Contact Centre Headset Design Emphasizes Form and Function
Plantronics, Inc. (NYSE: PLT) today announced that the Plantronics
EncorePro™ headset won the prestigious international Forum (iF) product
design award 2009.
iF jury members judged nearly 3,000 products from more than 1,000
contestants in 39 different countries to select the winners for 2009.
Products were evaluated based on criteria including innovativeness,
functionality, design quality, material, ergonomics and environmental
compatibility. Plantronics Industrial Design developed EncorePro, a
corded headset for contact centre professionals, and also designed the
Plantronics Discovery® 640 Bluetooth® headset that won an iF Design
Award in 2006.
“Recognition of the EncorePro for an iF Design Award confirms the
importance of designing both consumer and enterprise products with the
user in mind,” said Darrin Caddes, vice president of Corporate Design at
Plantronics. “I applaud the EncorePro design team, lead by Soohyun Ham,
for truly understanding how contact centre professionals use our
products. They were able to design a headset that harmoniously combines
superior audio performance with great comfort and style.”
Bringing Style to the Contact Centre
The Plantronics EncorePro, announced in October 2008, incorporates form
and function, resulting in a lightweight headset that is beautiful and
practical. An informal Plantronics survey of agents who trialled the
EncorePro headset revealed that 60 per cent thought the fit and comfort
was improved, 65 per cent felt the transmit sound was better and more
than 70 per cent believed the EncorePro is more stylish than their
existing headsets.
The headset is built with premium nylon composite and incorporates
finishes and accents that are purely aesthetic, which is not typical for
contact centre products. The leatherette cushion and metal accent of the
earpiece are reminiscent of a high fidelity speaker and serve to
re-affirm the headset’s excellent sound quality. The shape and metal
accents on the unique swivelling extendable microphone are designed to
make the microphone look like a smaller version of a traditional
broadcast microphone. A satin finish and metal accents are used
throughout to incorporate the designers’ vision of a high-end European
design.
About the iF Design Awards
Since the introduction of the iF product design award in 1953, iF design
awards have developed into prestigious trademarks for outstanding
achievements in the field of design. Enterprises and design studios use
the award to make their customers and additional target groups aware of
the potentially decisive difference in product and service quality
expressed by this distinction.
