Maximising Your Telephone Headset Investment

Businesses of all sizes, across countless sectors and industries rely on a range of telephone headsets for the best performance from their sales and service teams. According to one study by Metrigy in 2017 of more than 700 companies, businesses spent an average of $1.1M on their headset inventory and over $220,000 annually to maintain them.

Of course these numbers are averages and there will inevitably be huge swings in these numbers between larger and smaller companies, their operations and willingness to invest in technology for their staff. What this insight does tell us however is that any telephone headset should be treated as an investment and you should be asking yourself “how can I get the best return from my investment?” afterall, you’d ask the same question for nearly all other business purchases, wouldn’t you?

Telephone & USB Headset Maintenance

What surprised us most in this research was the average amount spent annually to maintain or troubleshoot a fleet of office headsets.

While the research doesn’t say whether this is simply replacing parts, or also the time spent by IT teams resolving software issues, the data suggests firms using telephone headsets are spending around a fifth of their initial investment each year to keep their headsets functioning.

What can you do about this cost base though, needing 20% of the initial investment each year to run a fleet of headsets could be a huge barrier to some businesses. This is where your research in the procurement phase is essential as we’ve discussed previously.

Replaceable Parts, Not Headsets

Broken headsets can be a real problem for businesses, you invest a lot in tech and sometimes employees don’t treat it with the care they perhaps should, accidents can happen too. Either way this can mean a broken part on a headset and depending on the headset model you chose, it could mean replacing the complete unit.

Not only can this be expensive, but it also contributes to the growing problem of e-waste, a growing problem for the UK which created around 1.6 million tonnes of e-waste in 2019 (source).

Replaceable parts for headsets are a great way to reduce the maintenance costs, though the ability to replace a part very much depends on the headset model. The JPL Element range is an excellent example of a high-quality telephone headset that features replaceable parts, potentially reducing your annual maintenance budget.

Plug & Play Headsets

With more and more companies investing in a Unified Communications solution for their communication needs, a wider range of devices are now being used in and out of the office to connect with clients, customers and internal teams.

This can also contribute to the maintenance budget through IT support time, whether installing or updating drivers for USB headsets or other software issues.

Acquiring USB headsets which feature Plug & Play technology can again help to maximise your investment as this technology allows the USB device to be plugged into almost anything with instant functionality.

Cross Brand Compatibility

Of course the above are great ways to get increased value from your headsets, but do rely on purchasing the right headset in the first place. What if you’ve already invested in a headset model?

It’s not unheard of for companies to change their communication provider. Your business might have used Avaya phone systems for years and then switch to a Cisco system, potentially making your headsets useless.

What you might not realise though is that something as simple as a new bottom lead could allow your headsets to be compatible with a different phone system. With bottom leads around 90% cheaper than a new headset, this represents a significant difference in price and a simple upgrade that could save a business thousands of pounds.

Change The Bottom Lead, Not The Headset

It’s also possible that different teams in your company use different communications platforms too. Quick disconnect headsets provide several distinct advantages here, firstly that you don’t need to worry about specifying a different headset type for each phone system as changing the bottom lead means a single headset works across multiple platforms.

Other advantages include quicker change overs if hot desking or headset replacement if there’s a failure, increasing working time of call handlers. What’s more, if replacing a headset during a call, the call is not lost, so the operator can continue the same call and keep more customers happy.

All of this adds up to improved bottom lines through reduced down time, a reduction in initial investment and maintenance costs too, that’s an attractive prospect for any business.

Consider Your Future Communication Needs

With almost a third of employees in the surveyed companies using Bluetooth headsets for almost half of their calls, looking to the future is essential to maximise your headset investment.

Again, this is something that is crucial at the consideration stage of headset procurement, but is also something that can provide financial benefit in the long run.

Future communication needs can take in a range of factors, from moving to a wireless model based around Bluetooth in the near future to rolling out Unified Communications across a business. If projects such as these are in the pipeline, they should be considered when procuring headsets so that your investment works hard for you well into the future.

Get The Most From Your Headset Investment With JPL

With margins tightening, you need to be sure that your headset investment will work hard for your business in the years ahead. Get in touch, we’ll listen to your needs and suggest the best solution for your situation, what’s more, if you’re looking for more than 120 units, you can even take a free trial.