Customer Reviews

Plantronics CT12 2.4 GHz DSS Cordless Headset Phone with Caller ID

5 star:		(113)
4 star:		(75)
3 star:		(38)
2 star:		(20)
1 star:		(12)

 

 

When in my home office, I am on the phone 5-7 hours a day. I have tried many combinations of phones and headsets and have never been satisfied with the voice quality. I also run a wireless network and have had problems in the past with 2.4 Ghz phones causing interference. The Plantronics CT12 is the answer to all my problems:

* portable - small belt unit is light, offers great battery life and includes all the features I need
* great headset - sound quality is equal to that of a handset (people do not know you are on a headset); comfortable with two fit options, Firefly function is nice bonus
* Caller-ID - included on belt unit, works as expected
* 2.4 Ghz - range is good, does not cause interference with my wireless network (previous phones from Panasonic and others have)

Only negative is that you cannot answer or otherwise use the phone while it is charging (must remove the belt unit from the charger). All in all, highly recommended.

I got this headset phone after using a Plantronics headset with my standard office phone for years. I didn't get it as a replacement, only as an option to allow me to move around while on tedious conference calls but without holding a brick up to my ear or carrying one on my belt.

In any case, the bottom line is that this phone is the only game in town for an inexpensive, super-compact phone with decent range - but it is completely incompatible with wireless networks.

I did my original review after using the unit for a few days. What follows are some comments after using the phone on and off for nearly 3 years...

Wireless Networks:
I originally believed I had found the secret code to not having this phone knock out my wireless network. In summary, since my wireless network was on channel 6, I switched the channel on my network to 11, rebooted all of the computers that use the wireless network and then hit the "channel" button on the phone a couple of times. At the time, that did the trick, the phone was completely compatible with my wireless network.

Sometime in the last year or so, maybe with a router firmware update or something, the phone now reliably and completely knocks out my wireless network to the point of needing a router reboot. For this reason, my rating is now 1 star (or less), down from 3 stars - except that I can't change the star-rating in the Amazon review editor interface.

Audio Quality:
Both the incoming and outgoing (as heard on the other end of the phone line) are very good. In fact, my own tests found that the audio quality on the other end of the phone line is better than with my wired Plantronics headset (and, amazingly, with the handset for that phone). However, the volume on the incoming audio needs to be jacked up to maximum most of the time in order to be generally audible. This also amplifies my own voice as heard in the headset when I talk. The audio quality of my own voice in the headset is miserable (I'm curious if others have noticed this too). It sounds fuzzy and over-amplified (which I guess it is) and is distracting, though I'm hoping I get used to it. Fortunately, this fuzziness is not sent to the other end of the phone line.

Comfort:
My unit came with both a "hook on the ear" configuration and an over-the-head configuration. I have to say that the earpiece that hooks onto your ear could be a *lot* more comfortable and easier to adjust. I have a Motorola HS810 earpiece that I use with my cell phone and it is reasonably comfortable for something that is hanging on your ear. The Plantronics "hook on the ear" earpiece needs some softening to make it more comfortable and a little reconfiguration to make it easier to slip on.

The net-net is that I finally gave up on the hook-on-the-ear earpiece because it was so uncomfortable. Switching to the over the head configuration is great. The earpiece is comfortable and the audio is louder, so I don't have to crank the volume up to maximum.

In summary, while I like this phone because it is compact, has good range and provides good outgoing and incoming sound quality, the wireless network incompatibility makes it a non-starter. I also don't like the volume situation, how my own voice sounds to me or the comfort of the hook-on-the-ear earpiece. Would I buy again? Likely not.

Big improvement over the predecessor model CT10 since Plantronics has added a caller ID feature and an in-use indicator light to this one. If you are looking for a single-line cordless telephone for your home or small office, and if you don't mind not having the option of a traditional cordless handset receiver to hold up to your ear, you will like this model. Be aware that you have to use the headset for every call (no handset), so if several members of a family use the same phone, get yourself some spare ear cushions for hygeine. The only negative is that the dial pad buttons are very, very small, so maybe I would not recommend this for some elderly users, visually impaired users or anyone who feels more comfortable with larger buttons to press.

I purchased this phone with high hopes of using it as my primary home office phone. The phone directly interferes around 50% of the time with my 802.11.B wireless network. Since the phone channel can not be fixed, the Plantronics CT12 will randomly knock me completely off the network. No amount of calls to Plantronics or fiddling with my wireless channels improves this problem. Thier answer is that the channels are choosen by the phone and there's nothing they can do. I've returned the phone for a refund.

The other problem is that the phone can not be used while it's in the charging base, so you'll need to have another office phone for when the battery runs low.

If it weren't for these two major issues, it's a nice phone with clear sound and the little red light on the mic boom is cute.

While performance of this phone is great - fantastic, in fact, I think the functionality of the phone is a bit clumsy for women.

The range is great. Audio is crystal clear. No interrupts on our wireless-g network, save one small glitch with the laptop, resolved by changing channels.

The belt clip is for belts, not slacks or skirts. Women don't always wear belts. It needs more tension or a tighter grip to be able to hold on to the thinner materials women wear. I tried using the clip to hook it to a long key lanyard, worn around the neck, but it was too heavy/clunky to be worn that way comfortably.

Problem 2 - headset or over the ear? Again, a "woman" issue - small ears prevent me from comfortably using the over the ear ear/mic. Using the headset is great with the exception of a little too much tension on the ear causing a sore spot, earpiece cover isn't soft enough to accommodate even small earrings (conforming foam would have been better).

Recommendations to the manufacturer - it would be *great* if, after you fix the tension issues w/ the beltclip, you could fix it so the belt clip would mount in either direction. What I mean is wearing the unit upside down would allow you to read/see display & buttons when looking down at it.

All I can say is Wow!

I first found this headset telephone by going backwards. After having many cordless telephones, and getting a constant neck ache, I decided I wanted to get a telephone with a headset option. But every telephone I bought, it seemed like the headset was an afterthought. So I set out to learn who made the world's premier quality headset, and I was going to then try to find a telephone that would adapt to it. I had heard that Plantronics was the world leader in high-end headsets, so I thought I would see what they had that would fit a cordless phone.

To my surprise, after a quick search on amazon, I discovered they were making a headset with the cordless phone integrated, so I was very excited and quickly ordered it.

When it arrived, I was immediately impressed with the fit & finish, I charged up for 18 hours, then started making calls. It was the system I had be dreaming of, finally a cordless phone that was totally hands free, but with no sacrifice in voice quality!

I must have made 200 calls the first week, I could not believe how good this was and how little it cost.

BUT THE STORY GETS BETTER:

After 5 months, I was still ecstatic over how well this unit worked, and how tough it was, the first time I dropped it, I was scared to death I had broken the most wonderful thing I had bought in years, but it was fine, then I dropped it again not 2 hours later! (I'm very clumsy) and again, I must have dropped it over 100 times those first 5 months! This thing is built like a tank! It was still a perfect as the day it arrived.

then tragedy struck, I was walking through my home office too fast, and I tripped & fell, I caught the headset cord on a chair and ripped the wiring out of the headset (OK, I am reaalllly clumsy)

So, I called Plantronics, and told them "I ripped the wires out of this headset, I will need to order a new headset to replace the one I ruined, how much?"

They said, "it's covered under warranty for one year, just tell us the model number and we will send a new one out, in advance"

I said "No, you don't understand, I broke it myself via negligence, my fault"

they said "we cover the unit for 1 year, even if you abused it and broke it, we cover it no matter what"

I could not believe it, what a company! -- they sent a unit out via UPS next day air! - before I even sent the one I broke back!

I just ordered 3 more, I cannot believe such a great product, built like a tank, with fantastic ergonomics and voice quality is backed by a such an unbelievably customer driven company!

I did not think there was still an example of this in America. It is not only the best product I have ever bought at Amazon, it is the best company I have dealt with in many years!

Plantronics - you ROCK!

Having owned a couple hands-free phones in recent years, I find the CT 12 a non-trivial step forward in sound quality, comfort, and size.

The boom microphone is excellent. Because it doesn't extend directly in front of your mouth the way old-fashioned headsets did, there are fewer audible thumps from lip strikes and plosives. A red LED at the end flashes to let people know you are on the phone.

Drop the phone into the base unit and it charges automatically, giving you about 5 hours of talk time. A stalk on the base unit swivels up so you can hang the headset up when its not in use.

Comfort is so good you can forget you have it on (I wore it out to my car the other day). The handset has a belt clip and there is a shirt clip to keep the cord out of your way of gesticulators (you know who you are). You can switch the ear piece and mic from one ear to the other in about three seconds. Likewise, you can pick up the headset almost as quickly as you could a regular phone.

Range is good. I pace around my office and don't find the signal degrades, although walls, partitions and doors will obviously shorten range. If you need more range than this offers, you probably need a cell phone.

Build quality and materials are both excellent. It takes normal wear and tear and has been dropped several times with no ill effects. Design is modern without being wonky.

The only shortcoming worth noting is ergonomic -- I had to dock the phone one star because the buttons are needlessly small (think TV remote circa 1990), though they are clearly marked and easily readable.

Recommended.

I read about previous customers having problems with the phone interfering with their wireless routers and figured maybe I'd have better luck. After two separate attempts, both of which knocked both my husband and I off our network, I called Plantronics. Tech support said "yep, there's nothing that can be done" and I mentioned this was rather unfortunate. (I think it's silly that my 2.4 GHz Vtech house phone doesn't interfere, but the CT12 does.) I really liked the CT10 I've been using for years, but have been longing for some caller ID attached to my hip with the phone. Looks like after extensive research I'm going to end up with an expandable cordless set that is on the 5.8 GHz range in hopes of beating this "unfortunate" problem.

Tech support @ Plantronics mentioned they have no plans in the near future to release a different spectrum of a phone, so it looks like for now, I'm S.O.L.

Hope Plantronics soon understands many of their home users of the cordless headsets need to be near their wireless router when they are working and can't separate phone from computer time!

This is a great cordless phone, for all the reasons stated by other reviewers. I just want to refute the previous claim that this phone interferes with wireless networking. Maybe it does with some wireless routers, but I've had no problems at all with my Linksys router. I sit less than two feet from my wireless router, I use the phone all the time, and I've had no problems whatever. I had to change the channel my wireless router uses, but that is a quick and minor fix. So don't discount this phone because you are afraid it will interfere with your wireless network. If you configure it properly, there is no reason there should be any issues.

This is a great phone: clear sound, great range, convenient form factor and very comfortable. It works very well with Lucent and Avaya office phone systems, greatly extending the usefulness of those systems.

However, it is horrible in an environment where any 802.11 wireless network (WiFi) is being used. It appears that it has 4 channels, and 3 of them interfere with the WiFi network to the point that it drops all connections off the access point for all users in the vicinity. This makes it pretty much unusable in a networked office environment. No amount of fiddling with the WiFi channels solves this problem. I note that Panasonic phones have this same issue, but VTech 2.4GHz phones do not.

Too bad, but the one big disadvantage outweighs all the others for me.