Steven Schmidt, VP, Global Commercial Innovation & Marketing
The return to the office: Why quality equipment matters more than ever
As the rhythm of working life continues to change, where a return to the office is becoming widespread, high quality equipment matters more than ever.
As a global headset manufacturer with a 115-year audio pedigree, EPOS is well placed to assess the many factors needed to create an exceptional user experience. What matters most is effective communication and being heard crisply and clearly with minimum effort. How important is your message? Users need to hear and respond in a natural way through high quality microphones and speakers. Equally important is comfort so users can wear devices, even all day, if necessary without even realising. Often headsets are used on video calls with a camera, so they need to be discreet, seamless and fashionable in design.
From industry-wide conversations with distributors, resellers and their end users, we’ve identified how disruption and distraction is now the number one problem. These concerns have been endorsed by a recent exclusive EPOS online customer survey, which revealed what matters most.
What matters the most in a headset:
34%
31%
21%
It’s a New Year but the same old problems remain and for many organizations they are getting worse. As more teams return to shared spaces, working culture continues to evolve. Conversations are closer and background noise and general random distractions inevitably fluctuate. In our exclusive poll, minimizing these distractions matters most.
Office Athletes
These findings point to a simple truth. In open offices, focus is fragile and being heard matters more than ever. Clarity and concentration have become daily problems, not occasional annoyances. Companies need to prioritize a great audio experience to make workers more productive and engaged.
For modern office workers, clear audio and equipment that delivers heightened performance will be essential throughout 2026 and beyond.
Like many EPOS headsets our latest model, the IMPACT 500, is specifically designed to protect from listening fatigue. Most people in open office spaces experience noise which can break concentration. This means workers are using additional brain power to stay tuned in. EPOS BrainAdapt technology is inspired by world leading research and proven to help protect from listening fatigue. It’s part of our ‘Power of Audio’ ethos.
With the return back to the office now much more common, the lines between home, work and leisure headset use continue to blur - inspired by the latest technology trends.
Exceptional audio quality, all-day comfort and convenience are some of the driving forces behind increasingly demanding customer expectations, including BYOD, (Bring Your Own Device) for hybrid work, where one headset is equally suited to a multitude of environments and tasks.
Leisure use is becoming more popular too for music as well as traditional calls. One audio device that ticks all boxes, is changing the game, with EPOS continuing to lead the field.
Steven Schmidt, VP, Global Commercial Innovation & Marketing