Headset Jack vs Handset Jack, Use of Headset

[EPA_Medic]

Last week my employer installed a new CISCO IP Telephony system.  I received a model 6945 telephone.  After setting it up, I plugged my Plantronics S12 headset into the jack labeled "headset" and attempted to make it work.  It did not.  After messing with it (checking the cord connections, power supply, etc.) for a while, I gave up.

On a whim, this morning I plugged the headset cable into the handset jack on the back of the phone and the headset works like a champ...

Anyone have any idea why????

Any thoughts will be appreciated.  Thanks!

[Chris Deren]

Perhaps it was administerively disabled and a change to the phone was made over the weekend.

Chris

[EPA_Medic]

Thanks Chris for the reply.  I've been doing some more digging and found the following solution that I hope may some day save others the frustration that I had...

Most of the Plantronics headsets come with a “base” that the headset cord plugs into.  This base allows the user to mute the headset, adjust volume, etc., and also plugs into whatever telephone unit the user is operating, in my case a CISCO 6945.  On the side of the base is a slide switch with a series of numbers (in my case, 1-6).  These adjust the Plantronics unit’s settings to work with different phone models.  Once the Plantronics unit is plugged into the headset jack of a CISCO VoIP phone, suggest to the user that they press the “headset button” on their phone (with the headset on their head so they can hear for a dial tone) and change the position of the slide switch to the setting that gives them the best performance.

Hopefully that will get them going.

Good luck.

[HeadsetsDirect]

The following page with help further explain:

Understanding Headsets with Cisco Phones

-Wayne