Plantronics is a Brand Synonymous with call centres throughout the world in small office and reception areas and those that use telecoms equipment. The Plantronics Voyager 3240 is geared towards the office user rather than the full-time receptionist allowing connection to a variety of phones/laptops and telecoms equipment with an abundant of voice prompts to ensure clarity. This is suitable for those on the go in a busy environment, drivers, office staff that have to make/received allot of calls and require handsfree,
The unit comes with only 1 headset which allows you to be aware of your surroundings, most of us will be aware of people with 2 earphones shouting on a call unaware a full office can hear them unaware of their surroundings.
Main features
- In-ear design provides a wearing style that’s easy to put on or take off
- Precision tuned triple-mic with enhanced DSP delivers superior noise cancellation
- Smart sensors answer calls by simply putting on the headset
- Dynamic mute alert senses and alerts you when you begin to speak while muted
- Up to 98 feet/30 meters of wireless range from supported Class 1 Bluetooth devices
- Portable charging case provides up to 10 hours of additional talk time
Specifications:
- Listen/talk time Up to 6 hours plus up to 10 extra hours with charging case
- (available in select bundles); up to 7 days standby time
- Range Up to 98 feet (30 meters) with Class 1 Bluetooth enabled device
- Audio performance Triple-mic DSP noise-cancelling technology, mobile wideband
- compatibility up to 6,800 Hz; echo cancellation, proprietary DSP,
- A2DP, mobile wideband compatibility (HD Voice-enabled)
- Hearing protection SoundGuard®: Sound leveling for listening comfort and acoustic
- limiting for protection against sounds above 118 dBA
- Headset controls Call answer/ignore/end/redial, mute, volume +/-, smartphone
- VPA access, power on/off
- Weight 9 g/0.019 lbs
- Wireless frequency Bluetooth v4.1
- Smart sensors answer calls by simply putting on the headset. Automatically
- transfer calls between mobile phone and headset based on
- wearing state (enabled using Plantronics Hub mobile app)
- Multipoint technology Stay connected to two phones and answer calls from either one
- Streams audio Stream music, driving directions, podcasts, and more with
- Bluetooth Advanced Audio Distribution Profile (A2DP)
- Voice alerts Enhanced voice alerts announce talk-time, mute, connection
- status, and more
- Firmware Update firmware and change language settings using Plantronics
- Hub for iOS/Android
Connection:
The connection is standard to most phones using the Bluetooth option to your phone/laptop with no issues found. The NFC option works easier and faster.
Charging:
The unit comes with a micro USB cable which is disappointing in terms on modern phones for the last number of years have migrated to USB C resulting in another cable to be carried around, it takes approx. 90 minutes to fully charge the headset. The status of the charging can be seen/heard via voice prompt/headset LEDs / phone app,
Charge case:
The charging ( open style ) case does as it states, charges the headset but as a design having the charging connection on the bottom leaves it prone to liquid ingress when placed on a wet surface, the case gives minimum protection when carried from place to place, ( whereas the Plantronics BackBeat Pro 5100 True Wireless Bluetooth Headset, aimed at music lovers case is ideal offering protection and charges the headset ) the belt type clip again leaves allot to be desired with little practical use. The charging case gives 10 additional hours on a single charge, giving you up to 16 hours of combined talk time between a fully charged headset and charging case.
The app – Plantronics Hub
The Plantronics Hub has a variety of useful features but again is different to the Plantronics BackBeat Pro 5100 Blackbeat app. The manufactures appear to have 2 completely different designs and technology which would be great to have one standardised one. The app gives a clear view of the battery time left, allow you to locate a misplaced headset, customise calls, mute calls, auto-answer, headset sensors and a variety of other features to personalise your experience. This also has a reset option in case a mistake is made during setup. The app has got 4.3 out of 5 on the play store out of near 30,000 downloads which is good, the app worked as required and can’t fault.
Voice alerts:
The unit has a variety of useful voice alerts
Voice alerts list
Following is a list of common voice alerts. You can use Plantronics Hub to customise some of
these alerts. Download Plantronics Hub at plantronics.com/software
- “Answering call”
- “Battery low”
- “Redialling last outgoing call”
- “Incoming call”
- “Mute on/mute off”
- “No phone is connected”
- “Pairing”
- “Pairing incomplete, restart headset”
- “Pairing successful”
- “Power on/off”
- “Phone X connected/disconnected” (my personal favourite feature)
- “Recharge headset”
- “Smart sensors on/off”
- “Battery high”
- “Volume maximum/minimum”
Call quality:
The Plantronics Voyager 3240 as expected has excellent call quality, quoting noise-cancelling technology which is far superior to most headset tested in the last year. This does not mask out all sound from the call as on tests walking close to a radio / TV, the caller can hear the sounds albeit lower than many other brands. When used to listen to Spotify / Google play music. / Amazon music quality is average been distracted with 1 earpiece and the highs and lows not as pronounced, again this is not designed for recreational music listening but will work perfectly on your voice frequencies.
Conclusion:
Plantronics is a great brand with quality products, with my favourites being able to connect numerous phones/laptops at the same time, and able to make or receive a call from any device. This is a feature not seen on many earphones. This Bluetooth multipoint technology enables you to pair and connect your headset to two different Bluetooth audio devices at once with audio prompts to advise what is connected. The brand as an office technology has a compatibility guide which you expect to ensure if the connection to a specialised device the guesswork is taken out of the interface connection, this may include Desk phone, Softphone, Mobile Bluetooth, Mobile corded Gaming and Landline.
The headset when sitting on a desk can easily be seen to connect to a phone when lifted to your ear but states not connected ensuring when you decide to take a call you can use the headset or traditional holding your head to the phone. Over the years I have had numerous earphones connected via Bluetooth only to find the audio was via the earphone, not the phones when required.
Overall the unit is a lightweight, solid build, comfortable to wear for hours, and allows you to be aware of your surroundings with superior call quality. There are a few niggles in the charger style given limited protection and micro USB charger while minor in the overall scheme. The multipoint technology allowing multiple units connected at the same time is a must for those that carry 2 phones or take skype/teams calls from laptops etc. The Plantronics Voyager 3240 has an abundance of features and personalise options in the app given a great experience overall.