Cell phones have revolutionized the way we communicate. There are few people who do not have a cell phone, and many have completely replaced their home land lines with cell phones. While businesses do not have the luxury on doing away with their premise based phones, cell smartphones do have their place in the business world. Although you can ordinarily forward your business phone to your cell phone, there is a limited capacity to use your cell phone with your business phone system. A softphone alleviates these limitations and allows your cell phone to have a higher integration with your business system, provided it is an IP system.
A softphone is a software app that you can run on your smartphone, laptop or tablet which allows you to use Internet access to make and receive phone calls off of your business VoIP system. There are some things you should know about using your cell phone as a softphone. When calling from a softphone on your cell phone there are some pros and cons. The pros surely outweigh the cons, but knowing some of the limitations will be helpful in getting the most user friendly experience with your new softphone
Pros
1. A softphone works as an extension off your VoIP system which gives off the caller ID of your business rather than your personal cell number. As you know, there are times when you would rather not have your personal phone number being broadcast when making business calls. It is also beneficial to broadcast your business caller ID so your customers can call back the appropriate number. This makes your cell phone a transparent component of your business phone system.
2. When you have your softphone registered on the VoIP PBX you can also put that extension into groups which can allow cell phone users to answer calls in groups while being mobile. You can also transfer calls just like you would if you were in the office. You also have the ability to put callers on hold with hold music.
3. By using the softphone in conjunctions with WiFi, you do not use your personal minutes up while talking, nor do you use packets your data plan.
Cons
1. Softphones are known for wearing down your battery on your cell, so have an extra battery available, or your charger. Make sure you can completely disable your softphone so it will not drain your battery when you are not using it. Check out the reviews for various softphones. Some of the free ones are not easy to disable and can kill your battery quickly.
2. Do not completely rely on your 3G or 4G data to make calls on your softphone. Always try and use a WiFi hotspot for reliable bandwidth. Voice is very susceptible to packet loss. Slow or inconsistent data speeds will present you with delayed or choppy voice or no voice at all. I have made calls while driving around in Sarasota utilizing 4G on my Metro PCS plan, and my calls did stay up, but the call quality is not quite as good as a normal cell call, and there are times when I had a little delay causing me to talk over the other person.
Summary
Softphones on your cell phone allows you to stay connected to your business VoIP system while traveling. For those sitting in an airport this can be very helpful for conducting business before and after flights. Your softphone gives you superior integration with your business and you will enjoy some of the benefits of your VoIP PBX while you travel. As far as recommendations go, I can say personally that I have Sipdroid on my LG-MS840 Android smartphone and it works pretty good. It was easy to install and setup and works well on WiFi and I can make calls on 4G while driving, with occasional quality issues. When you are not using the app, make sure to go into your settings and turn off the 3G feature so you can use your cell to make normal calls Some apps are easier to navigate than others so be sure to try a few to see which works best for you. There are a variety of free and paid softphones out there such as Counterpath, Zoiper and Sipdroid to name a few. Have fun with your new softphone!
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