Loans.co.uk, the UK's leading credit broker, have chosen the Sennheiser Communications SH 230 headset for their call centre in Preston and for use by staff at their Watford head office. With 100 operators in Preston, Matt Tristram, Third Party Manager, for Loans.co.uk was looking for headsets that offered the best combination of safety, comfort, audio quality and value.

Matt explained their choice, "We researched the products available thoroughly and narrowed this down to a chosen few for test. The first appeal of the Sennheiser was the superior protection system, which is built into the headset. This not only avoided the need for add-on boxes but also ensured every headset user was protected. Secondly came audio quality and here the Sennheiser was clearly the winner for both talking and listening. This is important in minimising errors and the fatigue that can occur when you have to strain to hear what is being said or have to continuously repeat yourself. The SH 230 was also judged the most robust and comfortable". He concludes, "The only surprise with the Sennheiser is that, although it came out as the best product in every respect, the price was a straight match for the others tested".

The SH 230 headset was launched in 2004 for general call centre applications. Priced directly against the leading models from Sennheiser's two main competitors this single-ear model can be used left or right-handed. It features a ball-mounted speaker capsule for extra comfort and a flexible boom with omni-directional microphone. The headband allows double-sided adjustment and is detachable for easy upgrade to two-in-one wearing styles, with the optional ear clip accessory.

A key feature of the SH 230 is Sennheiser Communications ActiveGard, the first electronic acoustic shock protection commercially built into a headset and a major step forward in providing better protection to hearing for headset wearers. The ActiveGard system electronically limits sound pressure levels at 104dB without distortion, compared with the industry standard of 118dB.