Can a S$300 Headset Save Your Company Thousands in Lost Productivity?

A S$300 headset can pay for itself within months if poor call audio costs each person even a few minutes a day, but the saving depends on assumptions you should check against your own office. The maths is simple: estimate minutes lost per person per day, multiply by an hourly cost, and compare the result with the headset price.

This post works through that business case with clearly labelled assumptions, explains what a good business headset actually fixes, and lists real headsets around S$300 from the store: the Jabra Evolve2 65 MS, Jabra Evolve2 65 Flex MS, HP Poly Voyager Focus 2 Microsoft Teams and Logitech Zone Wireless 2 MS, plus a wired option for seats that do not need one.

Worked example: when does a S$330 headset pay for itself?

This is a worked example, not a measurement. Every input is a labelled assumption you can replace.

• Assumption 1 (salary): S$5,775 a month, the Ministry of Manpower's median gross monthly income from employment for full-time employed residents in June 2025, including employer CPF.
• Assumption 2 (hours): 22 working days of 8 hours, or 176 hours a month, giving about S$32.81 an hour.
• Assumption 3 (days): 264 working days a year (22 x 12).
• Assumption 4 (minutes lost): time spent repeating yourself, asking others to repeat, fixing the wrong audio device or re-joining a call. We show three levels because no single figure fits every office.
• Assumption 5 (price): S$330.00, the Jabra Evolve2 65 MS as listed on 24 Oct 2026.

At the middle assumption, a 20-person team loses time worth about S$14,400 a year, against S$6,600 for twenty S$330 headsets. At two minutes a day, the headset takes more than a year to recover its cost. The question that decides the case is not the headset price; it is how many minutes your people really lose, which you can estimate by asking them and by looking at how often audio problems reach your helpdesk.

Two cautions keep the maths fair. First, recovered minutes are capacity, not cash in the bank; they matter when staff are busy and the time goes back into work. Second, the cost of a bad call is not only the caller's time. Everyone else on the call waits too, and a customer who cannot hear your sales team clearly may not call back. Neither is in the table.

What does a S$300 business headset fix that earbuds don't?

Most of the value is in the microphone, not the speakers. You hear your own audio; everyone else hears your microphone. Microsoft's Teams device certification is a useful yardstick because it states what certified headsets are tested for:

• Clear voice in noisy rooms. Microsoft says headsets with its "Premium Microphone for Open Office" designation "pick up the voice of the headset user but don't transmit the sound of their neighbors". In an open-plan office this is the feature that most affects the people you are talking to.
• Consistent audio quality. Certification covers "wide-band audio with no echo, distortion, or excessive glitches", with echo cancellation supported.
• Plug and play with call control. Certified devices work "with no extra configuration required", with answer and hang-up, mute and volume controls, and automatic selection of the default audio device.
• A dongle that sidesteps PC Bluetooth. Microsoft notes that native Bluetooth performance "is impacted by the Bluetooth radio on the host PC" and that some users may need to keep using the USB dongle. The adapters in the box with these headsets exist for that reason; our post Why Your Expensive Bluetooth Headset Sounds Terrible on Teams explains the hands-free profile problem in detail.

Active noise cancellation (ANC) helps the wearer concentrate, but it is a separate feature from a noise-rejecting microphone. Some good office headsets have one without the other, so check both on the spec sheet.

Which headsets around S$300 are worth shortlisting?

All four below are wireless, come with a USB adapter, and are listed in Microsoft Teams versions. Prices are as listed on 24 Oct 2026, and each was in stock at the time of writing.

Jabra Evolve2 65 MS Stereo Wireless BT Headset USB-A (S$330.00). Jabra lists three digital MEMS microphones, a busylight, up to 35 hours of talk time with the busylight off and up to 30 m of wireless range, with the Jabra Link 380 adapter in the box. Jabra's spec sheet says the Teams variant "meets Microsoft Teams Open Office requirements". It has no ANC; isolation comes from the on-ear cushions.

Jabra Evolve2 65 Flex MS Stereo ANC Wireless BT Headset USB-A (S$295.00). Six microphones (two analog and four digital MEMS), hybrid ANC and a hinged headband that folds flat, at 136 g for the stereo version. Jabra quotes up to 20 hours of talk time with ANC and busylight off.

HP Poly Voyager Focus 2 Microsoft Teams Headset + USB-C/A (S$314.05). HP lists three ANC settings (high, low and off), four microphones with Acoustic Fence technology that "meets Microsoft Open Office Premium microphone specification", up to 25 hours of talk time with ANC off and up to 50 m of range. It ships with a BT700 adapter.

Logitech Zone Wireless 2 MS Stereo ANC Bluetooth Headset (S$284.00). Logitech's datasheet says it is "Certified for Microsoft Teams as a Premium Microphone for Open Office", with four ANC and transparency modes and up to 18 hours of talk time with ANC off (15 hours with ANC on). A USB-C receiver and USB-C to A adapter are included.

The headset you buy is really for the people on the other end of the call. Spend on the microphone first.

Does every employee need a S$300 headset?

No. The business case is strongest for people who spend hours a day on calls in noisy spaces: sales, customer support, account managers and anyone who hot-desks in an open office. For staff who join one or two meetings a day from a quiet room, a wired Teams headset is often enough. The Yealink UH34 Dual MS Teams Wired USB Headset USB-A is listed at S$75.00 and in stock, and needs no charging or pairing.

A sensible approach is tiered: premium wireless headsets for heavy callers, wired headsets for light users, and a speakerphone or video bar for shared rooms. Our roundup of the best office headsets for business in Singapore and the DECT vs Bluetooth guide cover the wider range. For rooms rather than desks, see Why Pay for a Huge Boardroom When Half Your Meetings Are Online?

How do you make the headset budget stick?

• Standardise on one or two models. Fewer models means simpler support, spare adapters that fit, and one set of instructions.
• Match the platform version. Buy the Microsoft Teams (MS) version if you run Teams, and the UC version for other platforms.
• Plan for the desk. Hot-desking staff need a headset they carry, plus a desk that connects their laptop without fuss; see Hot Desking Sounds Great Until Nobody Can Connect Their Laptop and One Desk, Three Devices, Too Many Cables. There's a Better Way.
• Review after three months. Ask users whether call problems dropped. That is your real figure for assumption 4.

Buying business headsets in Singapore

SourceIT supplies Jabra, HP Poly, Logitech and Yealink with local warranty. The Jabra, Logitech and Yealink listings above state 2 years of local warranty; for the Poly headset, confirm the term for your SKU when requesting a quote. Browse the Teams certified headsets collection, and for team roll-outs see volume discounts and special pricing. Use Request for Quotation on the product page, call (65) 6978 3502 or email Sales@sourceit.com.sg. Government buyers can reach us through GeBIZ and Vendors@Gov.

Frequently asked questions

Is a S$300 headset worth it for office work? For heavy callers in noisy spaces, often yes. In our worked example, at an assumed five minutes lost per day and an hourly cost of about S$32.81, a S$330 headset pays back in about five and a half months. At two minutes a day it takes over a year.

What does Microsoft Teams certification mean for a headset? Microsoft says certified peripherals work plug and play, offer call control such as answer, hang-up, mute and volume, and are tested for wide-band audio with no echo, distortion or excessive glitches.

What is a Premium Microphone for Open Office? It is a Microsoft designation for headsets that pick up the wearer's voice but do not transmit the sound of neighbours. The Logitech Zone Wireless 2 MS and Poly Voyager Focus 2 list it.

Is ANC the same as a noise-cancelling microphone? No. ANC reduces noise for the wearer. The microphone design decides how much background noise the other callers hear. The Jabra Evolve2 65 has no ANC but its Teams variant meets Teams Open Office requirements, per Jabra.

Why use the USB dongle instead of the laptop's Bluetooth? Microsoft notes that native Bluetooth performance depends on the host PC's Bluetooth radio and that some users may need to keep using the USB dongle. The adapter gives more consistent call audio.

Do light users need a premium wireless headset? Usually not. A wired Teams headset such as the Yealink UH34 Dual MS, listed at S$75.00, covers occasional meetings from a quiet desk.