Plantronics

Lore & Background

In the early 1960s, airline headsets were large and cumbersome, leading many pilots to revert to handheld microphones. United Airlines solicited new designs, and pilot Courtney Graham collaborated with friend Keith Larkin to create a small, functional headset using hearing aid-style transducers attached to a headband. Their design was approved by United Airlines, leading them to incorporate as Pacific Plantronics on May 18, 1961, and introduce the MS-50 headset in 1962. The Federal Aviation Agency later selected Plantronics as the sole supplier of headsets for air traffic controllers, and the company supplied headsets to Bell System operators.

In 1961, NASA astronaut Wally Schirra contacted Graham to create a lightweight headset for the Mercury spacecraft. Plantronics' SPENCOMM division worked with NASA to produce a working microphone design in 11 days, used first on the Mercury-Atlas 8 mission. These headsets featured significant redundancy, with two transducers per microphone circuit and five per receiver, and were used in pairs. The words spoken by Neil Armstrong on the Moon were transmitted through a Plantronics headset. The MS-50 gained further recognition after the NASA partnership, adopted by the FAA, Western Electric, and telephone call centers.

In 1970, engineer Ken Hutchings patented the StarSet. In the 1980s, Plantronics created cordless products using infrared technology, including the first echo-free speakerphone for conference rooms. The company later produced wireless office headsets (CS50 in 2003), Bluetooth mobile headsets, and gaming headsets via its GameCom, .Audio, and RIG Gaming labels. It entered the multimedia headset market in 1999 and created the Xbox Communicator headset with Microsoft in 2002. Plantronics exited gaming and consumer markets in 2019 to focus on enterprise collaboration under the Poly brand.

Reader's Guide

Plantronics' significance lies in its foundational role in modern audio communications, from aviation to space exploration. The company's early collaboration with United Airlines and NASA established lightweight, reliable headset designs that became industry standards. Its headsets were used by air traffic controllers, Bell System operators, and astronauts, including during the Apollo Moon landing. The company's innovations extended to infrared wireless technology, Bluetooth mobile headsets, and unified communications equipment. Through acquisitions, Plantronics expanded into amplified telephones for the hearing impaired (Clarity), computer speakers (Altec Lansing), and video conferencing (Polycom). The 2019 rebranding to Poly reflected its focus on enterprise collaboration, and the 2022 acquisition by HP Inc. for $1.7 billion underscored the value of its hybrid work offerings. Plantronics' legacy includes the MS-50, the StarSet, and the headsets that carried the first words from the Moon.

Did You Know?

• Plantronics was founded by a United Airlines pilot and his friend after the airline solicited new headset designs in 1961.
• NASA astronaut Wally Schirra personally contacted Plantronics co-founder Courtney Graham to request a lightweight headset for the Mercury spacecraft.
• The words spoken by Neil Armstrong as he stepped on the Moon were transmitted through a Plantronics headset.
• Plantronics changed its name to Poly in 2019 after acquiring Polycom, and was itself acquired by HP Inc. in 2022 for $1.7 billion.