Many businesses were unfamiliar with Soft Clients (or Softphones) in 2019, but the mass-shift to remote work means that in 2022, the majority of businesses will have at least one.
If you’re considering adding Soft Clients for your business, here are answers to some of the most frequently asked questions for mobile and desktop Softphones.
1. What are Soft Clients?
Soft Clients (or Softphone Apps) allow you to make and receive calls from your Windows or Mac computer as well as your mobile phone (Android / iPhone).
In addition to making and receiving calls, tightly integrated soft clients offer a wide range of additional features such as call transfer, forwarding, IVR and more (keep reading)!
2. What are Mobile and Desktop Softphones Useful For?
Soft Clients allow you to take your business landline with you anywhere on any compatible device.
Blueface Softphone Apps (Computer / Mobile Phone) are perfect solutions for travelling sales people, remote workers and businesses who prefer an opex model.
You can also automate device switching (hard phone → softphone app) with smart time of day call routing and clever call flows from Blueface.
3. Does Call Recording and Call History Work with Soft Clients?
Call recording and call history on soft clients is dependent on your provider. Blueface Unified Communications treats our Softphone Apps as a normal deskphone.
This means that call recording, voicemail to email and call data are all stored in the exact same way whether calls are handled on soft or hard phones. Mobile call recording is a particularly handy advantage of mobile Softphone Apps.
4. Am I Charged Extra for Transferring Calls to Mobile Softphones?
No. Unlike forwarding to mobile phones (cellular), Softphones are treated the same way as an internal transfer. As a result, you are only charged for the initial call.
5. Can I Add Soft Clients and Hard Phones to the Same Call Flow?
Blueface enables this. You can add multiple devices to the same call flow and this ensures that you never miss another call.
Phone System Saves Lives
Read how one Blueface Partner set up a series of Blueface Softphones on one number to save lives in rural Ireland.
Phones don’t have to ring out in an empty office, you can set a 10-second timeout to move to the next device if calls go unanswered. This can be your Desktop UC Phone (Mac / PC Soft Client) or your Mobile Softphone App. Check out our in-depth video guides for more information!
6. Does Blueface Have Any Softphone Accessories?
Mobile Soft Clients work well with native audio but if you’re using wireless earbuds, we would recommend UCaaS-specific models (personally, I like the Jabra Evolve series).
Desktop soft clients are a little different as native audio on laptops is varied. Blueface has a range of wired and wireless headsets for everyone from entry-level staff to executive pristine audio quality and even MS Teams users.
7. Is Microsoft Teams Phone Integration a Soft Client?
Technically yes. Microsoft Teams Phone System Integration from Blueface enables users to make and receive calls directly from their MS Teams suite. So it is classified as a software-enabled business phone system on Microsoft Teams – Teams Soft Client.
As well as the Microsoft Teams Desktop Client, you can also use the Microsoft Teams Mobile App. In addition to call functions, Teams users integrated with Blueface can gain access to extra features such as Blueface IVR, Recording, Time of Day and more.
Summary
Soft Clients are a quick way to add full communications mobility for your business. Whether you’re a corporation with a fleet of sales people on the road or an SME who wants to catch every cash call without a big investment – soft clients are for you.
