[sgarrity]

A standalone hardware mute switch for Zoom/etc calls so you can prominently and reliably see your mic mute status, and quickly and easily flip it on and off.

(I know there are a few do-it-yourself options for these, but I'd much rather throw a bit of money at it rather than time).

[dole]

I have a Jabra Evolve (40?) USB Headset. The headset plugs into the USB dongle via stereo jack and has green/red backlit Pickup, Mute and Volume buttons and can be used without the headset to mute.

Tested it without the headset in a Teams meeting and mutes within the meeting and displays status as such, doesn't just mute system mic volume. Edit: seems to work the same in Zoom as well.

The dongle itself is model ENC010 and looks to cost around U$50.

[fwsgonzo]

Sennheiser headsets tend to have a mechanical switch on the microphone arm that turns it on and off when you swing it. I like that part enough that I only buy those headsets now. I'm not sure if they continue the practice these days.

[sgarrity]

I'm wearing one right now. I agree this is a handy feature.

It has two down-sides:

1. Muting the mic involves touching/moving the mic, so you make some noise when trying to discretely mute/unmute.

2. It mutes, but doesn't tell Zoom that it's muted, so you can appear to be unmuted to others on the call. I'd rather die than be falsely accused of having a dog bark interrupt a call from MY mic!