"If you are using a headset to do voice chat, voice over, Internet phone calls or voice dictation software, you're able to use the same headset to do both that and answer the telephone. And the nice thing is that it switches back and forth automatically."
If the phone rings... you lift up the handset and set it on a cradle that switches the headset to the telephone mode. Hang up... and it switches back to the PC. The price for the wired version is a reasonable fifty dollars... .
"We have another version that is very similar to this for both the telephone and PC that is also cordless."
The wireless version sells for about eighty dollars. The speech recognition, chat and control applications in Windows XP and Office XP should increase demand for computer headsets...
"The voice chat that's built into XP, that's integral into the operating system, we think is going to drive a lot of people into trying out voice activation or voice conversations over the Internet."
Until now, at least, speech applications have not been widely used. Whether XP changes that, remains to be seen. Bloomberg Boot Camp, I'm Fred Fishkin.