Plantronics (number 43), a telephone headset maker, had its eye on Clearvox, which produces cellular headsets.

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The device looks a bit like a massively overgrown telephone headset, with overtones of a cycle helmet and maybe a gas mask thrown in.

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Plantronics, in Santa Cruz, California (No. 43), a telephone headset maker, had its eye on Clearvox, which produces cellular headsets, but it wanted to make sure that its target shared its obsession with customer service.

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Users download the free application off the Web, but instead of typing a text message, they use a headset, telephone or microphone and speakers to make a high-quality, two-way voice call to anyone else running the application.

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All these campaigns relied heavily on local workers, whether it was the headset-wearing telephone volunteer of 2004, the billboard poster of 1896 or the tavern debater of 1800.

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Ostergaard demonstrated how a user can dial a telephone number from the keypad of a Palm and connect a cordless headset to a regular fixed-line desk phone.

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