The Voyager Focus UC is a comfortable, versatile Bluetooth headset from Poly (formerly Plantronics). The built-in sensor presence pauses streaming media when you remove the headset, making sure you don’t miss any content. These same sensors auto-mute the microphone when you take the headset off, as well as when the microphone boom is placed in the upward position. These features can be a great help, and also a huge headache if the wearing sensors aren’t functioning properly.
Let’s talk about what you can do in the event that your auto-mute goes rogue!
Why does this happen?
Wearing sensors in the headset are triggered by pressure to the ear cups, and proximity to the microphones in the boom. When pressure is applied, the headset senses it, and either mutes or pauses streaming audio from the PC, phone, or mobile device. If you take off the headset, or move the microphone boom into the up position, those sensors are how the headset knows to mute the audio channel. This can be a useful feature if you’re in a busy environment, and need the ability to switch between on-ear and off-ear communication.
How does this become a problem?
Because these sensors work by pressure, if the headset isn’t worn in just the right way, it can result in contact issues. The auto-mute could toggle on and off, often without user interference. The same applies to the microphone boom not being at the correct position, or not sensing where it’s positioned. As with any sensors, they need occasional calibration for optimal use.
Here are a few options that can change your muting game
How to reset the sensors:
• With your headset powered on, charge your headset on the charge stand for 10 seconds.
OR
• Press and hold both the Mute and Play/pause buttons for more than 4 seconds until the LEDs flash purple twice, being careful to not touch the earcup padding or allow it to come in contact with surfaces.
How to disable the sensors:
• Hold both the Mute and Call Answer buttons for more than 4 seconds until the LED flashes purple, then red. Repeat to reactivate; the LED flashes purple then blue. NOTE: Sensors cannot be disabled while streaming audio.
OR
• Download Plantronics Hub from Downloads & Apps | Poly
• In the Settings tab of Plantronics Hub, go to Sensors and Presence. Within this menu, you can change any wearing sensor settings, including turning the Wearing Sensor (Master) to OFF. This will disable all wearing sensors. Don’t forget to click APPLY to keep that setting.
A final note:
Sometimes there are PC settings that keep your microphone muted without input from the headset itself.
After large Windows updates, there are often issues with the microphone in Poly headsets not being recognized by the Windows system. This can be verified by going to Control Panel > Hardware and Sound > Sound > the Recording tab > right click on the device and select Properties > under the Levels tab, you’re checking to make sure that the speaker icon doesn’t have a red “X” through it. If it does, click on the red “X” to enable the microphone input, and then click OK. This should resolve the sync issue with the microphone.
As someone ready to give up in frustration at fixing the issue, I appreciate the last paragraph in this article immensely. My mute function is now fixed after doing the steps! ^.=.^