Aliph Unveils The "Jawbone Icon for Cisco" Bluetooth Headset

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Love them or hate them, Bluetooth headsets appear as if they are going to be around for a while. Personally I use one often, but I will say that I am not the guy walking around with it in my ear all day. I use mine ONLY when I need to make or take a call. That said, Aliph, who is perhaps better known for their product, the Jawbone Bluetooth headset has recently announced a new version that will work with Cisco Unified IP phones.

And nicely, well, nicely for those who use Bluetooth, this new headset will allow you to connect with two devices. In other words you can use the same headset to connect to your office phone and your cell phone. The headset is the ‘Jawbone ICON for Cisco Bluetooth Headset’ and is available for those in the US as of today. As for international availability, that is set to begin in October 2010, next month. As for getting the headset, it will come bundled with the Cisco Unified IP Phones 9951 and 9971.

In terms of the headset itself, it seems this will make a nice model for the office as it is capable of receiving future updates that will add new features and functionality as they come available. After all, there is one thing certain in most offices — upgrades are slow and often passed over. At least this way the headsets will not become outdated as quickly. Then again, in some offices it is bad enough moving into a new desk and getting a second hand phone — how about passing off the headset to the new employee. But as I digress into nastiness, there are other perks of the Jawbone.

Those software updates are handled by the Jawbone MyTalk platform and the headsets will work with the Cisco Unified IP Phone, Cisco Unified Wireless IP Phone or Cisco Cius. Otherwise, another perk is described as how;

“Employees can remain connected to both phones at the same time and don’t have to pick up the handset on their ringing phone, then pick up their cell phone when it rings because both calls from both sources can be handled at the same time on the same headset.”

All in all, it does sound like a nice feature for those with Cisco office phones. But then again, there was one remaining feature that makes it sound not quite as nice.

“Users no longer need to remain tethered to their desks; their audio and voice follow them wherever they go, leaving their hands free for other tasks.”

Yup, that last one makes it sound like it will become that much harder to take a break or truly avoid a phone call.