I’ve tried everything but this community - my last hope.
So, the parining process of this new headset w/ my Dell laptop was so easy. It’s been a wonderful expereince until I found this problem.
Whenever I use this headset for VoIP calls (Skype, Skype for Business, Cisco WebEx using computer audio, etc.), the headset turns its power off exactly every 15 mins. Funny thing is that the bluetooth is still paried between the headset and the laptop and the VoIP call is still on. The headset power all of sudden goes away. I used every web solution I found including this one - Bluetooth Mouse Losing Connection No More! | Sheryl's Blog
This community is really my last hope - please help!
Thanks,
Thank you for the update! We're glad to hear that you are making progress on this and that your Bose product is not at fault in this case. Best of luck in resolving the remainder of this trouble!
Hi all.
We wanted everyone to know that we have a new application available currently in the Apple app store that will be helpful for you. It will also available in the Google Play store within the next few days.
The application is called BoseConnect and is specifically designed for owners of the SoundLink Around Ear II headphones.
One of the app’s features is to disable the timeout function of the headset to alleviate this issue. Note that this could impact the battery life of the headset but it’s there for customers who choose to use it.
Thanks for the great feedback around this issue. Please let us know if you have any additional questions.
I truly appreciate your answer, George.
Unfortunately, I tried all this. It powers off even while I am talking. Re: the auto shut-off feature of the headset, is there any way to change? I think I did everything from the PC side, which leaves me the question of whether Bose PC driver SW is buggy, as you can see from the comments string of the above link (Sheryl’s blog).
Hi mktguru,
There are no adjustments to be made to the auto-shutoff feature, but from your description this is definitely not related to our problem.
Regarding drivers: There actually are no Bose drivers involved in the operation of these headphones. They connect and use the available Bluetooth drivers on the network card for your computer. Their interface is done entirely by standard bluetooth services:
- A2DP (for high quality music playback)
- AVRCP (for adjusting volume and pausing music)
- HFP (for sending and receiving realtime audio during calls)
It is a good idea to visit the manufacturer’s website to look for any updates to the default wirless/bluetooth drivers. Sometimes these take the form of general drivers for your network card in the case of a laptop.
Have you tested the headset with VoIP on a different computer or mobile device to see if the same issue happens? If not, we would recommend this as it could help us isolate the issue to either the computer or the headset.
Thank you.
I know it’s been a while, but I have good and bad news. The good news is that I don’t think the problem is in the headset. I just got off a 45 minute GoToMeeting call using my headset connected to my Samsung Galaxy Note 4 and it worked flawlessly. The bad news, then, would be that it’s probably the laptop. Now I just have to figure out whether it’s Dell or Microsoft. I’m guessing the later. 
If I use the external Bluetooth dongle (as you suggested, Thomas) that would probably go a ways towards answering that question.
jim.strawn, mktguru
Sorry to hear that the issue persists. We have not received widespread reports of this kind of behavior from other customers, and it may be specific to each of your headsets – i.e. a hardware problem. The fact that they occur specifically on Dell Latitude laptops may be significant, and potentially related to the Bluetooth chip used in these systems.
One potential resolution may be to try using USB Bluetooth dongle instead of the laptop’s internal Bluetooth chip. These are small and fairly inexpensive, and would bypass any potential hardware incompatibilities between the Soundlink headset and the laptops.
I apologize we don’t have a more complete solution for you with this issue. For further troubleshooting, it may be best to contact your local service center using the information here (US) or here (International).
Thanks,
Latest development: I just finished a converence call over VOIP (GoToMeeting, in this case) with Pandora streaming quietly at the same time. At the 15 minute mark it disconnected. This means the presence of A2DP traffic does not keep the connection from timing out. Frustrating.
I’ll take my next call using my phone or tablet and see if I experience the same behavior.
(And, like yourself, I LOVE my headset! …except for this issue… 
)
Hey Mktguru (et al),
I’m having an identical issue, and I’m glad I found this thread! I have the SoundLink II connected to a Dell Latitude E5430 running Windows 7 Pro. (My initial pairing experience was not as happy as yours - lots of driver updates first…)
I have experienced this 15 minute timeout issue using Skype for Business as well as GoToMeeting VOIP calls. In fact, just a few minutes ago I had the headset on without running any sound over it (just hadn’t gotten to turning on Pandora yet) and it disconnected like it does during VOIP calls. However, I can listen to Pandora all day long without disconnecting.
This tells me that whatever timeout mechanism is taking over - whether on the headset or the bluetooth stack - VOIP calls don’t qualify as activity.
BTW, even if I hit any of the buttons on the headset (volume up, down, or “elipsis” action button), it still times out after 15 minutes from first starting the call.
George, I can’t find any software that will directly modify the configuration of the headset. Assuming the timeout is in the headset, is there a technical spec available to the public? Maybe I could open COM4 and send the headset some AT commands?
If I make any progress on this (other than leaving Pandora playing in the background, which might not be a bad idea during a long business call), I’ll update this thread.
Hey Jim, I shouldn’t be glad as I haven’t found any solution yet, but so pleased to meet you to see this is not just my prob, LOL.
My laptop was Dell Latitude also but the model is E6420, which is relatively old. I checked if the BT driver is outdated from Dell Support as George advised, which turned out to be no. So I finally gave up, LOL. Then, as this laptop is my company’s, I asked to replace this one w/ newer one - E7450. It’s coming after Thanksgiving and I will keep you guys posted if it’s working on the brand-new computer. I still believe the timeout is in the headset like Jim said, but we don’t have any solid evidence yet. I love the headset more than any headsets I had owned for a numerous unique/useful use cases. Only if this works (for the same reason as yours, Jim: making all long business calls so convinient), I’d give a 10 out of 10 for this product!
Hi mktguru,
If the audio output level of your computer is very low low, or there are long periods of silence/inactivity on your VoIP interactions, The headset could be accidentally engaging it's normal auto shut-off. If there is an extended period of silence and there has been no interaction with the system by the user, the system will turn off automatically after 20 minutes.
If this is the cause of the problem, then either increasing the computer's volume or using the headset controls (volume /-) every so often on the call should keep this from happening. Can you test to see if this symptom continues even with regular interaction to the on-board controls of the headset?
Thank you.