Featured Article from Unified Communications Headsets

NFC Could Make Bluetooth Headsets Much Easier to Pair

By Peter Scott
TMCnet Contributor

I live in New York, but functionally I live out of hotel rooms and temporary apartments due to frequent travel for work. This means my communications services must follow me wherever I travel, and for many years I struggled with missed calls and frustration from people trying to connect with me while I was in transit.

Then I found unified communications, and that helped a lot. UC put my calling and SMS in the cloud, enabling me to access it whether I was in Delhi, Bangkok or New York. I give out one number, and it follows me everywhere I go.

When we solve one problem, of course we immediately set our sights on the next. So recently, I’ve been working on making my calling even easier when in transit. For me, this has meant figuring out how to take calls without having to fiddle with my phone’s ear buds every time a call comes in.

Often background noise is too great to use the built-in speaker in my smartphone, so I’ve grown to rely on the ear buds that came with my phone. I take the ear buds everywhere I go, but they get tangled in my pocket too easily.

So lately I’ve been experimenting with Bluetooth headsets and my mobile UC setup. I can wear the headset when I’m in transit and be ready for incoming calls, and with a Bluetooth headset I also don’t have the tangled cord issue when I stash it in my pocket or a bag.

Historically I’ve struggled with Bluetooth, as have many people. The problem for me has been pairing. I’ve had a Bluetooth headset for years, but often I’ll go to use it and encounter a pairing issue. The pairing doesn’t seem to last, and I have to fiddle with getting it paired up again when I change equipment, and it just isn’t simple enough in practice.

As a recent Jabra blog post notes, however, this is changing thanks to near-field communications (NFC).

Newer Bluetooth headsets are now coming standard with NFC, which is the wireless protocol that allows devices to instantly connect with each other when in close contact.

NFC means that Bluetooth pairing issues could soon be a thing of the past, because connecting a headset with a smartphone or tablet will be as easy as tapping the headset on the phone.

Unfortunately, my older Bluetooth headset doesn’t support NFC. But given the advantages of Bluetooth headsets when it comes to taking calls on the go, I’m seriously considering an upgrade. Bluetooth headsets make a lot of sense—but only once that pairing issue is resolved. At least for me.

Thankfully, technology is coming to the rescue. Again. Now it is onto the next challenge.