What Is a Softphone – Your Guide To Everything About Softphones

Unified communications may be the default standard for communications experiences today, but few technologies have made UCaaS more accessible than softphones.

 

The idea of having a phone within your phone may seem strange at first. It’s safe to say softphones play an integral part in any unified communications platform, providing the backbone for voice, video, and messaging.

What is a Softphone?

A softphone is a piece of software that creates a virtual phone to enable any device with an Internet connection to make and receive calls.

However, softphones built for business go far beyond simply making calls — they are feature-packed and designed to foster frictionless communication throughout your company.

Companies of all sizes can now access enterprise-level communication services at affordable rates that reflect actual usage needs. This is why it’s estimated that companies that switch to VoIP solutions save between 30% and 50%. Businesses that leave their old on-premise system behind experience the most dramatic savings.

Entire books can be written about cloud-based unified communications (UC) platforms, but today we’re going to hone in on the softphone itself. The softphone is the main piece of any UC platform that employees will interact with — it needs to be incredible. It’s time to do a deep dive into softphones and see how they can radically transform your business.

What does a softphone do?

Softphones provide users with the same functionality as a physical phone, but without the need for a dedicated infrastructure to provide services. Instead, an Internet connection allows the softphone to access the VoIP provider’s network to make and receive calls, plus more modernized features you would expect, like video calls and MMS.

Have you ever downloaded WhatsApp or another similar communication-focused app that lets you make phone calls? Apps like those are consumer-level softphones that create an alternative to traditional cell phone services. Softphones for businesses work similarly, but they’re intended to be put to work for the business; they’re designed for efficient and streamlined communication from any modern smartphone, tablet, or computer.

Softphone vs deskphone

Ultimately, a softphone is much more than a replacement for a desk phone. It opens up access to an entire suite of communication tools and capabilities that employees can utilize to streamline communication and boost productivity. Company-wide adoption of softphones may improve productivity by up to 40 minutes every day, with an annual productivity gain of 3.5 days per year.

Are Softphones Difficult to Configure?

A softphone is no more complicated to install than any other application from an employee’s perspective. Beyond that, setting up new communications services, including a softphone, is not as difficult as it might seem.

Unlike antiquated in-house communications systems, modern cloud-communication platforms require minimal setup for most businesses. Most small-to-midsize businesses can use an out-of-the-box VoIP solution, which means it will require little effort to integrate with your business. Even massive enterprises typically require a relatively low level of customization during onboarding.

You may be considering softphones and UC services but worry about employee buy-in and onboarding. Fortunately, almost every softphone available is easier to use than a desk phone at the most basic level. Additionally, you’ll empower everyone in the business with potent features that will make them forget about desk phones.

Basic Requirements for Using Softphones

What does it take to get started using a softphone? Fortunately, the requirements and limitations are quite minimal. You can get softphones for Android and iOS as well as desktop softphones. To get started with softphones then, you’ll only need:

• • A computer or mobile device
• • A VoIP headset (or any speaker and microphone combination device)

Headsets are recommended for softphone usage to ensure the highest quality sound possible. You can certainly technically use speakers and a microphone, but that can result in the microphone picking up the voice coming out of the speakers.

In the early days of softphones, you would’ve needed a desktop computer, but now any device will work as long as it has a strong Internet connection and a microphone. Most businesses will rely primarily on desktops for softphone usage, but the ability to use a mobile device allows for remote and traveling workers to consistently be in contact.

What Does a Softphone Look Like?

A softphone is a piece of software, so it looks quite similar to any other app that can make calls. Additionally, early softphones were designed to mimic hardware phones, so there is plenty of overlap between how they look and feel — even if one is software and the other isn’t.

Softphones take the general design quite a bit further, though. They took the desktop phone look and added plenty of features that would be impossible on a desktop phone, such as the ability to seamlessly switch between voice and video calls as needed without interrupting the conversation. Users can also effortlessly send SMS or MMS messages from their softphone — something a desktop phone can only dream of.

Above all else, softphones are designed to be extremely user-friendly. The developers of these apps know that they’re going to be used throughout an organization by users with all levels of technical expertise. As such, special care is paid to crafting software that anyone can pick up and use.

Above all else, softphones are designed to be extremely user-friendly. The developers of these apps know that they’re going to be used throughout an organization by users with all levels of technical expertise. As such, special care is paid to crafting software that anyone can pick up and use.

Important Softphone Features

Softphones do much more than place calls. They’re packed with features that help employees accomplish their daily tasks. Features you would expect from a standard phone, such as mute, hold, and transfer, are readily available with any softphone provider. However, quality softphone platforms have much to offer:

• • CRM integration
• • Voicemail
• • Caller ID
• • Calling line information
• • Call logs
• • Call monitoring
• • Transfers (voicemail, warm, and blind)
• • Call waiting
• • One-click calling
• • Full volume control
• • Call routing
• • Text messaging
• • Rich messaging
• • 3-way calling
• • File sharing

Some of those features you might find on a hardwired phone, but a softphone is designed to give users ultimate control. However your employees want to work, they’ll be able to do it with the right softphone solution.

Business Benefits of Softphones

The benefits of unified communications technology in the workplace are very wide. It might only be a piece of software on your computer, but this lightweight tool has surprisingly important features.

Ongoing Cost Savings

The most obvious and important benefit of switching to softphones is the significant cost savings. Companies can reduce their phone costs by up to 50%after switching to a VoIP platform. Startups benefit even greater by reducing phone costs by 90% by avoiding in-house infrastructure altogether.

Softphones are typically billed per user, so you’ll only be paying for what you need. Conversely, an in-house solution will cost the same to maintain regardless of how many people use it. You are guaranteed to end up paying for hardware and IT staff, meaning you’re paying for more than you need.

Softphones are billed monthly or annually and create a recurring and reliable monthly expense. You will expect a higher bill when you add users, and a lower bill if you have layoffs.

Maintain Work-Life Balance on the Same Device

Softphones create an easy and direct way for employees to make and receive calls on their personal devices without having any overlap with their personal phone numbers and other data. Since the softphone is another app on the employee’s phone, all calls made and received through the softphone app are identical to if they were made from the employee’s work computer.

This revolutionary benefit allows for employees throughout the organization to handle important calls, receive messages from teammates, and video conference with their clients all without ever revealing their personal numbers. When the softphone app is closed, so does their time at work.

This is one clear way to promote a healthy balance between professional time and personal time. Improving the work-life balance of your entire organization will have far-reaching benefits, such as higher productivity and lower turnover. Utilizing softphones is one important step towards enabling a more dynamic work-life balance.

No Need for a Dedicated Connection

Hardware phones work on dedicated connections to help ensure constant voice quality, such as a phone line. Softphones do not require any additional infrastructure and are designed to operate efficiently over an Internet connection.

VoIP softphone calls also consume less bandwidth than traditional telephone lines. Traditional lines need to maintain a constant connection to guarantee that anyone who’s talking will be heard. Modern VoIP solutions stop sending data if nobody is talking, then immediately resume when someone speaks.

Eliminate All Hardware

No more desk phones and no more in-house infrastructure for telephony — all you need is a quality softphone solution. You won’t need to worry about installing and maintaining your PBX server anymore, either.  Softphones make all calls over a standard Internet connection.

Softphones are also future-proof, in a sense, because you can stop buying new desk phones with every few new models. All that’s required is occasional software updates. Since you’ll be using softphone services provided by another company, you won’t even need to worry about ongoing development. Simply have IT keep the software updated and you’ll never have to replace a desk phone again.

Integrated Video Conferencing and Calling

Avoid having to buy yet another communications solution by using a softphone with integrated video calling. It’s no secret that video calls and conferences are here to stay, your business needs a solution that already has it covered.

A top-tier softphone solution will have video calling integrated. Video calls are quickly gaining popularity. Ensure that your business is ready with the right softphone that already has integrated video calling.

Add Lines As Needed

Need a new line? Go create one. Anyone with the right access level in the dashboard can simply create a new line. New employees should never be stuck waiting for their phones. Without a phone, they will be extremely limited in their new roles.

Fix this issue by giving managers the ability to directly create lines without even involving IT. New hires will start producing value immediately, rather than waiting days for IT to configure and install a desk phone.

Increase Work Efficiency with User-Friendly Improvements

Softphones didn’t stop at mimicking the functionality of desktop phones, the developers kept improving beyond that. There are multiple features in most softphone product offerings that greatly increase work efficiency, such as:

• • Simple call transfers: Transferring a call on a desk phone is complicated enough that people regularly make mistakes and drop calls. Softphones are able to reimagine call transfers, with some services offering a drag and drop interface for transferring calls. No need to dial extensions and hit the pound key three times — just drag the call over to your co-worker’s face and their phone will ring.
• • Visual voicemail: Voicemail is one of the most mundane parts of any job, but it needs to be done. Standard voicemail makes employees stay on the phone and take notes, one voicemail at a time. Visual voicemail presents a text readout of the voicemail, allowing for employees to easily understand the purpose of the call. If there’s any confusion, the actual voice mail can easily be accessed and listened to.
• • Data-rich incoming call notifications: Never rely on just a phone number or desk extension again. Softphones are able to gather much more information about the caller to display to the receiver of the call, especially when it’s an internal call. You can finally put a stop to employees answering calls blindly.

Keep Everyone Connected

A connected team is a successful team. Set your employees up for success by making it easy for them to communicate. There are endless benefits that appear when employees can effortlessly reach out to each other. Productivity will increase and morale may even improve as coworkers start talking more often.

Staying connected is more important than ever before as remote work has become part of everyday life. Teams still need to communicate and collaborate even when they’re remote. That’s why a recent study illustrated that 74% of employees rely on a softphone when working remotely. They’re necessary tools to keep your team effectively communicating.