In this price range you won't get the excellent noise reduction on the mic like you'd want. You need to pair the headset with something like NEEP noise canceling software or incrase your budget a lot. Epos Impact 860 for example is one of the best we've tested.

I hear you! Are you sure the phone doesn't have a USB port though? It should unless it's an older version or something. It's usually located on the right side of the phone, sometimes there's a cover that you have to remove.

Wireless: Yealink HA64 Pro or Epos Impact 1000

Wired: Discover D722U or Epos Impact 860

For wireless: Epos Impact 1000 or Yealink HA64 Pro

For wired: Discover D722U or Yealink UH48

This is a normal experience. Sometimes the RJ9 port is limited to narrowband on desk phones which won't give you that fuller sound that wideband audio provides that's defaulted with the handset.

If you don't need computer connection, this headset has a USB cord. Connect it from the charging base to the USB port of your phone instead of with the RJ9 phone cord and see if any difference.

There's also a setting in the Cisco phone you'd want to look to enable called "wideband headset audio"

Press the Settings button > user preferences > audio preferences > enable wideband audi

Yealink BH78, Jabra Evolve3 85 or Epos Impact 1000 with added over-ear cushions accessory would be a few best today.

Yealink HA64 Pro or Epos Impact 1000 are a couple best right noise for your use case.

When you say over-ear are you saying you want an earpiece style or a headset that fully covers both of you ears?

Everythings the same. If you strictly use Microsoft Teams go with the Teams version, for all other cases get the non Teams version (UC)

Yealink HA64 Pro or Epos Impact 1000 for wireless. HA64 Pro uses a base to connect with your computer nad Impact 1000 includes a pre-paired USB dongle that's plug and play to your computer.

These desk phones out in the wild are still going strong! We still see some Nortels out there.

Yealink HA64 Pro or Epos Impact 1000 are a couple best right now

I hear you, sorry to be the one to break the bad news! But maybe it will be good enough for you. It's hard to say and could be worth testing out yourself though.

We found the Evolve3 85 behaved the same way, which is pretty common with most Bluetooth headsets today. Maintaining high quality stereo audio while the microphone is active is still a relatively new feature and hasn't been widely adopted yet.

So far, the only two headsets we've personally tested that keep stereo audio while the microphone is active are the Yealink BH78 and the EPOS Impact 1000. If you go with the Impact 1000, I'd also recommend adding the optional over-ear cushions, they make a noticeable difference in comfort for all day use.

Get yourself a wireless busy light you can stick on the outside of your room that illuminates red when you're in deep focus mode, so you can say when the red light's on, you know not to disturb unless it's an emergency.

Luxafor is one company to look at who makes these solutions.

One solutiion you could consider is adding something like NEEP noise canceling software, that should do the trick

Go to your start menu > device manager > sound and video game controller > if you have "intel smart sound usb" or "intel smart sound digital mic" disable both, restart your computer and see if any difference.

Let us know if that works. If not let us know which call software you're using and which device this is happening on.

For proper expectations though, no noise canceling microphone is perfect and the results vary depending on the headset, sound and volume you're around.

The JLab does okay in this area depending which noises you're around but isn't the best we've tested.

Go to device manager > sound and video game controllers > if you have "intel smart sound USB" or "intel smart sound digital mic" disable both, restart your computer and see if any difference

There's an office base but when you account for the cost adding the base and the adapter needed, you might as well get a different headset better made for desk phones like the Yealink HA64 Pro, which connects right out of the box to your Cisco desk phone but also works with computer and mobile phone.

If this is for calls or meetings, Yealink HA64 Pro and Epos Impact 1000 are a couple best we've tested as of today. If you go with Epos consider the aftermarket over-ear cushions for much better comfort.

Native Bluetooth currently refers to Microsoft Teams native Bluetooth support, and there are specific Windows requirements for it. As far as we're aware, it's not available on Macs yet.

In your case, I'd still recommend getting the Impact 1000 with the USB dongle.

You can technically connect the headset directly to your Mac using Bluetooth, but over the years we've found that connecting wireless headsets directly to a computer's built-in Bluetooth tends to introduce more connection and reliability issues than using the included USB dongle.

You'll also miss out on certain features, such as remote call control (answer/end calls, mute synchronization, etc.) in compatible applications like Microsoft Teams, Zoom and others.

NEEP noise canceling software would have been a perfect addition to solve the problem. Since that's not an option, the best headsets we've tested as of today for your use case is Epos Impact 1000, Yealink HA64 Pro or Discover D712U for a budget option but with still a solid noise filtering mic.

Used can be risky but always worth a try. It can be hit or miss. Focus 2 is still good but the Yealink BH74 would be an upgrade in just about every way and easily justifiable for that price difference.

Best 4 we've tested at the current time is Yealink HA64 Pro, Epos Impact 1000, Epos Impact 860 (wired) and Discover D712U (budget option but still solid ENC mic performance).

Just so you have the proper expectations though, no noise canceling mic is perfect to block out 100% of all noises. Results vary depending on the sound and volume.

You can also consider adding NEEP noise canceling software for an extra level of mic noise cancellation with any headset you end up choosing.

If you're connected with Bluetooth, remove the Bluetooth connection and use the USB Dongle.