Evolution exists…Well, certainly for business phones it does.

When Avid started providing IP based phone service 10 years ago, it changed the way businesses thought about their phone systems. Over the last few years, employees at businesses have asked for business phones to evolve. Not very long ago, a business phone sat on a desk and that’s where you made and received calls. However, the workforce constantly changes and what was mainstream a decade ago, now seems old.

Softphones

Softphones have changed the way people use their business phones. A softphone is an application that enables telephone calls from computing devices (i.e., computer, tablet, smartphone.) We’ve had insurance brokers increase their workforce by 50% during peak times by providing softphones to employees. They still use their call queues and record calls, but the temporary employees can take calls at home or from other divisions by simply downloading an app.

Real estate professionals can be reached on their smartphones and computers wherever they are. When calls are made from a softphone, the business phone number is used as the caller ID, not the cell phone. We’ve seen doctors office, architectural firms, law firms and call centers make the decision to either replace their deskphone with a softphone or add a softphone to improve their communications.

I previously used find-me follow-me service to be reached when I was away from my desk. When someone called my office number, my cell phone would also ring and I could receive calls anywhere, anytime. However, if I was out of the office when I needed to call someone back I had to use my personal iPhone–my cell phone number was what the caller saw. Now, when I need to return a call, I use the Avid softphone app on my iPhone and the person I am calling sees my business phone number.

Softphones can reduce the expenses associated with a phone system. They allow users to use whatever computing device they want to make and receive business calls and still be fully integrated into the business phone system!

If you want to know more about adding softphone capabilities to your business phone system, be sure to give us a call to discuss!