[RChadwick]

I finally got my A900 the other day, and otherwise love it (Except for a few quirks.. No Speakerphone button? ***?)

Anyway, I've paired it with my two Bluetooth headsets, and both work fine. However, once the headset is connected, I can't talk without the BT Headset! At first I thought it was some weird bug, but I finally figuured it out. When it's connected to the headset, ALL audio is routed to it. It's becoming a very common event where I'm on one floor with the A900, and the headset is on another floor. Common sense would dictate that when I hit the local button to answer the phone, it would route audio to the handset. Is this just another annoying quirk, or is there a way around this?

[r0fl]

go to options during a call and reroute it to the handset

[Bront]

Turn off your BT headset when you aren't using it. Saves battery, and prevents the issue.

[Rinnegato]

Originally Posted by Bront

Turn off your BT headset when you aren't using it. Saves battery, and prevents the issue.

That's a good idea, A900 eats batteries so fast... But if you really need to have BT on, just reroute it in options

[RChadwick]

Problem is, that's a real pain. When I answer the phone, and say 'Hello?', it takes a second or two for it to register I don't hear anything. Then, I have to rush through a menu to find where to disconnect the headset, and have to figure out which one is actually connected so I can disconnect it. By the time all this is done, the caller has hung up. I like this phone, but I don't let that like blind me to the fact that this is incredibly stupid.

As for turning the headsets off and on, that's time consuming itself. for the Plantronics, the button is hard to push, and it's uncomfortable (a thin, raised, 'blade' in the middle of the button), and has to be put on, and then pushed until I hear the tone, and then take it off. If I try and turn it on so I can answer a ringing call, again by the time I get to it and turn it on, the caller has probably hung up, or VM has picked up. Battery life on both Bluetooth headsets I have are actually very impressive, at least they were with the Jabra bluetooth adapter I used to have dangling from my Sanyo 8200. That would automatically disconnect, and reconnect when needed.

Do all bluetooth phones do this? Or just the A900?

[r0fl]

yes all bluetooth phones do that a dongle works differently

[RChadwick]

You mean, with all phones, it's difficult to disconnect the headset when a call comes in? If there's a phone that does it with, say a single touch of the talk button (IMO, the normal, intuitive, non-Samsung way to do things), I think I'll switch. It seems a shame Samsung ruined an otherwise-wonderful phone with a few small issues that were poorly thought out.

[FloorMatt]

Well, this is just my thoughts on it, but...

Why is the headset connected.....if you're not wanting to use it at that time? I'm not saying it's a silly thing or anything....I'm just wondering.

If you had the corded headset plugged in, the phone only routes to it......so there's not much difference.

Now, if I had the headset connected.....and I'm in a call, but want to use the phone instead (maybe I'm getting out of the car), I can press and hold the headset's button (Plantronics Discovery 640) until I hear the "long tone"......and it will route to the phone. (and the headset will stay connected) It can also go the other way.

Or say I have the headset off and not connected.....a call comes through, I talk on the handset.....BUT THEN, I want to switch to headset; turn the headset on, then do the same method I used to switch between phone and headset.

These are just some of my practices.

[RChadwick]

The handset is connected because I previously used it, and it didn't disconnect. Ideally, the phone should handle this without having to navigate through a maze. Would you buy a computer keyboard that had the 'Feature' of not having any vowels? No problem, there's a vowel menu somewhere...

The difference between a corded and bluetooth headset is that the corded one is guaranteed to be within the length of the cord away. With the Bluetooth headset, it can (And in my case, ususally is) in another room, or another floor.

Routing the call to the handset is good, but think about this... If you want to route a call TO the phone, you obviously have posession of the phone, but maybe not posession of the Bluetooth headset (Imagine you just dropped the BT headset during an important call). It would make logical, perfect sense to put the transfer functionality on the phone instead of the headset. Or both. Having it only on the headset is like keeping your spare key in your locked apartment. Not terribly helpful at times..

[r0fl]

Originally Posted by RChadwick

Routing the call to the handset is good, but think about this... If you want to route a call TO the phone, you obviously have posession of the phone, but maybe not posession of the Bluetooth headset (Imagine you just dropped the BT headset during an important call). It would make logical, perfect sense to put the transfer functionality on the phone instead of the headset. Or both. Having it only on the headset is like keeping your spare key in your locked apartment. Not terribly helpful at times..

The phone has the transfer functionality it's 2 steps not a maze. option-> transfer audio>

be careful dont get lost

[OziD]

Originally Posted by RChadwick

The handset is connected because I previously used it, and it didn't disconnect. Ideally, the phone should handle this without having to navigate through a maze. Would you buy a computer keyboard that had the 'Feature' of not having any vowels? No problem, there's a vowel menu somewhere...

The difference between a corded and bluetooth headset is that the corded one is guaranteed to be within the length of the cord away. With the Bluetooth headset, it can (And in my case, ususally is) in another room, or another floor.

Routing the call to the handset is good, but think about this... If you want to route a call TO the phone, you obviously have posession of the phone, but maybe not posession of the Bluetooth headset (Imagine you just dropped the BT headset during an important call). It would make logical, perfect sense to put the transfer functionality on the phone instead of the headset. Or both. Having it only on the headset is like keeping your spare key in your locked apartment. Not terribly helpful at times..

flawed logic. I can do it from both my headset and my handset in a second or less. at most i have to ask whomever i am talking to to repeat what they had said.

If your headset isn't near you, hit menu, 9, 0, 1, down, menu.

takes 3 seconds on your way dowstairs i do it, and when I wasn't used to having my BT with me, and I would forget it, I learned to do that and nobody would catch it if they weren't paying attention.

Open up your mind, man. These people are giving you solutions to any problem you have and each takes seconds, and you shutting them out because it isn't a one button solution. it's a two button.

[RChadwick]

Yes, Option-> Transfer Audio is a bit quicker. Actually, I just tried it on an incoming call. I wound up missing it, as they hung up before I did the switchover.

[RChadwick]

Flawed logic? I use my phone differently from you. That's not flawed. Flawed is designing a phone where the best way not to use the BT Headset is by using the BT Headset. THAT'S flawed. Perhaps you have callers that understand they have to wait for you to answer, but most people not in-the-know hang up when they call someone, and the phone picks up, but nobody is there. Also, for those of us in business, it makes us look unprofessional, and we risk losing business. I'm glad you can switch over in under a second, but it usually takes me ~ 5 seconds before I realize nobody's answering my Hello....

I'm an Engineer, and I recognize a bad design choice when I see one. Perhaps that's why they bother me so. Hitting the Talk button should automatically switch audio to the phone. Same way there should be a way to switch to speakerphone before making a call, the way I did on my Sanyo 8200.

[sprintboy26]

It doesn't transfer ALL AUDIO to the bt headset, only the voice conversation audio. The phone doesn't have the bt profile for other audio such as the mp3 player or the media player. Also, simply having bt enabled on your phone doesn't use any extra battery. It only uses energy if it's in use. Enabling just makes it available.
Lastly, the a900 does not use battery any faster than any other mmphone from any company. They all have 3-3.5 hours of talk time. So for everybody to keep griping about the 900's battery life is rediculous, because it's no different than 98% of all other phones.

[OziD]

Originally Posted by RChadwick

Flawed logic? I use my phone differently from you. That's not flawed. Flawed is designing a phone where the best way not to use the BT Headset is by using the BT Headset. THAT'S flawed.

That isn't the phone maker's fault. They don't usually make BT headsets. Point is, if you knew how to do it without looking at the phone, it would be faster.

Perhaps you have callers that understand they have to wait for you to answer, but most people not in-the-know hang up when they call someone, and the phone picks up, but nobody is there.

Then why is your phone in bluetooth mode to begin with. its like 5 buttons you have to hit to get the a900 out of it, so if your expecting a call without your headset, just change it.

Also, for those of us in business, it makes us look unprofessional, and we risk losing business. I'm glad you can switch over in under a second, but it usually takes me ~ 5 seconds before I realize nobody's answering my Hello....

Again, if you don't have your headset with you, and your expecting calls, why do you have it enabled?

I'm an Engineer, and I recognize a bad design choice when I see one. Perhaps that's why they bother me so. Hitting the Talk button should automatically switch audio to the phone. Same way there should be a way to switch to speakerphone before making a call, the way I did on my Sanyo 8200.

I agree with the speakerphone part. But maybe you aren't ready to use the phone's bluetooth? You're having the same type of problems that my 16 year old cousin is having.