There was a time when rocket fuel propelled Plantronics headsets into orbit, but these days a growing demand for UC and quality end points provides maximum thrust.

Plantronics was set up in 1961 by two airline pilots, Courtney Graham and Keith Larkin. At the time, airline headsets were large and cumbersome and pilots preferred to use their handheld radios. In response to this need for smaller, lightweight headsets they founded Pacific Plantronics, the company known today as Plantronics. After a year of developing the design they introduced the first lightweight communications headset, the MS-50 in 1962.

Since then Plantronics has gone from strength to strength and is recognised today as a leading designer, manufacturer and marketer of headsets. "Our products are widely used by many Fortune 500 companies and it was a Plantronics headset that famously communicated Neil Armstrong's historic words, ‘One small step for man, one giant leap for mankind', when he landed on the moon in 1969," noted Paul Clark, Plantronics Director for the UK and Ireland.

Plantronics now employs over 3,000 people worldwide with offices in 19 countries, including major facilities in Mexico, Tennessee, England, and The Netherlands. In 2009 the company reported $765 million in worldwide revenues, and given the increased levels of collaboration in business as a result of Unified Communications (UC) Clark expects revenues to increase in 2010.

He commented: "Our headsets were originally designed to cater for the airline industry, however over time we realised headsets could add value to other industries too. As a result we began providing headsets to contact centres, as well as to mission critical sectors, such as air traffic control and the emergency services, that often need hands-free capabilities when dealing with calls."

Over the last decade Plantronics' headset proposition has continued to evolve in line with wide-scale headset adoption across increasingly dispersed business sectors. In response to this, the Plantronics proposition has grown to cater for people working in a wide variety of environments, both in and out of the office, including the development of enhanced noise cancelling products and stylish new ergonomic designs that are easy to put on, take off and store.

"Market trends, such as increased adoption of dispersed working patterns and UC technology have meant that our target markets have also evolved," observed Clark. "Historically, our core market was the contact centre industry and this is still important to us. However, as businesses have evolved more and more communication is conducted over the phone, or increasingly the laptop, and so we find enormous opportunities from SME to enterprise level companies across a wide variety of sectors."

Increased levels of business collaboration, driven by UC, is one of the main trends Clark is seeing at the moment. "More and more people are conducting business while on the move or in noisy environments, and as such, protecting the integrity of the communication chain has become paramount," he said. "Resellers and vendors have already come to appreciate that the communications interchange is only as good as the weakest link in the chain. This in turn has driven demand for high quality audio end points, as ultimately the levels of noise will be determined by the lowest quality audio end point involved in the call."

Over the last 12 months UC vendors have come to recognise this, observes Clark, as working with end-users they have seen how important high-quality audio end points are to ensure integrity throughout the communications chain. "Another trend we have seen concerns the role laptops play in UC," he added. "Laptops are renowned for their poor quality audio connections and headsets have become essential for people communicating through them. As a result we have noticed a sharp increase in USB headsets sales, designed specifically for this application."

End user customers are increasingly looking to their resellers for advice on headsets, Clark noted, highlighting that the most successful channel partners are those able to provide coaching and counsel on appropriate solutions for the applications. "To illustrate this, in any organisation a variety of different work styles will exist, and it is recommended to match each work style to the appropriate headset," Clark commented. "Because users are still learning as they go along they are looking to resellers for guidance as to which headset solution would best suit their work style needs."

Plantronics is working with its reseller network to ensure they are prepared to assist customers. This is significant because by helping the resellers engage with their customers the sale can be transformed from a transactional one into a relationship-based sale, increasing the opportunity to generate revenue beyond just that of the initial headset sale.

Another big opportunity for resellers is the chance to re-approach existing customers and discuss the updated product portfolio, as well as explain how the additional services on offer will ensure they get the best out of them. "This gives resellers the chance to engage customers in ongoing discussion. These relationship sales are more valuable to resellers by far, as they create scope to discuss additional revenue generating opportunities through up-and-cross-selling of additional products and services even beyond headsets," commented Clark.

Plantronics invests significantly in R&D and boasts a large sales and marketing team in the UK, along with an end user sales team dedicated to supporting UK customers and working 100 per cent through the reseller community. "We have made some key hires including Carly Reed, an experienced marketer from the IT industry focused on IT distribution and reseller support. Carly joined us from Computer 2000," commented Clark. "And Rob Thain, who was previously at Vodafone and has eight years of corporate sales experience in fixed mobile convergence. They strengthen Plantronics' appreciation of the needs of the evolving reseller community, and ensure that our partners get the support they need to grow their businesses."