PC speaker / microphone recommendations

[Nigel_O]

I work from home and use MS Teams heavily for staff calls and also a 3CX softphone for external calls.

I currently use a bluetooth headset and microphone which performs very well, but gets a bit uncomfortable after a few hours.

I don't want to use the built in speakers and microphone on the laptop, as they're a bit rubbish - tried it for a day or two and ended up going back to the headset.

I did a quick Google search on "bluetooth speaker & microphone" and was staggered by the choice - does anyone have any recommendations for a decent unit, with good clear sound (in and out) at a sensible price?

It would be nice to have battery-powered, so that I can move the speaker around if I want to make a cuppa, or simply get up and wander around when I'm on a call (one of the main benefits of the headset)

TIA

[deckster]

You don't say what you think a sensible price is, but you don't need to look any further than this https://www.amazon.co.uk/Jabra-Speak-510-Bluetooth...

Utterly reliable and fantastic quality audio both ways.

[QuartzDad]

Can recommend the Jabra 710, use it for hours on end each day. Had the 510 before, was equally good.

[Mr Pointy]

Either Jabra 410 (non-BT) or 510 (with BT) are excellent. I got my 510 from ebay for much less than places like Amazon:
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/353754231291

There are lots of them - just make sure you get the MS/Skype version & maybe look for one that has the the Jabra BT dongle with it. I'm not sure if it works with the laptop BT but someone on here may be able to tell you.
https://www.jabra.co.uk/business/speakerphones/jab...

[sjg]

Anything on the Teams certified devices list, all the main vendors do a conference speakerphone now. I’ve had a Jabra Speak for ages and it still works well.

To be certified and Bluetooth it’ll have it’s own dongle, use it. Most laptop vendor ones are flakey and most companies don’t update drivers for them often enough.

[Nigel_O]

Thanks for the feedback. I'm a bit miffed that I just missed a new / boxed Jabra 710 on Ebay for £75, but I've found a lightly-used 510 only a couple of miles aay from me.

I'll try that first - if it works well enough, I might consider a 710 for the better sound quality.

Seems that most reviews feel the 510 is perfectly adequate for a one-man office

[ChrisSMorris]

I've got a Betron D51 from Amazon, it was only £20 new. But it works really well on Teams and people say it is nice and clear. Definitely recommend.

[Mr Pointy]

Nigel_O said:

Thanks for the feedback. I'm a bit miffed that I just missed a new / boxed Jabra 710 on Ebay for £75, but I've found a lightly-used 510 only a couple of miles aay from me.

I'll try that first - if it works well enough, I might consider a 710 for the better sound quality.

Seems that most reviews feel the 510 is perfectly adequate for a one-man office

I think you'll find that the 510 is all you need for WaH where you haven't got ten people round a table. Just be aware that Teams can be a bit flakey & I've had it lose sync so the speaker showed the mic was on but it was still muted in Teams. A quick restart of Teams sorted it out.

[Nigel_O]

Mr Pointy said:

Just be aware that Teams can be a bit flakey

Useful - thanks. I'll keep an eye on it

[boxedin]

I bought a 510 recently after getting tired of selfish / lazy people who cannot use a mute button. When you're wearing headphones...

Now they can do whatever they like. The mic and speaker on the 510 is more than suitable for low quality content conference calls. You won't be doing music demos with it.

Wish I bought one years ago.

[mikef]

The Jabra usb conference phone is a good bet for a meeting room - for a single user I favour the (now discontinued) Polycom CX100 usb-A speakerphone. I see there’s an open-box CX100 on the ‘Bay for £25 buy-it-now at the time I’m writing this

[Nigel_O]

Update

Bought a hardly-used Jabra Speak 510 for £50 through Guntree - seller was three miles away.

It does exactly what I need - perfect sound quality for my small office and everyone I've asked says that they can hear me perfectly clearly.

It's very nice to get rid of the headset - it wasn't terrible, but after 9 hours on the ear, it got a bit uncomfortable

The 710 is suppose to be a bit better, especially as it comes with its own Bluetooth receiver, but the 510 works so well, I can't really see the extra cost of the 710 being worth it.

[Harpoon]

Question for any Jabra 510 owners who are using Teams - does your mute status sync between the 510 and the Teams client?

I bought a 510 on Wednesday - I've been on training all week and all day with headphones on becomes uncomfortable. It's connected via USB to save needing to charge it (I also understand sound quality is better over USB due to BT compression). I installed Jabra Direct and configured that with "Presence Sync" enabled and the Preferred Softphone as Teams. I have the MS version of the 510 (P/N 7510-109) and it says Certified for Skype for Business on the bottom. The Teams client reports it is the latest version.

However, mute status is not replicated either from Teams > Jabra or vice-versa.

I've opened a ticket with Jabra but is there something else I missed?

[3george]

@harpoon

I use the wired version of the Jabra Speak which is the 410 and confirm it does replicate mute settings in MS Teams.

Press mute on the 410 and teams mutes, Press unmute in teams and vice versa.

Ensure the correct device shows in Teams Devices as this might be picking up another microphone you have confgured - other than this Jabra support is your best bet I agree.

3g

[Harpoon]

Thanks. Will have another play and maybe re-install the Jabra software.

[sjg]

Anything certified (SfB and Teams are interchangeable) should behave properly with muting, without the need for any extra software. I'd try removing the Jabra stuff and seeing how it does without.

[Mr Pointy]

Harpoon said:

Thanks. Will have another play and maybe re-install the Jabra software.

I have a MS/Skype certified 510 & it usually syncs ok but very occasionally the speaker & Teams will have a falling out & the sync stops. Re-starting Teams restores sync though. It happens rarely though so it takes a few seconds to work out what is happening & check the mic mute status icon in Teams.

[Mr Pointy]

Nigel_O said:

The 710 is suppose to be a bit better, especially as it comes with its own Bluetooth receiver, but the 510 works so well, I can't really see the extra cost of the 710 being worth it.

You can buy the BT adapter for the 510 but it's a bit pricey:
https://www.jabra.co.uk/accessories/jabra-link-370

[Mr Pointy]

mikef said:

The Jabra usb conference phone is a good bet for a meeting room - for a single user I favour the (now discontinued) Polycom CX100 usb-A speakerphone. I see there’s an open-box CX100 on the ‘Bay for £25 buy-it-now at the time I’m writing this

I have one of these & tried it but found Windows kept losing it as the default mic/speaker. Did you find updated software for it?

[mikef]

Mr Pointy said:

I have one of these & tried it but found Windows kept losing it as the default mic/speaker. Did you find updated software for it?

Ah I use on Mac, I didn't need a driver