Plantronics Savi 740 Wireless Headset System for Unified Communication

Initially reluctant to purchase due to price, I was tired of blowing through the cheap BT ear pieces...nearly one a month. This headset has been one of the best purchases I've made in the last several months and well worth the price. I've used all connectivity options with great success (USB, traditional phone and BT) but use the BT connection nine calls out of ten. Have not had any range issues either and have been able to run downstairs to the kitchen for a snack without issues. (kitchen is right below the office on the 2nd floor) Battery life is acceptable and as long as I remember to dock it every night to charge, it will last me a full workday. My only complaint is if you choose to use the optional headband instead of the earclips, hanging up / docking the headset can be awkward since the headband gets in the way of anything that may be near the dock on your desk. I will sometimes pop the set out of the headband before docking it (which is very easy to do) but I hesitate to do this every time as I'm sure the plastic will eventually fatigue. It's only a minor complaint and can be dealt with fairly easily. **Update** 05.19.2018 Still very happy with this purchase. In earlier review I said I was worried about plastic fatigue of the headset... this has not been an issue at all. Consistent daily use and the battery is still going strong lasting nearly a full day with I frequent breaks and even longer if I dock it after each use, even for 10 or 15 minutes between calls. BT to cellphone and USB to softphone on PC are my primary connections and both continue to work very well. Also worth mentioning that for a few weeks I was forced to move my wifi access point to within about 18" from the base and was worried about impacting signal but I didn't have any issues. **Update** 11.28.2024 Everything still working fine. Frequent use M-F, only issue is battery life. Needs frequent charging and I've purchased a couple of replacement rechargeable batteries. The headset itself is still great, continued high quality audio, no ear pad degradation, no broken plastic, ongoing software support, etc... other than battery life (expected after many years), I'm still very pleased with this product.

MSRP on these are in the 450 ballpark. New, in many places, is still in the 250 ~ 300 ball park, so to get a refurb/used unit in as clean a condition and serviceable as this, for 100 dollars?!? AWESOME! Its not to say its perfect, the actual ear piece when resting in the cradle is sometimes not perfectly aligned and can, if you haven't caught it, leave you with a dead headset because its not making good contact to charge. There is a replacement side piece (about 50 bucks) that adapts for secondary battery charging and includes a battery. I bought these to replace the company provided *wired* head set that simply didn't have the ability to operate well because they were not amplified (also did not have noise cancellation). I've been using headsets for the better part of 22 years in tech support, where plantronics is the defacto standard. Headsets vary and can be subjective in many cases. So too, when you purchase a set that doesn't work out of the box, or fails prematurely, while others have no problems to report (quality of product/longevity/etc). Hence for me, this headset has been perfect out of the box, with except to the charging issue mentioned above, which is a common problem I've dealt with before, by changing my behavior to be very aware if the charge light doesn't come on, and the range as mentioned below, but it is an acceptable trade off. The base unit provides volume wheels to separately amplify the earpiece or the mic. Additional options are set with a slider to enable compatibility with different handset phones. The base works either inline with a handset or can operate in the "headset out" port if your phone has one. The range is not as good as plantronics would have you believe. In an upright/on the low-walled cubical ledge, I'm sure you can get open room distances in the 300ft range, but, in a home office, or office building with lots of walls, your signal will not make it that far usually. The benefit of having a wireless headset is just that .. no wires from phone to head. I've seen, and had one or two myself, nasty soda and coffee spills happen because the drink and the wire don't agree with each other .. so going wireless is the only answer. Having a base unit that can do Bluetooth, the Headset, or attach to a PC/USB? Those are the options that make this, as a good refurb experience, into an Excellent Buy! Service received from KC Phone Guys has been top notch! Including they shipped the headset nearly immediately, and shipped the USB cable separate because they were out at the moment. They included a printed copy of a quick reference guide (they could have saved a little paper by printing double sided) included new ear gels and headband. Excellent shipping, communication, and product. Thank you KC Phone Guys!!

The product description makes it sound like this thing would be complicated to set up and use. That's not the case if all you want to do us plug it into a telephone jack, and also use it with your cell phone. I was up and running in under five minutes, and I didn't read anything other than how to set up Bluetooth (hint: push the button with the Bluetooth icon, and then it works just like every other Bluetooth gadget out there). Your cell phone and the Savi's base station remain on your desk, while you roam around your home/office with the headphones the same way you would with any other cordless, DECT handset. The Savi is much smarter than an ordinary handset, however, because it "understands" how to deal with up to three input streams. I'm using mine with a Nexus 5, and the two devices pair up and connect quickly and reliably. Shockingly so, in fact. If you work from home, get this thing and put your Bluetooth earbud back in your car where it belongs. Really. Update 3 Feb 2014: Turns out, you can't ACTUALLY plug the phone jack from this thing directly into a phone jack in a wall. It's not even a "jack" per se, but rather a connection that allows it to sit between a phone base and corded handset (using the services of an "EHS cable", sold separately). So my wording above is inaccurate, but I'll let it stand in the interest of journalistic integrity. :-) Update 5 Feb 2014: You CAN plug this device directly into a single-line, household-style phone jack. And I'm an idiot, AND Plantronics customer support is apparently too polite to tell me that. The one time I get a truly professional CSA, ... Anyhow, the Savi 740 I ordered comes with a "generic" EHS cable, which I had set aside and forgotten about. That cable has a 4-conductor RJ plug on one end, an 8-conductor RJ plug on the other, and a little blob in the middle with a stencil of a phone handset right next to a 4-conductor RJ socket. You merely put the thing right between the handset and base of your analog phone, or between the handset and wall jack if your phone's handset and dialpad are integrated into a single unit. I just tested this with the digital "phone" service of my cable modem, and it worked first time. (The little switch in the Savi base remains in the "A" position.) For future reference, the first four pins of the 8-conductor plug on the EHS cable are one-to-one with the four pins of the 4-conductor plug at the other end of the cable, and I suspect that the other four pins go directly to the 4-conductor socket. So if you are a little handy, you can build your own cable if you want to: it's just a simple "splice" into the analog phone line. I did that, actually, because I let Google Voice do all my dialing and ringing. I don't have a dialpad or traditional telephone handset on my desk. The Savi doesn't have a ringer circuit, however, so you won't know you've got an incoming call if it's the only thing hooked to the line. That's just fine in my case.

First, when I got it and started to use it for phone and work, and separately for gaming as a voice activated headset, I found that the battery did not last for long for gaming. I contacted the manufacturer asking about it, and they sent me a second battery, with the assumption there was a problem with the first. I've done battery stretching (run it until dry, charge) and such but neither battery will last much longer than 4 hours of not heavy mumble or teamspeak use. However with the two of them I can get a full long gaming session in, and I very much appreciate the strong, speedy customer support. As for the gadget overall, it's got a 20 foot effective range before any static sets in, is comfortable in the ear, with multiple earbuds and over-ear pieces for sizing, has great sound quality, and is all that you would expect from a top of the line headset. I never wanted the heavy over ear gaming headsets, but this works very well for that application as well, using my high quality room speakers for the game sound, and the minimalistic earpiece for voice. And my colleagues quite appreciate my not fumbling with the cell when I work at home.

I got this headset and it was super.Cheap, it was marked down to thirty five dollars when normally.It's like two hundred and fifty dollars works well

I upgraded from the CS50 with handset lifter. The great thing about the Savi 740 is that it uses the same headset lifter so I was able to save by not having to purchase a different lifter. I use this almost every day. I would rather use this than holding handset to my ear. I haven't used the PC call feature but I did pair this to my cell phone. Works great. When someone calls all you have to do is hit the button on the headset and it will answer the correct line, whether it is land, bluetooth or pc. You set the headset to automatically select a default for dialing out. You can select PC, bluetooth or land. I was having some issues with the headset not picking up the default line but this was quickly resolved by resetting the headset. I chose this unit vs. the over the head headset because I wanted something compact. This head piece comes with a couple of earpieces so you can probably find one that is comfortable for your ear. It also comes with three over the ear pieces so you can find something that is comfortable for you. For me, I tried them all and if I wear it for a long time, my ear start to get sore. However, I usually put the headset in the magnetic charger when I am not talking. One great thing I like about this is if I walk away from my desk, the headset will beep if I get a call, using the handset lifter (sold separately and highly recommended) I can pick up the call without having to run back to my desk. There is also a button on the headset to mute. The CS50 would beep when the headset was on mute but this one you have to look at the base unit and the light will turn red when you are on mute. I love this and would recommend it.

EDIT: The Unit worked great, until it didnt any longer. Suddenly the Mic stopped communicating with my PC. Troubleshooting leads me to believe the failure is within the USB port on the base. Works fine via Bluetooth. Swapped USB cables, same issue, change to another machine, same issue, tried to install on a machine it has never been on and the drivers fail to install so something is not right with the comms from the base to the PC. Ordering a Savi 445 to replace it. that way I will have spare parts from this one to further my troubleshooting. Even though it only lasted 3 years I would still replace it with the same because the time it worked was amazing. I would just like to get more out of my +$200 What a great system. With my work I am sometimes on +14 hour conference calls. Before picking up the Savi740 I was literally tethered to my laptop by a 4' cord on my headset. I had finally had enough and splurged on this system. The main reason for the upgrade to the 740 was for the hot-swappable battery. With this system I can got about 13 hours with the extra battery. Swapping the battery take just seconds and the fit is great. I can go to the furthest reaches in my house and still hear just fine. that means I can now have some water and make a lunch when on the calls. I like the ability to connect to my cell but I rarely do. I do wish they had some sorry of portable receiver I could add so when I travel it can come along. As it is I feel it is too bulky to load in my backpack and take along but that is just me and in no way takes away from how good the system works.

I bought this Bluetooth headset to use with our new ShoreTel phone system. This was extremely easy to setup, and it is very easy to use. It is pretty much, for the phone system, plug and play. It comes nicely packaged and very professional looking. You only need to charge it for 20 minutes before initial use. As far as the battery it lasts a very long time, and the sound quality is perfect! I also love how it comes with the 3 different styles of wearing it. You can use the over the head strap (traditional), behind the head strap which is extremely comfortable, and the simple ear bud style. Sound is just as good if not better than the handset on our ShoreTel system, and the headset works much better than the speaker phone. The noise cancelling works very well. I would highly recommend this headset due to the quality of the product, design, and the overall experience. It works great!

Pricey headset, but totally work it for the reliability. Love that it works so well with desk phone, cell phone and computer connections. Great to get rid of all the half baked headsets and replace it with this one great quality one.

Works as described

Function well

I love it. Easy to set up. Intuitive to touch. Can connect to phone, cell and computer. Lots of talk time.

This allows you to connect your desk phone, mobile phone and computer calling abilities all through a single device. The headset is very light and comfortable, and the sound quality is amazing. If you spend a lot of time on calls, it's really worth the money. Since it has arrived, I have also ordered the handset lifter for my desk phone as it will simply make the product that much more usable as opposed to having to manually lift the handset.