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At Windows Guides, we usually review software, however after discovering this Jabra system and its integration abilities with a different range of devices and their PC Suite, I was so impressed that I decided to blog about it!

The Jabra Pro range and Go range come in all types of flavours to suit what you want. They do them with and without touch screen, with duo and mono headsets and finally with and without Bluetooth (so quite a few models!). In this review, I have used the 9465 Duo (Touch-screen with Duo headset and Bluetooth).

I found it very simple to set this device up as it takes you through a simple guide. It was very easy to install the Jabra PC Suite to make Skype work with the Jabra and then pair my mobile phone over Bluetooth and, even though I don’t have a ‘desk phone’ as such but only Panasonic and BT cordless phones, I was able to connect them using a headset cable and they fared very well. I immediately calling my mobile phone from another line and it rang on the Jabra. I was able to pick up and still use my phone to text and e-mail – another big advantage of a Bluetooth headset!

In October 2011, Jabra released an update for the 9400 series which added a Call Manager (for the PC) and a touch-screen Dial Pad. The Call Manager (see right) allows you to control the Jabra touch-screen from your mouse, which I have found really useful and innovative. Customisable keyboard shortcuts can also be used now, so an incoming call can be answered on any of the three phones by pressing Control-A.

Jabra have also launched a range of accessories for the headset which are great in a call centre or business office environment, but also are convenient in other environments, such as home office. I recently set up a large open plan office with busy lights (cost around £35 / $25 each) which plug in to a dedicated port on the headset base and allow others to see from afar if the headset user is on the phone. These are bright and look really smart in the office. In a home office environment, it is a great way to show family that you are on the phone so they cannot disturb you.

One thing that I think needs to be added is that, even though there are two ‘speakers’ on the headset, it is treated as a mono device by the computer. This is only really noticeable when playing music. It is quite useful, however, that this is mono as being on a conference call with people coming from different ears may be distracting but it also means that people with mono headsets can engage in a conference call using the same base. Because of this, I don’t consider this a drawback but instead a feature.

A very surprising and remarkable point that I felt needs to be mentioned is that the device was actually released a few years ago (according to Amazon, October 2009) and yet features are still being added and the device is still their latest one. This is great for people tired of equipment becoming obsolete months or even weeks after their purchase!

All in all, I have been really impressed by this model as it connects to such a number of devices and is so useful. From the perspective of both a home-office and office user, it saves a lot of vital time switching between headsets and gives me wireless freedom – both making me work a lot more efficiently.

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