What is a softphone?
A softphone is an application that sits on your PC, laptop, or mobile, and removes the need for you to have a physical phone on your office desk. It makes calls using your internet connection or your mobile data.
What are the benefits of a softphone?
Flexibility, no feature limitations, and cost saving.
With 92% of people in the UK owning a mobile phone (source), installing a softphone app means you can take your office calls anywhere, as long as you are connected to the internet or have a good data connection.
Alternatively, if you’d prefer staff not to have the application on a personal mobile device, you can install it on company laptops or PCs.
With a softphone, you don’t just make incoming and outgoing calls. You have all the features of a physical desk phone either on your mobile or PC (or both). You can even switch between your mobile app and desktop app when you’re on a call.
You can dial internally, put callers on hold and transfer calls to other team members; the same as if you were sat in your office using your old desk phone. You can, receive incoming calls from customers and suppliers using the same automated attendants, call groups and opening times as you have set for the office.
When you make calls using the softphone, your company telephone number will show on their caller ID. This is great for when you are working remotely, putting an end to giving out a personal contact number.
Additionally, you don’t need to spend time memorising your colleagues’ extensions when transferring calls. You can simply search for contacts within the app. It’s simple and easy to use.
We at Breakwater IT have not had physical phones on our desks for years now. All staff use the softphone application either on their laptops or mobile phones and most have both.
In summary, a softphone replaces the need for physical desk phone. And without the need for a physical device, it saves on hardware costs and maintenance. It also supports the growth of remote working by giving flexibility to take calls wherever you are working, and it’s easy to scale with your business.
What is VoIP?
VoIP stands for Voice over Internet Protocol. Essentially, your voice communications are delivered over the internet using the cloud. A VoIP system can be accessed from anywhere, as long as you are connected to the internet.
What is a VoIP Telephone System?
A VoIP, or Hosted system, is basically a cloud-based telephone system that does not need a physical installation. The portal is web-based and therefore can be accessed from any device that can get internet.
What are the benefits of a VoIP systems?
A VoIP system, in comparison to a tradition system, gives higher quality calls, cost savings, additional features and is easier to maintain and repair. Read more here.
