One of the most brilliant aspects of VoIP telephony is its ability to completely shatter the lines created by geography. By today’s standards, the concept of long distance calls is practically ancient folklore. And, for many, desktop telephones are considered archaic relics. With VoIP, the internet is the new telephone line. So gone are the days when calling someone from clear across the globe would rack up massive charges.
Taking things a step further is the Softphone.
A Softphone isn’t a physical telephone device, but instead a free downloadable app that you can place on your desktop computer, laptop, tablet or smartphone. With the app, you can make and take calls from anywhere in the world. As long as you’re connected to Wi-Fi, you won’t be using any data or cellular minutes. And even if you aren’t connected to Wi-Fi and you are using your data, you still don’t use up cellular minutes. The bottom line: no long distance charges!
“A desktop softphone allows users to make and take phone calls from any computer with an internet connection,” explains Kevin Bartley on OnSIP.com, “This enables employees to stay connected away from the office, whether they are at a café, an airport lounge, or a poolside cabana. It also saves on hardware costs—instead of a desk phone, a user needs only a headset for optimal call quality.”
Easily connect with your co-workers and clients.
As you may already be aware, the Softphone app is a free feature that comes along with MeloTel’s cloud-based Commercial Phone Services. The MeloTel team absolutely loves using this app to communicate with our own clients, but we enjoy using it to connect with our co-workers as well. No matter where we are, we can simply plug in one of our team member’s extensions and we’ll be in touch within seconds.
“With VoIP, connecting employees that are mobile becomes that much easier,” confirms Kimberly Scolaro of Summit Business Technologies, “Employees can communicate with team members or clients by using the same phone number as they would at their desk in the office. Having location-independent contact information makes keeping connected and taking calls on the road seamless.”
The Softphone app provides you with easy access to contacts.
Naturally, your telephone contact list is stored in your phone. With a Softphone app, you can easily locate your contacts in your phone in order to make your calls. When using the app on your computer, you can also search your email account for contacts. As Bartley points out, most desktop softphones can pull contacts from outside sources.
“This saves employees the time and effort of manually entering contact data when setting up the softphone,” he writes, “Some apps automatically provide the entire company directory and allow employees to add and edit contacts to lists within the app interface. This customization allows employees to keep their contacts organized and curated.”
For information about MeloTel’s cloud-based Commercial Phone Services and the free Softphone app that comes with it, please don’t hesitate to contact us at 1-888-MELOTEL or use the Live Chat feature on our website!
