Cisco IP Communicator with Bluetooth Headset has fast battery drain

[jordanplarson]

Hi all, hoping to tap the collective knowledge here to find an answer to an issue we are experiencing with bluetooth headsets with rapidly draining battery.

Environment:  We are running Cisco UCM 10.5 and have some users with Cisco IP Communicator 8.6.4.  Computers are a mix of laptop/desktop with Windows 7 32/64-bit.  The bluetooth headsets are mostly Plantronics Voyager Legend UC with a few older Plantronics models.  These use a separate bluetooth dongle with status indicator.  This headset is billed as having 7 hours of talk time and 10-days on standby.  The Plantronics software is set for Audio Sensing Enabled and Maintain Headset to PC link as disabled.

Behavior:  Normally, when the bluetooth headset is not in use, the indicator light is a solid blue and the headset is considered to be in standby.  When on a call the indicator light is a slow blink showing the headset is in active use.

Issue:  When not in a call, or when CIPC is even launched, the indicator light is a blicking blue and users can hear "air" in the headset even when not off-hook.  This has led the headset to be in active mode and thus draining the battery at a higher rate.  Even though the Plantronics software option Maintain Headset to PC link is off, it acts like it's on.  The only way we have been able to get around this is in the Plantronics software to turn off Audio Sensing Enabled.  This leads to the user needing to press the answer button on the headset and the answer button on the softphone which isn't ideal if the users are up and about.

So having said all this, is there a resolution to allow the headset to be used with CIPC without the headset always being active?

[Jaime Valencia · Accepted solution]

This is Video Over IP, please move to the proper area.

[jordanplarson]

Thanks! misread Video over IP as Voice over IP.

[MH312]

I am having the same issue and I'm not doing anything with Video, strictly voice phone calls for a landline call center.  So long as the Cisco IP Communicator software is running at all, it locks the bluetooth audio signal as live as if you were on an active call even when only in standby / waiting for a call.  This will run the battery in the bluetooth headset dead as is treating the entire time Cisco IP Communicator is running as live audio feed.  I cannot find any setting to change it into any kind of standby mode. The original poster explained the problem well, as soon as the Cisco IP Communicator software starts up, you can hear the change in the headset as it fires up the audio and your microphone, and it stays that way until you completely exit the Cisco software.