The Challenge
Kirklees Council were looking to deploy 7,000 staff under a new Microsoft Lync implementation, with a key deliverable being to establish a more mobile workforce and ensure that the best approach was adopted in terms of employee healthcare. A significant percentage uptake in headset deployment was required to replace fixed handset devices. Staff required more mobility, increased comfort and no compromise in performance at a price point that was realistic.
The solution
“We chose a large group of 200 people to participate in evaluations of four of the main headsets that fell within our tight budgets, but which offered the best audio, comfort and performance overall,” said John Clayton, Principal Officer at Kirklees Council. “Feedback was overwhelming for the Sennheiser’s solutions, the SC 30 and SC 60. The benefits were a better build, better quality feel and more robust product.
When asked for reasons why the Sennheiser headsets proved so popular, one employee who preferred to wear a headset all day stated that they are “Very light and comfortable and I don’t know that I’m wearing it.” Other important factors included the impressive audio and noise cancelling microphone, but one of the main reasons why this rollout was possible was due to the price point.
“It was envisaged that customers would more readily adapt to headset use on this product as it is light, comfortable and has a premium quality look and feel” said John. “However the price point made it very attractive against the IT budget, and its robust design means we expect fewer breakages over time and a longer product life, reducing our total cost of ownership.”
Constructed from premium materials, Sennheiser’s headsets are built to last. A real emphasis on comfort, from large ear pads and a flexible boom to HD voice clarity and noise cancelling microphones, ensures that calls can be conducted smoothly and efficiency regardless of the environment, and with built-in ActiveGard™ technology to protect against acoustic shock, deliver complete peace of mind.
Sennheiser’s noise-cancelling technology certainly proved its worth with one contact centre employee, who gave their own review of the product: “Being a busy contact centre we really struggle with background noise. We have taken many steps to reduce this, such as silent keyboards, and were also considering noise-cancelling tiles as it was difficult for the staff during their daily shift and also listening back to calls on recordings. We evaluated the Sennheiser noise cancelling headset and were immediately impressed by this key feature, we couldn’t pick up any background noise and the conversation with the customer was perfect and clear. It was like they were in a room on their own!”
“We’d certainly recommend Sennheiser’s headsets to other similar establishments,” said John Clayton. “They have helped us deliver on our requirements. Acceptance of headsets has been 95%+ with users being truly able to hotdesk; we have deployed only a small number of handsets for specialist use. In addition, Employee Healthcare is very pleased with take up as this helps with overall posture and allows people to use the computer whilst on the phone.”
Kirklees council now uses Sennheiser SC 30 USB ML and SC 60 USB ML headsets in its contact centre and have deployed over 4,000 to date on the new Microsoft Lync development, with employees also using the Sennheiser products for dictation and text to voice.