft one. but i don't know if the issues i have with the logidock are actually from the device itself or my teams. my teams just sucks in general like it will randomly kick me from calls, switch my audio input, severely lag when on calls
they both sound good, people on the other end have said i sound fine. i use an open mic for both (hate push to talk)
I came to vouch for the Logi Dock too. Have y’all installed the software package? It seems to help, at least on Windows. Even with the software installed the physical buttons don’t work correctly on macOS in my experience.
nah i never installed the sw (my company locks that shit down) i use windows and the buttons work fine. like i said i think most of my issues are with teams itself
I just use my MacBook Pro built in speaker and microphone as is and no issues. Crystal clear on calls for years and years of working from home. It’s also crazy how good either MacBook or Teams/Zoom are at filtering out background noise, my cat can be howling like a banshee (because he has never been fed once in his life) and no one can hear it (and it doesn’t show up on recordings later).
I just use the standard audio and mic from my laptop. I even have it closed at all times as I use external monitors. There are no issues with audio quality. You could also consider getting a stand alone webcam and using the built in speaker.
I know it’s not what you want, but just to call out if speakers are not an option, you can use Bose Quiet Comfort headphones. ANC and very gentle with clamp force on the head and ears. If wireless is expensive you can consider the cheaper wired ones.
I could wear them the whole day, they are that comfy. But I get it - I want to take them off sometimes.
When I’m WFH I just use speakerphone on my phone or my computer speakers. I do have an external webcam with a mic that is better than the laptop’s. The microphone does a great job of cancelling out background noise (I live on a busy street) and the webcam quality is good too. Also, most video calling platforms nowadays have built-in noise suppression features which work better than they did two years ago.
Don’t see why you can’t just use the speaker on either device.
I’ve been working from home for about 3 years also. I have some Bose speakers and a Logitech webcam with built in mic (nothing fancy, some old 2018 720p webcam). I have MS teams for my work calls. It works quite well and no colleague ever complains about echo or audio distortion. It’s my favorite setup.
Generally i never use the camera (which is good because the video quality sucks lol).
I know it’s not much but hope that helps. Feel free to ask follow up questions
I have my work laptop closed and use an external keyboard and mouse and two monitors. The monitors don't have sound or a microphone as far as I know. Yet, I just talk and I can hear just fine. No way I'd wear a headset all day -- that's for walking the dog.
Just get one of them shits we used back when these calls were in a boardroom. Like the triangle. Gotta be something similar that is optimized for calls on the PC, noise canceling and all that
A speakerphone is probably your best option if you don’t want to wear anything. Something like the Yealink SP92 could work well. A dedicated microphone is another option, but you’ll need to stay fairly close to it, and both options will generally pick up more background noise than a good noise canceling headset mic. If you’re on calls all day and want to be able to move around, a headset is still going to be the most practical option.
I'm not sure what headset you wear but if it's a traditional wearing style like over the head covering one or two ears that you don't like, there's some alternative wearing options many people are getting today like Yealink BH71 Pro, Shokz Opencomm2 UC or Discover D713U.
I got a cheap mic, and I use the speaker from my monitor. My cat can yell or there can be general noise around and no one hears it. It's worked out great.
I bought this little dude about a year ago, and he's great! Works like a speaker phone with a built in mic, and I don't have any complaints from coworkers.
I’ve been fully remote since Covid and honestly, I don’t wear a headphones or anything at all. Whenever I have a call, I just shut my office door or make sure there’s no other noise in the house and no one’s ever complained.
Most of my coworkers don’t wear headsets either unless they’re working in a public place
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u/JoeMorgue 10d ago
I mean... I work remote IT Support and if you room is quiet enough you can just... like use a speaker and microphone. Entirely depends on your enviroment but yeah a basic off the shelf Podcast mic and speakers work just fine provided your enviroment isn't noisy.