SkypeHeadset is a UK product developed by Kamal Munir and Stuart John based in London, it utilises the Bluetooth standard and the army of us road warriors that have already purchased a Bluetooth headset for use with mobile phones. The only additional equipment you'll need is a Bluetooth dongle or PCMCIA card for your PC or laptop, in fact a number of laptops are now shipping with in built Bluetooth capability so you might have everything you need already.

Set-up is a simple process, documentation is excellent and takes you through the software step by step. Perhaps the one thing to look out for is that your Bluetooth dongle or card uses the Widcomm Bluetooth software version 1.4.2.x, 1.4.3.x, 3.x or 4.x this is required to work with SkypeHeadset and not every card uses this driver. You run the set-up exe and then you'll see a popup that asks if its ok for another programme to access your Skype installation, you need to allow Skype headset to do this and then the application will run.

The Skype headset icon lives in the system tray and its colour will indicate status of the connection, on first firing up the icon is red and you'll need to find and pair your Bluetooth headset. With the Widcomm driver installed this is a simple process , once paired our headset becomes available to windows and therefore to the SkypeHeadset application.

Having paired our SE HBH-65 headset the icon changes colour to yellow meaning the system is in silent mode but is connected, so time to make a call. Over the course of 2 weeks we have made numerous calls using the software and working at variable distances up to 10 meters away from the PC, in almost all calls the connection has been highly stable and the software link to Skype very reliable.

Audio quality is first class with the Skype headset software transferring the audio seamlessly from Skype to our Sony Ericsson test headset. Answering Skype calls is a breeze as the headsets buttons can be mapped using the Skype Headset software, for example Skype calls can be answered and dropped using the multifunction button and you can also programme 1 Skype user as a "quick call" i.e. a single button push to call a pre selected user.

The Skype headset Software worked flawlessly over the 2 week review period, we did have a few funnies with the Bluetooth connection but in our experience this is not uncommon with all forms of Bluetooth connection. A quick reconnect normally solved the occasional connection issues.

The Skype Headset software is intelligent enough to switch the audio device in use between the headset and the normal Skype audio device (PC speakers an microphone)  when the headset is not available. However its not able to switch the ringing system in the same manner, so its left to the user to decide if the ring signal should be sent to the headset or the PC.

Skype Headset currently only supports Windows 2000 and XP and the full version is just £10 which is excellent value for money and far cheaper than buying a cabled Skype USB handset or one of the more expensive DECT compatible Skype units.

Overall a fantastic little application that allows you to use your Bluetooth headset with Skype, it seems an obvious pairing of Bluetooth and Skype and until Skype build in the standard to a new release SkypeHeadset is the one and only choice.

www.vitaero.com

Published - 29/05/2005

More Software Reviews-

[ Up ] [ Norton Personal Firewall 2004 ] [ SMAN for P800 P900 ] [ Ephpod Ipod Sync ] [ Musicmatch Jukebox 8 MP3 Player ] [ SETI at Home Screensaver ] [ Google Desktop Search Beta ] [ Avantgo 2005 ] [ Threedef Review ] [ Google Earth ] [ Xbox 360 Launch Games ] [ Podcast Factory Review ] [ Pinnacle Studio Plus 10 ] [ Joost Review ] [ Skype Lie Detector ] [ Pandora Audio Genome Project ] [ Skype Headset Review ] [ Zonealarm 6 Internet Security ] [ Replay Radio Review ] [ Blue Frog Antispam ] [ Traffic TV Mobile ] [ Blinkx Search ] [ Tube London Streets for P800 P900 ] [ Norton Antivirus 2004 ]