businessinfomag.uk
magazine
12
Smarter by design
Q.
As a business, why should we care
about headsets?
JK:
The headset is one of the most
underestimated items of equipment
for professional office environments.
With Unified Communications (UC),
headsets are no longer just an option for
businesses, but a necessity. They play an
important role as a ‘technical interface’,
ensuring seamless interaction with a
company’s IT environment, and as a
‘personal interface’, for example when
communicating with a client. This is
where audio quality and headset comfort
come into play. Both are important for
the user experience and can ultimately
affect the overall success of a UC
implementation. That is why businesses
should take headsets into account
even in the early planning phase of a
UC roll-out. Spending millions on a UC
implementation only to save money on
headsets is as bad as buying a Ferrari and
fitting it with budget tires.
Q.
How has headset development
changed in the last decade?
JK:
We have seen a lot of innovation
in the last 10 years. Today, we are no
longer developing just a headset but
rather a complex IT device: UC headsets
are powered by miniature computers
working constantly to maintain
optimal sound characteristics and fit
into complex IT infrastructures and
sound environments. Software has
become paramount to the quality of
communications and is now at the
heart of headset development.
In fact, more than half of our
engineers currently work on
software.
In their role as a technical
interface, headsets need to comply
with thousands of standards.
They need to be compliant with
softphone providers and be able
to interact with phones and mobile
devices, from iOS to Android and from
USB to classic phones. This is no small
task and requires a wide range of skills.
At Sennheiser, we have significant teams
of highly specialised engineers focused
on dedicated development areas, such as
sound engineering, embedded software
development, mechanical and hardware
engineering and system architecture.
As a personal interface, we need
to ensure our headsets transmit the
clearest and most natural sound
possible, so our users feel as though
they are in the same room as the person
they are speaking to. This may sound
simple, but it requires a great deal of
engineering skill and years of experience.
Q.
How have mobile working
practices affected headset design?
JK:
As work becomes more mobile,
people need to be able to make calls
and schedule meetings regardless of
their location. Truly mobile working will
only exist when everyone can be clearly
understood even in the most challenging
sound situations, whether in a car or at
an airport. Our sound engineers have
perfected algorithms to optimise noise
cancellation, speech intelligibility and
sound quality in every situation. It all
comes down to the right combination of
software and hardware, for example the
three specialised microphones within
our PRESENCE system.
Another crucial aspect of modern
headset design is automation. If
everyone is to concentrate on what’s
being said, users shouldn’t have to make
adjustments to their headset. Instead,
the headset should adapt automatically
to different sound environments, and
that demands a lot of engineering
expertise and attention.
Q.
What future trends in headset
development do you foresee?
JK:
Headsets are starting to make the
transition from a peripheral component
to an integral user interface that
contributes intelligently to its ecosystem
and adds value beyond audio.
A headset is already the constant
companion of many office workers, so
adding features doesn’t require a change
in user behaviour. Since a headset sits
on the user’s ears, it is well placed for
wearable technology. In the future
professional headsets could measure
physiological stats, such as heart rate,
body temperature, respiratory rate,
muscle tension and even brain waves.
This information could be used to
optimise the office environment and the
individual user experience.
In addition, location data from a
headset could provide opportunities
for context-aware computing. By
using situational and environmental
information about people, places and
things, needs can be identified and
addressed automatically, enabling the IT
ecosystem to support a more intelligent
work day.
For the foreseeable future, the
communication experience will continue
to be the most important feature in
headset design. The next frontier is to
provide a truly immersive experience in
which both parties feel as though they
are right next to each other.
Collaboration between our parent
companies Sennheiser &WDH provides
us with great opportunities to achieve
this. Our headsets are the product of
the best qualities of both companies,
Sennheiser’s expertise in research and
audio andWDH’s in the development of
technologies that support miniaturisation.
Jesper Kock (JK), Director of Research and Development at
Sennheiser Communications, explains how headset design
is evolving to meet the needs of unified communications,
mobility and wearable technology.
Headsets
