15Sep

5 Things You Didn’t Know Your VoIP Softphone Could Do

September 15, 2021 Maulik Shah 5

“When wireless is perfectly applied the whole world will be converted into a huge brain, which in fact it is, all things being particles of a real and rhythmic whole. We shall be able to communicate with one another instantly, irrespective of distance.”
-Nikola Tesla

Nikola Tesla predicted the invention of smartphones and internet-based telecommunications back in his days. VoIP (Voice-over-Internet Protocol) softphones are like an embodiment of what Tesla’ said about telephony and communications. However, did you know your VoIP phones can do much more than just making calls? VoIP softphones come loaded with features like team messaging, file sharing, and calendar integration making them highly versatile. No wonder VoIP could step up to bridge the communications gap during the COVID-19 crisis.

By now we are very well familiarized with what a VoIP softphone is. It is a software application that duplicates the functionality of a telephone, on a PC, or any computing or mobile device. Softphone apps have become a preferred telecommunication option for most small and midsize businesses, more so in the post covid times.

A VoIP softphone is designed to emulate a desktop handset, with a dial pad and basic phone features, like mute, transfer, and hold. Most VoIP apps are fairly easy to learn. However, being software, a softphone is loaded with features beyond making and receiving calls which are highly useful especially now when so many of us are working from home. Let’s get cracking at what all can your softphone do for you other than making calls.

A softphone is not a standalone solution. Instead, it is directly connected to your VoIP business phone system, allowing you to access your business phone on your laptop, desktop computer, tablet, or mobile phone. This removes the requirement of investing in expensive hard phone equipment. Softphones enable users to make VoIP calls over diverse web browsers, including Google Chrome, Safari, and Firefox.

Unique Softphone Features

Softphones come packed with unique features. From an easy-to-use interface to built-in caller settings, users can customize a softphone’s features to fit their business needs. Most VoIP mobile dialers also include standard telephony features like mute, hold, transfer, and flash, along with other unique collaborative communication features.

Most VoIP systems are based on Cloud or are on-premise. These can do a lot more than what most of us might expect and bring huge cost-efficiency to a business. Their mobility, functionality, and exceptional open-source nature have set a new path for the way people will communicate in the future.

#1. Global presence and mobility

Global presence with a local number: Organizations are pushing the boundaries and expanding at a fast pace to make a global footprint. The VoIP technology enables a business to make international calls in a cost-effective manner. The DID (Direct Inward Dialing) feature of a VoIP system enables a business to own a virtual local number that can be reached by callers in other countries. For example, if you are a company based in Texas, United States but a lot of your business comes from say India, you can buy a local India number that serves as your caller ID and support your Indian customers with a virtual local presence when you are in the United States. VoIP gives you the freedom to have a local presence anywhere in the world irrespective of your location.
Mobility: VoIP only requires an internet connection to function. This implies that one can practically carry their business extension anywhere. In the hybrid and remote work culture of today, it is a blessing for customer care executives who need to keep their business identity while keeping personal numbers private. A VoIP system/app can turn any device (laptop, desktop, or smartphone) into offsite extensions of a business phone system enabling employees to take advantage of office extension features, such as making and receiving business calls via company phone line regardless of your location.

#2. Sending and Receiving Files

A cloud-based VoIP service is designed to handle both voice and video data streams. This enables its developers/users to enhance their softphone apps to handle other data as well. VoIP users have access to features like faxing or the ability to access, share and receive files. Platforms like Microsoft Teams and Slack do offer comprehensive and instantaneous solutions for sharing files between users. But VoIP providers have stepped up their game by offering such integration as well as basic file sharing functions to help businesses conduct more work negating the need to switch between different services.

#3. Video calls, Team messaging and collaborations, Manage Calendars

Ability to make video calls: VoIP solutions enable users to connect over video calls. This one feature makes it an attractive proposition for small and mid-size businesses, especially now when most employees are working remotely due to the coronavirus. The ability and freedom that VoIP gives to tap your business number anytime is a blessing for quickly building a virtual business presence. Add to that the ability to enhance the call experience with video and it becomes a good substitute for social interaction, not only for customers or partners but also for internal employee-to-employee conversation.

Team messaging and collaborations: The new-age sophisticated VoIP softphones also offer team messaging and collaboration functions along with voice, video, and data sharing. Many VoIP service providers are now integrating new functionality into their products based on what their users want and the trend is here to stay. The new-age updated VoIP software enables users to make and receive calls, check voicemail, conduct online meetings that include support for chat, shared screen, and video conferencing.

Manage calendars: The modern VoIP software can integrate with the users’ contact lists, both a business contact as well as personal contact lists stored on PCs and mobile devices. This enables them to easily track contacts and initiate calls. A user can also access calendars for scheduling meetings and calls with VoIP.

#4. White-labelling and Customer Insights

White labeling: Enterprises strive towards providing exceptional quality at every customer touchpoint and leaving a lasting brand recall value in the mind of its customers. One of the most common customer touchpoints is an enterprise’s telephony service such as IVR, music on hold, or voice prompts. VoIP softphones come with white-labeling options, which means one can customize the system with its own branding, logo, pre-recorded voice message with a brand name, music and the whole paraphilia. These customized greetings and voice direction helps a business in attracting and retaining guests while building brand loyalty. Today’s modern VoIP system enables a business to upload and deploy their own brand voice to add depth, warmth, and personality to automated voice prompts. A clear message combined with a specific tone or background music resonates with the customers and enhances the customer satisfaction experience.
Customer Insights: Gone are the days when a telephone system was used to merely make and receive calls. Modern telephone systems including VoIP can be integrated with key business applications to increase productivity and enhance the overall customer experience. Modern VoIP systems come equipped with VoIP CRM integration capabilities. This enables business owners with a powerful cross-channel platform to unite data, context, and conversation. With proper CRM integration, an executive can have a holistic view of the customer during the call. Key information like basic caller information, call logs, keynotes, etc can be easily accessed by an executive interacting with the customer. This is a great tool to improve the quality of customer interactions by automatically delivering pertinent information along with each call.

#5. Enables ease of contact through your website

Most company websites have a “call us” or “talk to us” button on their contact us page. This kind of functionality enables businesses to build a customer-oriented experience. Thanks to the API (application program interface) of the VoIP allows companies to access core PBX features. It is now possible to connect a company’s web page with its telephone system via specific APIs, and put a VoIP “call us” or “talk to us” button on the website and let the customer’s input automatically initiate a call from your PBX system.

Besides these features, VoIP mobile dialers also offer additional unique features to their users. Let’s look at what they are:

Leverages WebRTC to make seamless audio and video calls

Supported by the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C), WebRTC allows open standard browsers to communicate with each other and exchange audio, video, and data files that use a simple Javascript based API. It allows users to make audio and video calls without requiring a plugin or any additional software installation. WebRTC can be considered an extension of VoIP that brings the potential of making phone and video calls, chats, and Peer 2 Peer file transfers directly to the web browser or mobile app. WebRTC allows for more widespread adoption of VoIP, acting as an extension for VoIP into new platforms. The fact that WebRTC is open source, and has low latency and interoperability makes it an attractive technology option.

Auto-provisioning

Auto provisioning allows an enterprise to deploy its telecom services instantly through a software application, rather than doing it manually for every device. This tool is especially useful when deploying large numbers of IP phones that require advanced configuration. Users can activate their softphone service via a web interface without requiring any configuration settings. This makes the deployment and management of installation fast and easy. Also, using auto provisioning, organizations can remotely set up their phone systems across multiple locations. They can do so in bulk and manage the system through an intuitive cloud phone service platform.

Multi-lingual support

Softphone services like Tragofone offer multi-lingual support so that users can converse in a language of their choice.

Integration with other databases and directories

Some softphones implement compatibility with third-party applications like Microsoft Outlook. They also enable integration with shared LDAP (Lightweight Directory Access Protocol) directories, Microsoft Active Directory and ODBC compatible interfaces. This feature is especially useful for call centers.

Multiple SIP Accounts

Having multiple, independent SIP accounts on a softphone allows users to consolidate their accounts and make or receive calls from a single softphone. Having multiple registrations enables organizations to shift between accounts on a per-outbound call basis, depending on which VoIP provider or ISP offers the best rates for the destinations they are connecting to.

Security and privacy

Modern organizations are very particular about the privacy and security of their communications. These security issues are very relevant for softphones, where incoming and outgoing calls are vulnerable to attacks such as wiretapping and eavesdropping. Quality softphones support encryption using Transport Layer Security (TLS) and Secure RTP (SRTP) protocols, as it reduces these threats.

Future of VoIP softphones

Modern-day VoIP softphones are a cost-effective, all-in-one business phone solution. They have a lot more to offer over the traditional PBX system used earlier. With the hybrid and remote work culture taking center stage they are here to stay.

Today’s sophisticated VoIP softphones (both “on-premises” and “cloud”) are easy to use, reliable and come loaded with features to cater to the ever-evolving modern-day business and work culture. It enables mobility and is truly blurring geographical barriers. With all-inclusive features, it enables small and medium-size enterprises to take advantage of Unified Communications(UC) and enjoy easy communications irrespective of the place and time.

Rich API, easy interoperability, CRM integration and integration with several critical business applications, and customization as per specific needs of a business VoIP brings all of this to the table along with delivering smart communications. VoIP is here to stay and evolve, we as users need to dig deeper to understand and leverage the many benefits it has to offer.

23Aug

How White Labeled Mobile SIP Dialers Benefit Support Teams

August 23, 2021 Maulik Shah 47

Let’s start with a hypothetical situation: A US-based customer of a product company calls the support team to resolve an issue. Since the support team is based in another time zone and not available in the office, there are no agents at hand to answer the customer’s call. As the organization had positioned itself as a brand with a global footprint, that serviced clients across the world, the no-show of the support team negatively impacted its image and profits.

This lapse in customer service could have been avoided – by deploying a softphone or VoIP-powered mobile dialer solution.

In today’s digital world, providing users with a real-time communications system doesn’t just set enterprises apart from the competition; it keeps them in the competition. Softphones enable businesses to engage with customers in a personalized way, grow their audience, and drive sales.

White label softphone solutions offer an extra edge to enterprises by offering all the functionality and personal touches of a phone system that has been built from scratch, without incurring high costs and spending long hours on development and support. These solutions help businesses carve a unique identity for themselves by delivering the exceptional experiences that users seek from customer support teams.

Softphones are the future of business communication. These internet-powered solutions have all the functionality of a traditional desk phone, plus many time-saving benefits. They’re also flexible in terms of setup and adjustments. Also, SIP mobile dialers operate entirely on the cloud, which makes them accessible from anywhere with an internet connection, making remote work possible with browser-based, mobile, and downloadable desktop phone applications.

Also, modern businesses today need branded solutions that build professionalism and reputation. White labeled softphones provide companies with enterprise-level communication solutions that are packed with the richest feature set and adapt to the needs of their business.

In this blog, we will understand how softphones help support teams provide seamless services to customers and why they are critical for providing glitch-free user experiences.

Why Softphones Are Critical for Support Teams

Professional communication has become critical for enterprises. In fact, 40% of customers say that they prefer talking to a real customer support agent over the phone to handle complicated issues like payment disputes. This is where VoIP mobile dialers are emerging as game-changers for customer support teams. They ensure call consistency, and they are reliable, secure, and agile. Besides, they allow your support team the flexibility to work from remote locations.

Customer support teams usually need to stay connected with many people, in order to address their concerns and resolve technical issues. If they are unable to solve an issue on their own, the support teams need to liaison with the company’s technical engineers or developers. This means an organization’s phone system should have the facility to enable three-way communication between all parties.

There are several free software solutions available that companies can deploy to facilitate multi-party communication. However, they come with the risk of compromising consumer data. Softphones, on the other hand, offer an encrypted and secure communication solution that provides complete privacy to the customer and company data. Besides, white labeled softphone solutions are owned by the company that uses them. Thus, all information remains confidential with the company.

How White labeled Softphones Enhance the Workflows of Customer Support Teams

As the modern business world continues to acclimatize to new developments in communication technologies, like BYOD (Bring Your Own Device), mobile VoIP, and unified communications (UC), enterprises are increasingly arming their customer support teams with all-encompassing UC solutions in order to help them gain a competitive edge.

How do softphones help support teams enhance the user experiences they provide? White labeling and customizing VoIP softphone enables enterprises to transition existing customers to a new solution within a cloud-based environment. Also, the ongoing innovations in the VoIP market empower organizations to maintain complete control of their brand from designing to managing, while also allowing them to offer their customers unique user experiences.

Also, VoIP mobile dialers can be installed into the mobile phones of support staff, allowing them to be available to customers at all times. They support voice calling, video, and messaging facilities, besides free app to app calling for internal communication. Support teams can also share images and files via softphones, helping resolve customer issues on an immediate basis.

Cloud-based softphones also make workflows simpler for support teams by integrating with other software tools. They can connect with nearly every business solution in an organization’s toolkit to enable faster work turnaround and less human error. Using the integrated phone software, support teams can make calls directly from an organization’s CRM, sync call data and notes between applications, enhance customer surveys, assist with sales automation, and connect with transcription and AI services.

Benefits of White labeled Softphones for Customer Support Teams

White labeled softphones provide diverse benefits to customer support teams – ranging from being location agnostic to enabling easy integration with other software. Let’s take a detailed look at these advantages:

Softphones support the flexibility to work from anywhere

The internet-enabled calling capabilities of VoIP mobile dialers empower support teams to serve customers from anywhere in the world. The CoVID-19-triggered pandemic forced organizations to look for alternate ways to connect with their customers. Softphones enabled their support teams to establish these connections via their desktops and or any other communication tools used on-premise. This way, they can speak to customers and troubleshoot their issues from any remote work location.

Further, softphones also provide a huge boost to businesses that have a global reach. Customers can now reach out to support teams at any time, even during off-hours or on public holidays. These VoIP mobile dialer features ensure seamless customer services, thereby showcasing a brand as a trustworthy partner.

Enables integration with a host of software and tools

Software products today are able to communicate with each other in ways that traditional solutions couldn’t. Integration of softphones with CRM tools helps organizations to import customer contacts into a single interface. No customer wants to enter their personal details and relate their query every time they call a support team for assistance. This can also be a deal-breaker for organizations, as it poses a roadblock in building long-term customer relationships.

With CRM integration, support teams get instant access to customer details like name, location, and history of interactions with a company. This allows the customer and the support engineer to resume a conversation from where it was left off rather than starting on a fresh slate every time. As a result, supporting employees save time, effort, and win the goodwill of the customer, leading to higher customer retention and satisfaction. Also, all customer calls can be logged and documented automatically.

Softphones provide fully customizable interfaces

No two businesses are alike. VoIP mobile dialers allow enterprises to boost their brand with fully customizable interfaces. They can build their own unique interface, select the features that their business needs and deliver a customized, branded experience to their customers.

Boosts team collaboration

Seamless collaboration between an organization’s support team members is critical for the success of a business, especially when employees work from distributed locations. With features like video conferencing, one-on-one calling, and instant messaging, VoIP mobile dialers allow team members to reach out to each other in case of any emergency situation or to seek assistance. In a situation like the pandemic, softphone apps enable employees to engage with each other, bounce ideas and queries, and avoid feeling like they’re working in isolation.

Improves employee efficiency

An organization’s support team members may need expert assistance while clarifying customer queries and may want to reach out to a manager or a senior supervisor immediately. Softphones come with instant messaging capabilities that allow employees to message each other and seek immediate clarifications.

In a situation where there is a need to escalate calls, softphones show the availability status of the manager, which could be a ‘Do Not Disturb’. This way the support engineer contacts someone else to resolve the customer query instead of trying to reach a manager who is not available at the moment.

Softphones also provide better insights into queue monitoring for sales and support teams. During peak working hours, supervisors can monitor the caller queue and route calls to agents who are available. This removes unwanted waiting time, missed calls, and confusion over the availability of agents and results in a streamlined customer call management process.

Allows support teams to engage better with customers

Most customers don’t like to be put on hold when they call a company to resolve a query. They also don’t enjoy their calls being forwarded to multiple support team representatives. Some prefer to message instead of call. Softphones resolve all of these issues for customers. Softphone solutions allow customers to easily connect with a business by sending text messages instead of speaking with an agent. These multiple engagement tools allow support teams to engage with customers in a more holistic way and thus expedite their problem resolution.

With softphones, support teams can scale and improvise easily

The demands of your customers are always changing. VoIP mobile dialers let the support teams of enterprises offer new features, communication options, and new support tools to customers to reach and engage with them on a platform of their choice.

Softphones can be easily upgraded

VoIP mobile dialer solutions need regular updates. To do so, organizations can simply opt for the latest version of the software within the application interface without paying any additional charges. These upgrades are also readily available for use without onboarding any additional equipment or tools to the existing devices.

Softphones make support team workflows seamless

Accessing call recordings is much easier with cloud-based VoIP mobile dialer solutions. For instance, a link to an online audio file can be automatically created after each call and can be stored or shared with ease. This can be used for monitoring and tracking customer calls.

Making adjustments to call routing structures, like categorizing incoming calls, was a difficult process with traditional phone systems. Virtual softphones, on the other hand, make this process as easy as adjusting your email inbox settings. Additional customizations, like personalized voicemail messages, are also achievable through an admin dashboard. These adjustments make workflows seamless for support teams.

Softphones make it easy to implement advanced web-based features

Softphones offer web-based features that aren’t supported by most other native communication apps. Additional functionality can be coded and integrated into your app for web app capabilities. These added functionalities offer enhanced flexibility that support teams can use to display the types of content that matter to their customers.

Conclusion

Softphones are emerging as an irreplaceable asset for next-generation communication systems. Businesses are using these internet-powered mobile dialers to connect over remote working ecosystems and avoid the need for employees to stay glued to their desks. Besides, integrations with high-end tools and improved team collaboration are other advantages that support teams can avail by using softphones.

White labeled softphones empower businesses to fine-tune their solutions to fit their exact specifications and requirements, facilitating a one-stop UC experience for their customers even in the most diverse technical environment.

11Aug

Why Choose Tragofone as Your VoIP SIP Softphone App

August 11, 2021 Maulik Shah 55

With the world turning rapidly digital, flexible communication solutions are gaining increasing traction. And as telecom technology turns sophisticated, enterprises are increasingly using Softphone apps instead of traditional desk phones to ensure their business phone systems are more accessible and cost-effective.

Softphone applications are typically provided by Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) providers, and function as a familiar, user-friendly interface that comes packed with unique features. From an easy-to-use interface to built-in caller settings, users can customize a softphone’s features to fit their business needs. Most VoIP mobile dialers also include standard telephony features like mute, hold, transfer, and flash, along with other unique collaborative communication features.

The Softphone or VoIP mobile dialer is the next new technology in the communication world. A softphone is a software application that duplicates the functionality of a telephone, but on a smartphone, computer, or any other device. Such apps are fast turning into standard equipment for small and mid-sized businesses.

Softphones offer many benefits, especially as modern business owners require flexible, reliable solutions that allow their workers to be available on call at all times, no matter where they are.

Picking the right softphone for your organization determines how efficiently your business interacts with its customers.

Tragofone softphones have been engineered keeping the requirements of enterprises and end-user at the center. They’re easy to use and require no steep learning curve. The calling experience is seamless – with comprehensive features ranging from auto pop-ups on incoming calls, a customized `Get Started’ screen, and a comprehensive home screen that displays the call history, contacts, and settings.

Most importantly, enterprises can breathe easy with Tragofone’s VoIP mobile dialers, as its security features are the ultimate deterrent for hackers and cyber miscreants. Secure Real-Time Transport Protocol (SRTP) is just one of the weapons in its arsenal. Organizations can enjoy end-to-end protection with Tragofone’s superior encryption and secure communication.

In this blog, we will explore the top features of Tragofone, its unique selling points, and why it’s a best-fit VoIP softphone for modern enterprises.

Tragofone Decoded

Softphones like Tragofone are fast turning into standard equipment for small and mid-sized businesses. This is because its functions include a lot more than just making calls. Because it’s a software, the Tragofone mobile dialer app comes packed with a variety of features – including making video and conference calls, sending and receiving files, voicemail management, and chat and SMS capabilities. You can start the app and use your softphone wherever you plug in your device.

Although Tragofone isn’t a physical phone, its user interface mimics traditional phones. The software program can be installed on any mobile device, where it works as a virtual phone. Also, because Tragofone is software-based, it can interact and integrate with many third-party applications and services such as CRM integration.

A Checklist for Businesses: Key Factors to Consider while choosing a Softphone

Businesses are becoming more competitive and are under pressure to streamline their business operations into lean, efficient, and cost-effective entities. softphone solutions are becoming the preferred business phone solution for companies as they are realizing the benefits of having a unified communication portal that comes with the ability to integrate third-party applications.

Softphone applications can benefit a wide range of businesses, from small to mid-sized companies, to global enterprises. Any organization that has to cater to a large number of customer calls can benefit from the accessibility and flexibility of this system.

Softphones help organizations improve productivity, business efficiency, and unified communication.

Softphones are a good fit for businesses that have:

– Telecommuting employees.

– Call centers to handle customer calls.

– Remote employees.

– Need to make frequent long-distance calls.

– Need to record calls for training purposes.

– Customer support staff.

The industries that can benefit from softphone systems include telecommunications, IT, manufacturing, real estate, banking, education, retail, and healthcare.

If your organization has decided to upgrade to a softphone, then here is a checklist of features that you must tick off the list:

End-to-end integrations: The WebRTC based softphone application should be able to seamlessly integrate with varied hardware including Class 5 Softswitch, IP-PBX server, custom APIs, and the auto provisioning system management via REST APIs.

Auto provisioning system: The soft client or softphone should come with an auto provisioning system through which enterprises can provide zero-touch provisioning to their workforce and customers. Using this feature, the soft client users don’t have to memorize the SIP Credentials.

WebRTC Gateway and Push Call Server: The softphone application’s WebRTC gateway should embed highly secure interactive communication like audio, video, and chat. This will enable organizations to incorporate real-time communication for their workforce and customers, even if they use a legacy SIP server.

Operating System Compatibility: All softphone applications are not compatible with every operating system. Check to ensure the software will work on your device. Whether you’re on macOS, Windows, iOS, or Android, make sure the softphone is compatible.

Number Porting: Your phone number is a valuable asset, and you don’t want to lose it. As you seek out softphone applications, avoid providers that don’t port your existing phone number.

Support: Having a reliable support system is critical. Find out what customer support your softphone provider offers. Is it available 24/7? Does it cost extra? Does the support team help you troubleshoot effectively? Are there training manuals or support videos available?

Customization: Are you able to change your voicemail message, or update a setting without any glitches? The softphone application that you choose should be easy to use as well as rich in features.

Security: Security is critical for every cloud-based service that you add to your organization’s tech portfolio. Determine how protected your data is. The application should offer data encryption, and ideally, it should include more than one type. While Transport Layer Security (TLS) protects your phone data, Secure RTP encrypts media. Another form of security to look out for is access control. For instance, administrator-level permissions that only certain employees can access and strict password protocols allow you to maintain the first line of defense against hackers. It’s also important to make sure that the softphone application supports the same protocol as the VoIP provider.

Collaboration tools: Full-featured softphone services offer a variety of collaboration tools your employees can use to meet, interact, and work jointly online. Users can access these features – including SMS texting, video conferencing, and online collaboration – through a range of applications.

Third-party integration: This is one of the softphone’s key draws. Because it’s a software, these systems often have a list of pre-built integrations with whatever apps the vendor believes their customers like. Clients can use these extensions to create customized workflows, and boost efficiency.

Top Features of Tragofone

Tragofone raises the bar in customer communication for enterprises with its customer-friendly features. Let us look at some of these unique features:

Leverages WebRTC to make seamless audio and video calls: WebRTC has started a communications revolution, by making it richer and accessible to everyone. Supported by the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C), WebRTC allows open standard browsers to communicate with each other and exchange audio, video, and even files that use a simple Javascript-based API. It allows users to make audio and video calls without requiring a plugin or any additional software installation and integrates seamlessly with IP PBX, Class 5 SoftSwitch, Call Center, and Custom APIs. Tragofone is the only VoIP mobile dialer in the market that comes with WebRTC support.

Auto-provisioning: Auto-provisioning enables users to activate their Tragofone service via a web interface without requiring any configuration settings. This makes the deployment and management of installation fast and easy.

Multi-lingual support: Softphone services like Tragofone offers multi-lingual support so that users can converse in a language of their choice, along with embracing the other carrier-grade features of the softphone.

Can be integrated as a white-label mobile dialer app: White-label dialer softphone applications like Tragofone can be integrated under a company’s brand, giving it the brand’s look and feel. Your Tragofone becomes your company’s brand ambassador. Put your logo and brand name on the welcome screen. Customize colors, fonts, and even the user interface if you want. Enterprises can reinforce the power of their brand to users.

Integration with other databases and directories: Some VoIP-based mobile dialer apps like Tragofone implement compatibility with third-party applications like CRM. This feature is especially useful for call centers.

Security and privacy: Organizations are careful about the privacy and security of their communications. These security issues are applicable to softphones, where incoming and outgoing calls are vulnerable to `man in the middle’ attacks, such as wiretapping and eavesdropping. Quality softphones like Tragofone support encryption using Transport Layer Security (TLS) and Secure RTP (SRTP) protocols, as it reduces these threats.

Video Capabilities and online messaging: Tragofone offers a video call component, providing HD video and the ability to have multiple speakers at once. Online messaging allows users to text people directly from their office line.

How Tragofone Benefits Businesses

Software-centric communication solutions like Tragofone are in demand because of the flexibility, scalability, and security they offer. They also enable organizations to improve their communication processes and boost business efficiency.

What benefits does Tragofone bring to enterprises?

Using WebRTC Tragofone makes communication a seamless process

Tragofone is quick and easy to install, is low maintenance, and provides flexibility to users. Besides, it offers one phone system across multiple locations and scalability as per your business needs.

Provide the benefits of auto-provisioning

With an ability to deploy IT configurations through a web interface, rather than manually, Tragofone saves time on assigning IP addresses, reduces errors while configuring devices, improves the accuracy of creating the right access, enhances user onboarding experiences, increases the productivity of admins and reduces costs on device operations.

Ease of use

To use Tragofone, all you need to do is download it on your mobile device and you’re ready to go. It supports almost all types of mobile devices and thus, provides the same seamless experience on any device.

Rich communication experience

VoIP dialer mobile applications like Tragofone come with varied communication features, including audio calls, video calls, conferences, and chat. Moreover, users can share files and images, transforming regular interactions into advanced business meetings.

Cost-effective

Using VoIP signaling for conducting calls and conferences, Tragofone reduces communication costs significantly, when compared to other mediums like PSTN. Businesses realize significant cost savings in the form of lower long-distance fees and minimal equipment costs.

Personalized branding

Tragofone provides white-label dialer softphone applications that can become the face of a brand, as they can integrate a company’s name, logo, and other branding factors. Enterprises can either keep the app private or make it public. The more people using the white-label application, the more traction a brand gets.

Location agnostic

Tragofone can be used anywhere, providing the flexibility for users to work on the go. This makes them ideal for telecommuting employees.

Diverse tech advantages

WebRTC based softphones like Tragofone provide brilliant audio and video quality, consume 50% lower bandwidth, offer encrypted communication and 99% device support, as well as support legacy SIP servers, 3G, 4G networks, and Wifi.

Conclusion

Softphones are the future of enterprise communication, as they provide more collaboration channels and flexibility to busy and on-the-go professionals. This VoIP-powered communication software has transformed the way people make voice calls, video calls, share their screens, notify their presence, or chat using IM, and redefined communication and collaboration. To top it, they’re low on cost and maintenance and high on convenience and efficiency, making them a must-have in every organization’s communication and collaboration toolbox.

12Jul

Impact of COVID-19 on The Telecommunication Industry

July 12, 2021 Maulik Shah 68

As the global economy grappled with the outbreak and impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, `work from home’, and `social distancing’ became the new buzzwords of the business landscape. The telecommunication industry had a big role to play in facilitating the shift to a remote working culture – as video conferencing and other communication technologies emerged as key enablers for smooth business operations.

As countries across the world imposed mobility restrictions and with people confined round-the-clock to their homes, data consumption touched an all-time high. With an increased demand for domestic data consumption, telecom companies became increasingly focused on improving their network resiliency. The pandemic, therefore, had a huge impact on their planned investments, especially in the 5G arena.

It would be apt to say that the telecom industry emerged as the golden child of the pandemic-triggered economic slowdown. However, the increasing demand for communication services, along with the restrictions that the pandemic imposed threw a new set of challenges for the players in this sector.

How the Pandemic Impacted the Global Telecom Sector

Let us understand how the pandemic impacted the telecom sector as a whole:

Network usage and strength

Network usage touched an all-time high during the pandemic, and there was an exponential rise in voice and video calls made across the world. Providing users with a smooth and reliable network experience – while catering to a rise in demand for data services – became an ongoing challenge and focus for telecom companies ever since the pandemic started. It also led to collaborations which one would have not even dreamt of. For instance, telecom operators across the US began collaborating with each other to increase capacity by borrowing each other’s spectrum.

Impact on consumer dynamics

Telecom giants across the world took stringent measures to provide better user experiences and to provide network access to people in a wider environment. To facilitate smooth work from home experiences, telecom operators deployed networking tools at attractive economical plans. For instance, some telecom companies in the UK scaled up their capacity to include free unlimited minutes in many of their subscription plans.

During the pandemic, seamless customer service became one of the most important focus areas for telecom providers. As physical stores continue to remain shut, telecom companies need to up their game when it comes to marketing efforts, in order to reach out to homebound consumers. Innovation and thinking out of the box became the need of the hour.

Other industries affected by the pandemic had a ripple effect on the telecom sector

Though there was a surge in demand for telecom services, the telecom industry itself is dependent on several other industries for its functioning. These industries, in turn, were adversely affected by the global lockdowns and this impacted the functioning of the telecom sector. Let us delve into the related sectors that were impacted by the global shutdowns:

– Hardware and equipment manufacturing sector

A major disruption occurred in the global manufacturing supply chain, which, in turn, affected the availability of spare parts for handsets and network equipment manufacturers. In some cases, it even impacted the availability of handsets and equipment and caused costs to go up. Realizing the catastrophic effect this could have on the telecom sector, governments across the world permitted manufacturers to operate even in red zones.

– Effect on Sim card purchases

Global lockdown restricted the movement of people. As a result, there was a sharp dip in the purchase of new Sim cards as well as on 4G migrations. This eventually impacted the revenue of cellular service providers. The pandemic and the subsequent lockdown delayed the 5G spectrum auctions and their consequent rollout as network operators were focused on meeting increased demand and ensuring the quality of services was not impacted. The restrictions on manufacturing and the mobility of goods also had an impact on the availability of 5G enabled handsets.

Telecom played a key role in disseminating Covid-related information

The telecom sector was instrumental in helping governments track infected individuals and curb the spread of the virus. Countries like the US, China, and India have a vast landscape and a highly mobile population. These countries were able to contain the spread of the virus with the help of data communication and contact tracing. Many other countries also adopted a similar approach.

However, the usage of cellular data to track and control the spread of the virus is already raising concerns about data privacy in the future.

Financial implications

Though the demand for telecommunication and other peripheral services remained at an all-time high during the pandemic, small players in the industry may face cash flow issues in the future. For instance, telecom companies that collaborated with sports-centric media organizations saw their revenues being hit as all sporting events were called off during the Covid-related lockdowns.

The big giants of the telecom industry are also reassessing their future investment plans. They are restructuring their network infrastructure and investment portfolio and aggressively investing in 5G technology. When it comes to speed and reliability, 5G is clearly emerging as the future of communications. The industry is witnessing collaborations at a scale that have never been seen before. Companies are focusing on technology mergers and acquisitions in order to secure a larger customer base by leveraging each other’s strengths.

How the Telecom Sector Emerged as the Poster Child of the Pandemic

The telecommunication sector also stepped up to meet the challenges of the call center industry, as contact center companies moved their operations to remote working setups within a short span of time. Softphones and VoIP technology played a key role in enabling this transition to happen smoothly. Cloud-based VoIP mobile dialers helped call centers to build a strategic and multi-faceted workforce – be it in a single location, multiple centers, or with work from home agents. Also with real-time messaging, and collaboration tools, VoIP-powered softphone technology allowed customers to reach agents across locations and time zones. They facilitated communication as would happen in a traditional office while providing data security and flexibility.

The telecom sector has become an integral instrument through which the modern world stays connected with each other. With the rise of a remote work culture, communication technologies like video conferencing and file sharing emerged as the chief instruments used by global workforces to collaborate and work together on the same projects. However, disparities in the reach of the sector also brought to fore the divide between the digital and non-digital world.

The public health sector benefited the most by using the services of the telecom industry amidst the pandemic. Telecom operators stepped up to the global health challenge and supported the health sector’s transition to digital platforms by partnering with organizations to create virtual clinics and providing online health consultations. Digitization initiatives that once took months were mobilized and operationalized in weeks and even days.

Since all work, socializing, and family interactions were happening virtually, people did not need just any broadband connection. What they wanted was a reliable, viable, robust, and resilient broadband connection that transmitted data and enabled voice and video calls to happen seamlessly. Consumers were willing to pay more for fiber-optic connections. This proved to be a great opportunity for telecom companies to convince their existing subscribers to upgrade from old broadband connections and move to 5G. These potential consumers were also reportedly ready to pay a premium to enjoy the speed and seamlessness of 5G services.

Telecom operators have an opportunity to provide an expanded set of services with higher bandwidth to various sectors such as entertainment services, educational services, digital-business building, and support retail customers to sell online.

In India, telecom operators partnered with the government and were instrumental in educating people and creating awareness about COVID-19 related protocols and social distancing norms. They also played a critical role in the government’s efforts to conduct contact tracing and, thus, combat the pandemic.

Future Challenges for the Telecom Sector

Some glaring future concerns that industry leaders foresee and are preparing to handle include the reliability of networks, the ideal time to invest in 5G technology, the risks associated with 5G, and a reassessment of cost structures to offset the revenue decline caused due to the pandemic.

Some other concerns that are projected to arise in the near future are to ensure stellar customer service and positive user experiences despite the huge pressures that telecom companies face on their network infrastructure. With a change in the data privacy framework, the long-term privacy implications and consumer policies will also need to be addressed on a priority basis.

Global Trends in Telecom Sector

What are the projected trends of the telecom sector in the near future? Let us look at what the surveys say:

Some of the biggest players in the telecom sector, including AT&T, Apple, Verizon Communications Inc., China Mobile Ltd, and Samsung anticipate staggering growth for the sector. They estimate that the global telecom market will grow from $2555 billion in 2020 to $2713.53 billion in 2021 at a CAGR of 6.2%.

According to industry experts as well as recent surveys, the global telecom market value will be worth $3461.03 billion in 2025 at a CAGR of 6%.

Asia Pacific emerged as the largest region in the global telecom market, accounting for 34% of the market in 2020.

North America came a close second with 32% of the global telecom market. Africa was the smallest region in the global telecom market in 2020.

Internet TV gained immense popularity in both developed and developing countries because of their competitive pricing and with people spending most of their time at home.

This phenomenal growth in the telecom sector is being attributed to businesses rearranging their operations due to the impact of Covid-19. The operations of all businesses were disrupted due to containment measures, restrictive movements, social distancing, and abrupt closure of all commercial activities.

The Way Forward

Despite the challenges and the setbacks that the telecom sector and its related industries faced during the pandemic, the general sentiment is that telecom was one of the few sectors that remained unscathed as several other industries like travel and airlines took a severe beating during the pandemic. Businesses, political leaders, businesses, and all stakeholders are now cognizant of the importance of these services, especially in the current scenario when there is a pressing need to make global communication a seamless process. Steps are being taken to resolve both short-term and long-term issues faced by the telecom sector. Even in the face of adversity, increased demand for services helped offset a dip in revenues.

The high-end subscribers and people who were working from home needed a strong and reliable telecom network to work without any glitches. So even though telecom companies lost their market share of Sim card subscribers, they saw a sharp rise in demand for super-fast internet connectivity and broadband connections.

Post the pandemic, work, entertainment, education, and even socializing went virtual and remote. And it was all delivered to users by telecom companies.

Telecom companies have assisted the government with outreach and analytics to spread awareness about COVID-19. They have been instrumental in providing anonymized data to the government for analytics, which helped them develop effective plans for combating the pandemic.

Conclusion

Despite the challenges faced by the telecom sector, it has emerged as a rock-solid support system for several industries like IT and call centers. Telecom companies have stepped up to the challenges thrown by the pandemic and the subsequent global lockdowns and were instrumental in helping global governments devise the right strategies to combat the situation and educate people.

05Jul

7 Reasons Why A White Label Softphone Is Ideal For Your Business

July 5, 2021 Maulik Shah 74

Today’s fast-changing business environment and work cultures have made it imperative for organizations to adopt communication technologies that increase mobility and connectivity. A survey of enterprise IT employees conducted in 2017 found that 99% considered mobility a professional priority.

In keeping with employee expectations, organizations are prioritizing mobility in communication by opting for VoIP-powered mobile dialers and unified communication solutions. Modern enterprises are rapidly moving from traditional PBX phone systems to virtual softphones that can be easily accessed and used by an on-the-go workforce.

VoIP Softphones can be installed either in a mobile phone, laptop, desktop, or tablet to make voice and video calls over IP networks. As businesses increasingly move to this real-time, diverse communication platform, they are seeking to white label their telephony systems in order to retain complete ownership of the solution, without having to build it from scratch.

What is white label branding? White labeling allows VoIP service providers to customize the look and feel or the theme of an existing softphone as per the business needs of the client. Enterprises can brand a softphone solution with their own brand name and logo and use this version to create a greater brand impact in the market.

White label softphones help businesses harness the benefits of a personalized, branded communication system. Also, building an in-house hosted PBX platform from scratch can take years to develop and requires extensive domain knowledge and technical expertise. White label solutions, on the other hand, enable businesses to have complete autonomy and ownership of their softphone systems, without investing in development and support.

Also known as mobile SIP dialers, softphones are a software application that use internet protocol to provide varied communication features to its users. A white label softphone carries the brand name of the client, instead of the company that developed the dialer.

An organization can acquire a white labeled softphone in two ways:

By on boarding a third-party softphone app developer (like Tragofone) and customizing the solution as per their specific requirements.
By opting for a software multi-tenancy contract, where the core softphone application remains the same, but each user has access to different sets of features.

A white label softphone solution is a complete package that comes with the functionality and personal touches of an application that has been built from scratch. White labeling enables a business to practically own and use the technology without spending hundreds of hours on development and support. It helps an enterprise carve its unique identity in the market by delivering exceptional user experiences. In today’s tech-driven and hybrid work culture, the benefits of white label softphones are too lucrative to be ignored by businesses.

It is always better for businesses if they can customize and brand their ITSPs SIP Softphones, as it helps in building their own brand identity and visibility in the market, saves time and money and enhances customer loyalty.

In this blog, we will look at how enterprises can gain by investing in white labeled softphones and how personalized communication solutions enable them to build better businesses.

A Macro look at how White labeled Softphones can benefit your Business

From basic aesthetic and logo changes to a fully overhauled user experience with customized features and specific settings, white label softphones can be developed as a solution that meets the unique needs of every enterprise. It provides businesses with the power of the best softphone applications, along with optional service additions for messaging, collaboration, and video conferencing, to meet their communications needs.

Let us look at the benefits that businesses can avail by opting for white labeled softphones:

#1. White label softphones provide functionality, flexibility and control

When opting for a white label solution you only pay for the features you want. Businesses get the required functionality and they can put their brand name to it and resell it further at a price they want. With white labeling, the customer information and controls over the softphone stay with the client and are not in the possession of the service provider. To top it, enterprises can carry out all their operations and services exclusively under their own brand name and don’t need to compromise on the autonomy of their business.

#2. Customized softphones help businesses create unique user experiences

With white labeling, businesses can build a phone that reflects their company’s image and provides their customers with unique user experiences. The customization options that white labeled softphones offer are endless:

– Change the product name, logo, or branding.

– They can change graphic and default settings

– Add, remove, or lockdown certain features.

– Specify and apply provisioning settings and custom configurations.

– Add instant messaging features, screen sharing, or video conferencing services.

#3. White label softphones help save time and development effort

Building an in-house hosted PBX platform from scratch requires knowledge, expertise, and experience. It involves years of research to develop a softphone and test it successfully. Even then, there is no guarantee of success. White label softphone solutions, on the other hand, are already tried and tested and save organizations the hassle of developing and testing a Hosted PBX. It thus enables them to get a head start over their competitors, as they have instant access to a fully managed VoIP platform that has been tested and is ready for immediate use.

#4. White label softphones are cost-effective

Developing any product in-house requires huge financial investment and there are recurring maintenance costs attached as well. Purchasing an already established Hosted PBX platform, on the other hand, saves money and enterprises also have the support of a service provider for any maintenance-related issues. Their overhead costs are considerably low and this enables them to start earning profits faster.

#5. White label softphones are easy to use and don’t require any advanced technical know how

Building and managing your own hosted softphone platform is an incredibly labor-intensive task and requires specialized technical skill sets. White label softphones, however, provide organizations with a ready-to-use, fully developed platform that integrates seamlessly with other systems like selling, delivering, and invoicing.

#6. Customized white label softphones provide more privacy and mobility to employees

Any organization’s support staff needs to be in touch with multiple people during a call, as they talk to customers to understand their issues and concerns. In case of a technical issue, a customer support executive needs to contact the concerned technician and be in touch with the customer as well as the technician in real-time until the problem gets resolved. They also have to ensure the customer does not feel ignored or unattended. As a result, the executive ends up juggling several communication applications.

On top of this, there is also a risk of an organization’s data getting compromised. Softphone applications are an ideal solution to address such concerns. Most softphone solutions are designed in a way that they can be installed on any smart device like a smartphone, tablet or laptop. Once installed, the support staff can access the app 24×7 from anywhere.

The VoIP mobile dialer app supports audio calling and chats, as well as app to app calling is free – allowing customer support executives advantage to communicate with several people in one go. It also enables the support team to share images and files which enables them to resolve customer issues on an immediate basis. It also allows them to communicate from a business phone number even while working remotely, without sharing their private contact details with customers. This lends a professional touch to the organization.

#7. Enables businesses to focus on their core expertise

With its communication technologies in place, organizations are able to focus on their core business and competencies, marketing strategies, brand building, and work on strategies for better customer reach. Operating a thriving business needs time, energy, and commitment. With white label softphones, businesses don’t have to worry about building a customized communication tool. They can, instead, focus their energy where it counts and bring their product or service to the market in quick time.

A Micro-Level view: Specific Advantages of Using White labeled Softphones

Besides the broad benefits of time and cost-saving, here are some of the more compelling reasons why a company should opt for a white label softphone application rather than developing one in-house:

White label softphones are easy to use and are often built around user-friendly interfaces. Most white label applications can be customized or be fully featured with calling, conferencing, provisioning, and more.
A White Label application enhances a business’s branding and promotion activities. Clients can change the solution’s name to add their own brand name, and match it with their organization’s look and feel – and all these features are available for a nominal fee.
White label softphone applications come with prior testing and have already gone through multiple layers of technical tests, quality checks, and revisions. This ensures that a client is opting for a sophisticated app on which they can essentially put their name and use without having to invest in any research and development.
By using a third-party white labeled softphone application, even small businesses can be technologically at par with their more established competitors in terms of advanced softphone features. They can do this without incurring heavy expenses involved in hiring a team of software engineers and UX designers.
White Label apps reduce the risk of failure, as third-party developers are responsible for any faults. Your investment is secure and you get to enjoy all the perks of a great tool. It is the responsibility of the third-party developer to take care of the troubleshooting.
There have been rapid changes in the way businesses communicate. Softphones initially emerged as a technology that was an upgrade on traditional phones, as it was an agile platform with highly advanced functionalities. Customer expectations about communication technologies are also constantly evolving and it can get difficult for enterprises to stay abreast of these changes. However, with white labeled softphones, this job is left to the service provider, who helps upgrade the technology and allows enterprises to keep up with changes.
With white labeled softphones, enterprises get to choose features that are relevant for their business and pay only for those. Some businesses may not need certain advanced features. White labeled softphones enable organizations to build a real-time communication platform that’s fully customized to their business needs.

Conclusion

White labeled VoIP mobile dialers enable businesses to leverage the benefits of premium hosted PBX and VIP trunking without spending time or thousands of dollars. It also enables organizations to maintain complete autonomy over their communication solutions. They can use their brand name and logo to project their ownership in front of customers, as well as enable them to provide their clients with outstanding products while maintaining a high ROI, consistently. Most importantly, white labeled softphones save organizations the hassle of developing a highly complex software from scratch as well as allows them to retain privacy and control over their customer communication.

01Jul

What is White Labeling in VoIP Softphones? Why is it Important?

July 1, 2021 Maulik Shah 70

Deploying a unified communication (UC) solution has become imperative for modern enterprises. But is it possible for every business to build a customized communication system that fits their requirements and helps their workforce stay seamlessly connected? The answer is an obvious `No’, as it requires time, money, and technical expertise.

So how do organizations solve this conundrum and level the playing field? By using white labelled softphone applications to provide customized user experiences to their customers, while staying within budget.

In today’s crowded business space, white label softphones help enterprises set themselves apart from their competitors – by using a customized tool to engage with their customers, broaden their audience base, and drive sales. A white labeled unified communication solution offers all the functions and personal touches of a VoIP softphone application that’s been built from scratch, without overloading organizations with high development and support costs.

White label softphones also enable businesses to create and build their unique brand identities and satisfy customer needs by delivering exceptional user experiences. These custom branded solutions come with fully loaded calling, conferencing, provisioning, and messaging features.

The options of white labeling your VoIP softphone solutions are diverse. Organizations can choose from basic aesthetic and logo changes, to a fully enhanced communication experience that offers customized features and unique settings developed to meet their specific needs. Besides all the basic benefits of softphones, white labeled solutions also offer optional service additions for messaging, collaboration, and conferencing, with ultimate control over settings, languages, and branding.

Moreover, as businesses move towards a hybrid work culture – combining office with remote working – organizations are feeling a growing need for a communication solution that is customized for their specific work environments while boosting their brand identity. In such a scenario, white labeled UCaaS (Unified Communications-as-a-service) solutions are emerging as the way forward.

In this blog, we will understand how white labeling works and why it is important for businesses to build unique brand identities:

What is white labeling?
Why is softphone white labeling important?
How white labeling work in Softphones?
Why should businesses opt for white labeled Softphones?
Benefits of using white labeling in Softphones
How to choose a white labeled softphone service provider?

What is white labeling?

To understand white labeling in the context of VoIP softphones, we first need to understand what a “white label” means. In layman terms, when a provider removes its own branding and logo from the end product and uses the logo, brand name and language of the purchaser, it is termed as white labeling.

In the digital services industry, a client can purchase a product and present it to the customer under its own brand name. White label technology is a ready to use licensed software product developed by a company and rebranded and customized for its clients in a way that it appears to be owned by them. White labeling enables third-party companies to do branding in a way that they command complete control over the product’s appearance, policy, and support, along with easy access to the support infrastructure.

Why is Softphone white labeling important?

It’s a highly competitive business environment out there. Developing a product in-house, launching it involves time and resources. When it comes to building products like VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) mobile dialers, or softphones, the costs, technical resources, and time involved are prohibitive. It requires specialized infrastructure, a technical team, knowhow, and expertise. Which is why, most customers who seek customized VoIP softphones leave it to the experts to build it for them.

Real time communication systems have become a necessity – and not just a value add – in the modern, digital business world. Organizations are increasingly opting for white label softphone applications, as it’s an easy and sure-shot way to improve user experience and maintain feature parity while staying well within a budget. It helps organizations carve their unique identity within their industry by delivering the exceptional user experiences that their customers seek.

How white labeling works in Softphones

Let’s look at the A-to-Z of the process of deploying white labeling in softphones.

The OEM (Original equipment manufacturer) development company develops a plug-and-play software product and provides it as a service to businesses. For instance, a VoIP platform is built, white labeled and tailored to suit the unique requirements of a brand. The client then needs to “decorate” the product to match their corporate identity. White labeling enables them to add their company’s logo, name, icons, URLs, corporate emails, text, theme, and other elements of their website in order to align the VoIP softphone with your brand. Once this customization is complete, they’re ready to deploy the softphones, as per their terms and conditions.

Developing a softphone solution from scratch is a cumbersome and expensive affair, making it unaffordable and impractical for most companies. On the other hand, deploying a ready to use softphone software enables partners to launch their own brand based on a product provider’s existing VoIP softphone technology. The technical issues associated with white label platform development and future support and maintenance, are outsourced to the white label company. What the brand receives in return is a product that has been made and implemented in accordance with its technical specifications.

In the real world, white labeled softphones work well for businesses across industries. A business always wants to manage its financial resources, time, and technical platform in an effective manner and a white labeled VoIP mobile dialer solution helps them get there.

Let’s now look at how to configure, build, test, and publish iOS, Mac, Chrome, Android, and Windows softphone apps on their respective play stores, using the cloud base phone system. It is a three step process comprising:

Verification/Authentication
Configuration
Release

Verification/Authentication

Verification refers to the method that platform operators – be it Google, Apple, or Microsoft – use to verify and/or authenticate user access to the development portal or console. The first step is to create an account on the desired platform and complete the process by verifying the account owner and allowing them access to the platform.

Configuration

This refers to the step by step instructions to configure and build the softphone application. Configuration is a prerequisite step that’s needed prior to publishing or releasing the softphone solution. There are instances when the configuration is done on the platform website, but in most cases a manifest or XML file is added to the application directory.

Release

These are the step by step instructions to publish an application in the store. It comprises components like splash screen, app icon, background image, screenshots, etc. Most service providers support cloud softphone white-label application development with minimal or even no coding. All it takes is a few clicks, and you have created a full-fledged white-label application of the cloud softphone SIP client.

When configuring a portal/console you need to choose a white-label feature-set. This feature set allows you to configure all the white-label features, such as the application icon, UI theme and design, and the overall look and feel of the softphone solution. The objective is to configure and publish the solution in a way that the final softphone application looks like it has been created by you. Irrespective of the platform that you’re working on, you can create white-label softphone applications that run on all the supported platforms, with a uniform look and feel.

Why should businesses opt for White labeled Softphones

Businesses opt for white labeled softphones for several reasons. What are these?

Some businesses want to keep their business focus strictly on brand building or developing innovative customer serving strategies. They do not want to risk building a softphone in-house as they may compromise on the quality of the product. Instead, they are more comfortable with the idea of acquiring a tried and tested softphone technology.

Companies do not want to get into the hassle of special registration or licensing of an in-house softphone developed by them.

In order to stay ahead of competition, companies want to integrate certain customized technical features into their softphones that may not be available in generic softphone solutions.

Some enterprises may be looking at entering new markets. They have the vision on how to capture these markets by enhancing on unique softphone technology, but do not have the necessary expertise to develop this technology.

Organizations may not have the right technology, experts and development teams to build a softphone.

During the pandemic most enterprises moved to remote working. Many companies faced communication roadblocks and began looking for softphone solutions to enable their employees to work from any location. Most companies did not have the bandwidth or resources to develop in-house softphone technology. This is where white label softphone service providers saved the day for most companies.

Benefits of using white labeling in Softphones

Providing customers with a real-time communications system is the need of the hour in today’s digitally connected world. A white label softphone solution is a complete package with all the functionality and personal touches of an application that’s built from scratch.

Companies have come to realize that choosing a white label softphone solution is a smart and cost-effective move rather than going through trials and errors of developing an in-house VoIP mobile dialer system. The icing on the cake is that you get to use it with your branding, without spending long hours on its development and support. Listed below are the benefits of migrating to a white label softphone solution for businesses to meet their communication needs. It’s emerging as the most holistic way forward to provide your customers a seamless digital experience.

Enables control and functionality

Enterprises get to choose features that are relevant for their business and pay only for those, thus saving on costs. Some businesses may not need certain advanced features. White labeled softphones enable organizations to build a real-time communication platform that’s fully customized to their business needs.

Allows organizations to stay technologically at par with their competitors

Even a small company can now be at par in terms of advanced softphone features with its more established competitors, without incurring heavy expenses involved in hiring a team of software engineers and UX designers. By licensing a white label softphone app they save money but stay competitive.

Save time and stay ahead

Building an app from scratch is a time-consuming and cumbersome process with no guaranteed success. A mobile communication application is a complex technology and requires substantial investment. However, a white label softphone app enables companies to have a completely customized mobile communication solution up and running within days.

Promote your brand

White label softphone solutions enable companies to rebrand the softphone services under their own label. It helps earn customer loyalty and also ensures high brand visibility without incurring high development costs. The solutions are designed to integrate seamlessly with businesses and although companies are not responsible for creating the softphone, they enjoy complete operational autonomy. The service provider does not access and manage confidential customer data.

Save on support and maintenance costs

Technology keeps evolving. Running a softphone solution smoothly requires maintenance and support because of factors like server hosting, ensuring a stable experience across all supported iOS versions, Windows, and Android devices, surveillance for virus attacks and hackers, renewal of licenses and tech support for customers. A white labeled softphone provider ensures you have a support team without having to hire them in-house.

Easily adapt to change

There has been a huge change in the way businesses communicate. Softphones initially emerged as a technology to upgrade traditional phones. It’s now an agile platform with highly advanced functionalities. Customer expectations have also changed. Your softphone service provider helps you stay abreast with these rapid changes.

How to choose a white labeled softphone service provider

Choosing a reliable white label service provider is critical for businesses. When looking to partner with a softphone provider, opt for someone who provides the richest feature set in the market. Some of the features you should look for are push notifications, rich messaging, file transfer, call forwards and transfers, videoconferencing, API functionality, and smart contacts. Choose a provider who does not push you into selecting features you will never use. What are the other criteria that businesses must keep in mind while selecting a provider:

Look for stellar security and compatibility across devices and other formats.

Choose a service provider that lets you grow at your own pace and not push you too much.

Opt for a provider that helps you stay on top of the latest tech trends.

Your provider should help you create a fully-branded white label softphone application that’s packed with the latest UCaaS and collaboration features.

Gives you a choice to pick and pay for the features you want and enables you to add or remove features at any point.

Your white label softphone solution should improve worker mobility with native apps for mobile and desktop and fully integrate business phone functionality, allowing employees to make calls from any device.

According to a survey report by opinion matters 99% IT enterprise professionals prioritize mobility above everything else. A white label softphone enables you to provide that mobility and flexibility to employees. In a highly digitized, fast, competitive market and a rapid shift towards a hybrid work culture white label softphones offer flexibility and reliability to some very key concerns of a business.

22Jun

10 Crucial Features of Softphone Solutions for Customer Service

June 22, 2021 Maulik Shah 69

Businesses are constantly looking for ways to provide flexible and great customer service. Using telephones alone can be limiting and inefficient when it comes to accommodating your customers’ needs. While there are countless automation options available now, the human element is still a critical factor in fostering deeper relationships with your clients. This factor is nudging businesses to invest in softphones.

According to PwC, 82% of consumers want more human interactions while engaging with a brand. In fact, 59% of them claim that they are dissatisfied with automation-driven customer services as it takes away the human element from the business interaction. Softphones are helping customer-driven enterprises to bring personalization into their client interactions. Besides, they also offer flexibility, accessibility, and mobility in business communication.

A softphone is not, in fact, a phone. It is a software that allows you to use a computer, phone or tablet to place internet-based calls. This software is usually provided by a Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) provider, and functions as a user-friendly interface that operates similarly to a traditional phone – users can dial numbers and access other VoIP telephony features. Softphones offer all the features of desk phones – and much more.

Softphones can operate entirely on the cloud, making them accessible from anywhere with an internet connection. With browser-based, mobile, and downloadable desktop phone applications, they make remote work seamlessly possible.

Why Softphones are emerging as the future of Customer Communication for Enterprises

Customers today want convenience and accessibility when they contact an organization’s customer service team. Softphone technology has convenience and flexibility built into its DNA. There are many benefits to using softphones within your business. Not only does it enhance customer experience, but it also improves employee workflows.

To give you a better idea of how softphones can raise the bar in customer communication for enterprises, here are some of the key customer-friendly features of the app.

#1. Softphone’s communication tools allow employees to address customer issues in real-time

Besides voice communication, softphones also enable video conferencing and instant messaging. Since they can be installed on diverse, portable devices, they increase an organization’s flexibility in communication, enabling employees to work anywhere, at any time.

Moreover, softphones notify users of incoming calls and messages in real-time. This significantly reduces waiting time for customers and ensures that company executives can immediately address and accommodate their needs. Softphones also provide a user’s presence status in real-time, displaying which executive is available to take a call. Likewise, it informs if a customer is available to take a call as well.

#2. Softphones allow customers to reach customer service executives over diverse communication mediums

VoIP-enabled softphones provide an integrated mix of omnichannel communications that include voice, video, and chat communication via a single, universal solution. This results in workforce optimization and allows agents to provide personalized experiences to customers.

By leveraging the unified communication benefits of softphones, customer service executives can integrate customer communication across channels. Customers can communicate with brands using a blend of these communication pathways, switching from one to another, as they would do with a consumer communication app.

#3. Softphones empower remote customer service employees to stay in touch with their clients using advanced UC tools

Remote working is fast becoming a norm among the modern workforce. Traditional telephony solutions worked well when employees remained on-premise, but fall by the wayside when it came to enabling remote work. Cloud communications have become critical for modern enterprises that are modernizing their operations and adding multiple communication channels to their workflows.

VoIP-powered softphones keep customer service executives to their customers, irrespective of location or device. With mobile applications linked directly to a user’s business phone number, employees can make and receive calls from their personal phone, while using their official phone number, staying connected with their clients even when they are on the go.

Also, cloud-enabled VoIP mobile dialers provide organizations with the flexibility to onboard a remote workforce. Hybrid offices (that work with a combination of remote and on-premise agents) can use softphones to streamline team communications and build a collaborative work culture.

#4. Softphones provide HD audio and video quality to enable quality communication

The quality of your customer service can leave a lasting impression on customers. Choppy audio and lagging video calls can negatively impact your business credibility. Not to mention, it can make your company appear less professional to your customers. Softphone providers understand the importance of high-quality audio and video for businesses.

Nowadays, softphones leverage advanced technology for high-quality audio and video conferencing capabilities. Whether you are using your mobile phones, desktops, or any other device, it delivers consistent call quality. Tragofone, for one, uses WebRTC (Web Real-Time Communications) technology to facilitate peer-to-peer and direct communications between enterprises and their customers. This simplifies and improves customer experiences.

#5. Softphones bring the power of seamless collaboration using the right tools

Another benefit of using a softphone is the access to collaboration tools to streamline teamwork among customer representatives. You can use it to store and centralize your contact directory, call logs, voicemails, and other necessary documents. In turn, all authorized representatives and employees have access to such data from their own devices. You can also add, edit, or remove users and devices from your database to limit certain authorizations and accessibility.

Moreover, softphones provide organizations with automation tools that help reduce workloads. This allows them to focus on accommodating customers’ needs and avoid getting distracted by other menial tasks. Its automation features also streamline workflows by routing calls to available representatives, forwarding calls to the right people, and enabling quick search directory dialing.

#6. Softphones have your security issues covered

You might think that using a traditional telephone is safer than using the internet for communications. However, both are equally vulnerable to hackers, scammers, and fraudsters. But one advantage of using a softphone is its built-in security features that safeguard your representatives and clients.

Popular VOIP software often comes with robust and reliable security features. These include:

– End-to-end encryptions of calls and data

– User authentication upon logging in

– Monitoring and tracking tools

– Management and control features

With softphones, you can add layers of protection around your communications, unlike traditional desk phones.

#7. Softphones power your communication with analytics and reporting

One of the most outstanding features of softphones for enterprise use are its analytics and reporting functions. This allows organizations to collect and analyze data based on the calls and interactions between their representatives and customers. They can use this information to evaluate their employees’ work performance. Likewise, they can also use it to gather critical customer data such as their behavior, demands, and preferences.

By leveraging data and analytics, businesses can identify their customer service strengths and weaknesses, determining specific areas that need improvement in order to provide better customer experiences. You can check out this article comparing different VOIP software systems to find out which ones offer effective and accurate analytics and reporting tools for your business.

#8. Cloud-based softphones can easily integrate with other software tools

The phone has always been a device that was used along with other business tools. Modern softphones enable a wide range of possibilities in terms of collaboration and productivity. Cloud-based softphones can connect diverse business tools to produce faster workflows and less human error.

A customer usually connects with a customer service executive when they face a problem with a product or a service. This means the representative has to have instant access to the customer’s background information.

Softphones enable CRM integrations that give customer executives more context and background about a customer. They can be easily integrated with a company’s CRM to provide complete customer information. This equips executives to provide satisfactory answers to customer queries without any time-lapse. Calls can be auto-logged into the CRM and agents can view customer data while speaking to them.

With integrated softphone software, enterprises can:

– Make calls from directly within their CRM.

– Sync call data and notes between applications.

– Enhance customer surveys.

– Assist with sales automation.

#9. Softphones ensure that customer service executives never miss calls

A VoIP softphone solution ensures that no call is unanswered, as it automatically routes every inbound call to the best representative who can service a customer’s needs. If the first-choice agent is not available, the call automatically goes to the next person who is best equipped to handle the query.

Softphones make call forwarding simple, ensuring that a customer’s needs are always met. With this phone system, no call goes to an automatic voicemail. Customer service executives can ensure that their customers are met with a live person when they call in, thus improving overall customer satisfaction.

#10. UCaaS and IoT is the future of enterprise customer interaction – and softphones are the go-to UCaaS medium

Unified communications-as-a-service (UCaaS) and the Internet of Things (IoT) are the next steps of enterprise-client interaction. Softphones support this by providing a simple, lightweight communication platform across multiple devices and offering most of the features that organizations seek from UCaaS deployments. Softphones are revolutionizing the way customer service executives work and connect with customers.

Conclusion

Softphones are enabling organizations to set themselves apart from the competition by delivering seamless customer service and thus boosting productivity. For customer service executives softphones have directly translated into fewer missed calls, more opportunities to connect with clients, and better customer engagement. Softphones have helped organizations to completely re-imagine their customer relationships – by enabling omnichannel communication and ensuring they are just one quick call away from their consumers.

27May

7 Benefits of Softphones for Call Centers

May 27, 2021 Maulik Shah 67

A call center is normally associated with agents and managers. Although they play a huge role in building a successful communication hub, call centers are also defined by the technologies they employ, especially their phone systems – comprising hardware, software, and processes.

An efficient phone system is critical for a call center, as it facilitates functions like call routing and logging, agent desktop interface, multi-channel communications, and predictive dialing. Also, integrations – such as CRM integration – and workforce management can also be managed by internet-based telephony solutions.

If your business has made the transition from a traditional switch phone network to Softphones – or VoIP mobile dialers – in order to provide these functions, you have taken a step in the right direction.

Most modern call centers are powered by software, rather than telephone hardware systems. Organizations that are looking at setting up a call center to handle technical support, customer care, sales, and data collection often opt for a VoIP phone system or SIP (Session Initiation Protocol) phone solution. These internet phone options offer businesses general desk phones, wireless phones, or softphones with several optional call center features, to meet their needs for high-quality service and reliability.

In this blog, we will take a tour of how VoIP call centers work, how they optimize communications, and the benefits they provide to call centers.

What is a VoIP-enabled Call Center
VoIP Call Center Features that Match Every Organization’s Communication Needs
How unified communications can help your call center
How Softphones Optimize Call Center Communications
Softphone features that are tailor-made for Call Centers
Has your Call Center Switched to Softphones?
Introducing WebRTC into Call Centers

What is a VoIP-enabled Call Center

VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) has changed the way contact centers work, especially virtual call centers. A virtual call center is created by taking many small call centers and agents who work from home from different locations and connecting them. This is usually done using VoIP-enabled softphones, IVR (Interactive Voice Response), ACD (Automatic Call Distribution), and CTI (computer telephony integration).

VoIP-enabled softphone solutions for call centers are powered to handle higher call volumes and come with several additional features when compared to a traditional PBX phone service. These include routing incoming calls to the right person and integrating with other systems that provide essential customer information and capture operational data for analysis and control.

Most virtual call centers today use VoIP dialers, running entirely over the internet and automating multichannel customer support and self-service options. They are beneficial for businesses as they improve service levels, provide emergency backup and facilitate extended operating hours.

VoIP-powered Call Center Features that Match Every Organization’s Communication Needs

Call centers have evolved over the past few years, handling higher call volumes and managing growing customer expectations. In fact, call centers are metamorphosing into multi-channel communication hubs, providing assistance through forums, live chats, and other non-voice mediums. This makes it necessary for them to stay flexible and use a phone solution that exceeds customer expectations.

What are the special features offered by VoIP-enabled call center phone systems?

Interactive Voice Response (IVR): Set up your IVR to send incoming calls to the right call center agent.
Call recording: Record, pause, and listen to customer interactions at any time.
Automatic Call Distribution (ACD): Distribute calls based on business hours, technical support level, and IVR options.
VoIP phone numbers: Get local or toll-free numbers, or port your existing phone numbers.
Call routing: Manage customer interactions seamlessly. Don’t disgruntle your customers by making them repeat requests.

VoIP mobile dialers are changing the way call center agents interact with customers: How unified communications can help your call center

By incorporating a unified communication (UC) system into call center workflows, organizations can streamline communication and improve agent productivity and customer experience. Let’s elaborate on some of these benefits:

Enable digital transformation: HD video calling, message and presence screen sharing, and other UC features power up call center communications. These latest cloud communication technologies can help enterprises get ahead of competition.
Boost agent productivity: Agents can manage customer interactions using a streamlined, easy-to-use interface. With auto-answer capabilities, call notifications, and more, they gain the flexibility to work across all call control platforms.
Build customized user experiences: Add or remove communication channels that fit your organization’s needs and track end-to-end customer journeys.
Make remote call centers efficient: UC supports an at-home agent environment with a centralized management of distributed networks. This boosts the productivity of remote agents.

How Softphones Optimize Call Center Communications

Good customer service begins with crystal clear communication. With HD quality calling and diverse call control features, VoIP call centers enable agents to have everything at their fingertips.

Like every other industry, there is a growing demand in the call center sector to move to the cloud. Therefore, organizations are increasingly tapping into cloud communication solutions, such as softphones and UC-based call center apps to build a strategic and multi-faceted workforce – be it in a single location, multiple centers, or with work from home agents.

Call center softphones support cloud-based platforms, real-time messaging, and collaboration tools that allow customers to reach agents across locations and time zones. They facilitate communication as would happen in a traditional office while providing data security and flexibility.

Softphone systems also allow enterprises to white-label or provide specific, customized features and collaboration that are aligned with their brand and built as per their unique use cases.

Softphone Features that are Tailor-made for Call Centers

An efficient call center phone system helps run a communication center smoothly. Softphones offer features that are way more advanced than simple dialing and receiving calls. The exhaustive features that call center phone solutions come with make them stand out from landlines and PBX systems.

We have already discussed the standard IVR and ACD features that softphones offer. Let’s look at some specific VoIP features that add value to call centers.

Browser-based web phones: Agents can easily take calls from their computer browser, irrespective of location and without requiring any physical desk phones.
Click to call: Click to call browser plugins and auto-dialing numbers through a webpage help boost agent productivity.
Global outbound dialing: Make outbound calls to any location, anywhere in the world, with customizable caller IDs.
CRM integrations with screen pop: CRM integrations give agents more context and background about a customer during calls.
Instant set up: Setting up a phone has never been easier. Call center softphones can be set up and implemented in minutes. All that you need is a microphone and an internet connection.
Gain flexibility and scalability: Softphones make it easy to add new agents to scale your team.
Cost-effective plans: Call centers can save on costly phone bills, as well as the cost of setting up and maintaining desk phone equipment and phone lines.
Easy administration: Reduce your dependency on IT teams, as softphone solutions are centrally managed, and can be deployed across multiple locations, and scaled with ease.

Has your Call Center Switched to Softphones?

There was a time when pagers were the hottest business device used for instant business communication. The arrival of mobiles turned them obsolete and heralded a whole new era of wireless communication. Likewise, softphones are gradually replacing traditional hard phones as a call center communication solution of choice.

Let’s discover the benefits that softphones bring to call centers:

Easy access to data: Softphones can be easily integrated with the company CRM to provide call center agents with end-to-end background information on customers. This equips them to provide satisfactory answers to customer queries without any time delay. Easy access to data makes customer support faster and seamless.
Save time with one-click dial: The one-click dial feature of softphones saves valuable time for agents. Hard phones take time to dial a number and human error is a possibility.
Flexible and reliable: Softphones make geographical limitations redundant. Agents can work from anywhere, anytime. Also, softphones can be easily customized to suit the needs of a call center. Besides speed dial, IVR, and ACD, cloud-based softphones come with a huge scope of innovation.
Easy installation and maintenance: All you need is an internet connection and a device to install a softphone connection. You can put your maintenance worries to rest as well. As long as your device is bug-free and the internet connection smooth, your softphone will work without a glitch.
Single window service provider: Call centers that opt for VoIP softphone systems can use the same provider for their phone and data transmission requirements.
Manage calls over browser: With cloud telephony solutions like softphones, agents can make and receive calls from their browser window. Managers can monitor employees in real-time and generate call recordings and productivity reports.
Access CRM Data with ease: Quality customer experience is a key part of customer relationship management (CRM). In order to provide the best CX, call center agents can have secure access to applications, including CRM integration and other business tools. Calls can be auto-logged into the CRM and agents can view customer data while speaking to them.
Scale your customer service team: When it comes to scalability, softphones remain the solution of choice. Forget about increasing your office space or expanding an expensive PBX system. With cloud-based softphones, businesses can let their call center agents work from anywhere. Also, VoIP-enabled softphones cost a fraction of what landlines do.

Introducing WebRTC-backed Softphones into Call Centers

WebRTC enables voice and video calling directly inside a web browser, without a plugin or installation. One area where WebRTC technology is starting to make huge inroads is call centers. You may not know it, but the last call you make to a call center may have been picked up by a browser using WebRTC.

Why are call centers switching to WebRTC? The answer lies in the digitization that is sweeping across global organizations. Call centers are increasingly becoming omni channel communication hubs where customers can skip across channels while interacting with agents.

How do call centers benefit by transitioning to using WebRTC-enabled softphones:

Provides enhanced CRM and real-time communication support: A call center has two primary functions – a CRM that has a database of customer interactions and the other part is taking calls from customers. The CRM runs on the web, so the web part of WebRTC is well-suited for them. On the other hand, call agents handle real-time communication, so the RTC part is cut out for them. WebRTC fuses both these requirements.
Cut down on software installation and maintenance: WebRTC operates inside the browser. This means one less software application to install, update, and maintain. If you have 500 agents working in your call center, this translates to a lot of saved effort. By moving to WebRTC organizations cut down on their software installation and maintenance. The browser already uses CRM software. WebRTC gets added as another CRM feature. Upgrades to browsers are automatic and usually happen without a glitch.
Set up call centers anywhere in the world at no extra cost: WebRTC allows organizations to reduce the time it takes to set up new call centers in any country, with almost no CAPEX (capital expenditure) spending. This is a huge benefit for small and medium organizations looking to scale their operations into new geographies.

Conclusion

If you are looking at installing a call center phone system, consider a single, unified cloud offering that provides a fully-loaded set of real-time collaboration services that can help your agents become flexible and productive, and provide the best customer experience.

Moving to a VoIP-powered softphone system is a step towards setting up a futuristic call center, which offers increased efficiency, seamless and versatile communication options, without incurring any exorbitant financial investments.

21Apr

What is SIP and How Does It Work?

April 21, 2021 Maulik Shah 79

All conversations need an introduction and a reliable framework to initiate them. Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) does this job in the digital world. It’s a seamless way to begin and end online conversations.

SIP is a signaling protocol for IP-based telephony applications. It provides the control layer for communications like the establishment and release of a voice call. This communication technology does more than just connect agents to their clients. It allows users to manage and modulate every call that enters their system. What’s more, SIP is content-agnostic. Although SIP was initially designed for voice communication, today it is also used for establishing sessions for instant messaging, video conferencing, SMS, file transfers, and more.

SIP is essentially used for internet telephony and disseminating multimedia between two or more endpoints. For instance, a user can start a telephone call with another user using SIP, or initiate a conference call with multiple participants.

The SIP protocol was designed to be simple, with a limited set of commands. Since it is text-based, anyone can read a SIP message that is passed between two endpoints in a session. The protocol is also flexible and comes with great depth. It was designed to set up real-time multimedia sessions between different participant groups. For instance, apart from facilitating regular telephone calls, SIP can be used to set up video and audio multicast meetings, or instant messaging conferences.

Since SIP is an open standard, it has sparked enormous interest in the telephony market. Marketers of SIP-based phones are witnessing huge growth in this sector.

In this blog, we will get a macro as well micro view of what SIP is, how it works, how it compliments VoIP, and why businesses should invest in this technology:

What does SIP do?
SIP Vs VoIP and how SIP adds value to VoIP.
Features of SIP.
How SIP enables a VoIP session call flow.
How SIP works during a voice call.
Benefits for businesses.

What does SIP do?

SIP is not voice, not video, and not data – the protocol is not restricted to any one media. Also, while it is mostly applied to VoIP, it’s not exclusively a VoIP protocol as well.

SIP launches and ends IP communication sessions that could either be voice calls between two users or a team video conference. It initiates a session by sending messages – in the form of data packets – between two or more identified IP endpoints, also known as SIP addresses. Every SIP address is linked to a physical SIP client – like an IP desk phone – or a software client – like a softphone, for instance.

During these sessions, SIP does not decode or transfer any information. Therefore, the protocol can be used for video conferencing and instant messaging besides making internet voice calls.

SIP’s primary function is to set up calls and end them once they finish. This process involves 5 parts:

User location: This tells the protocol where the end system that will be used for the call is located.
User availability: This tells the protocol whether the party that is being called is available to take it.
User capabilities: This determines the media that will be used for the call.
Session setup: This involves connecting a call from one user to the other.
Session management: This involves the running of the call session – for example: transferring and ending a call.

SIP Vs VoIP: How they differ

Since both SIP and VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) are both internet-based telephone service technologies, it is common to confuse between the two. The key differentiator between the two is that while VoIP is a type of telephone service, the SIP protocol is used to commence and end communication through VoIP or any other technology.

If your business only requires voice communication, you might want to invest in technologies other than SIP with your VoIP system. However, organizations are rapidly adopting advanced technologies in order to stay competitive and scale rapidly. With its superior unified communications platform and strategies, SIP provides businesses with this opportunity.

Finally, businesses must consider what solutions work best for them. If an organization is considering consolidating its communication technologies, then integration of SIP and VoIP services would be a high-value option for them.

How SIP adds value to VoIP

A primary reason for SIP’s soaring acceptance as a go-to telephony technology is that it supports a wide range of communication platforms. Besides being easy to implement and manage, SIP builds on an enterprise’s VoIP system strengths and fills the tech gaps, allowing them to turn more productive.

SIP adds value to VoIP in various ways:

If a business needs a network system that will provide crystal clear images in long-distance video conference calls, SIP will do the job seamlessly.

If an organization is looking for an easy way to send files and documents to its employees and outside its office, SIP offers the functionality it needs.

Because of SIP’s flexibility, enterprises, as well as service providers, use it to deliver VoIP services. SIP even builds on VoIP’s capabilities by adding video and data transfer potential to it.

SIP enables network operators to gain more control over their services. For instance, not only does SIP set up the initiation of contact between devices, it also allows users to add more parties to a call, or switch between communication methods.

Features of SIP

SIP can handle a diverse range of media technologies as the protocol is not restricted to any limited media types. Let’s look at some features of this protocol:

Direct connection between private and public telephone networks:

One of SIP’s main benefits is that it provides a direct connection between private or local telephone systems and public telephone networks. This way, individuals and businesses don’t need legacy phone lines to connect calls.

Provides end-to-end authentication and encryption:

VoIP networks opt for SIP as a call control protocol because of its open and extensible properties. However, the integrity of call signaling between two sites is a priority for businesses, to counter eavesdropping concerns. SIP provides this by supporting comprehensive end-to-end and hop-by-hop authentication, as well as end-to-end encryption.

Supports both multicast and unicast communication:

Users in a SIP session can communicate using multicast or unicast relations, or even a mix of the two. SIP supports session descriptions that allow participants to accept a common set of compatible media types. It also facilitates user mobility by proxying and redirecting requests to the location where the user is at the moment. SIP is not restricted to any one conference control protocol.

Additional capabilities can be added easily:

SIP doesn’t make any presumptions about the underlying transport protocol. It can, therefore, be easily extended with additional capabilities and is actively used for many media applications. This also makes SIP an enabling technology for providing innovative new services that integrate multimedia with internet services like e-mail, instant messaging, and the worldwide web.

Asynchronous event notifications:

In addition to real-time services, SIP can be used for asynchronous event notifications, such as automatic callbacks, message-waiting indicators, SIP proxy statistics changes, presence information, session changes, buddy lists based on presence, and more.

Unlike other telephony systems, SIP is non-numeric:

Telephony is usually associated with numeric addresses. In SIP, an end station has a SIP URI (which is a form of URL) that recognizes it and is used in the SIP protocol. Because phones generally have numeric keypads, they translate what you dial into a SIP URL.

SIP is text-based:

The SIP Protocol is text-based and has a notable resemblance to the HTTP protocol. The text-based messages and SIP’s request-response mechanism make for easy troubleshooting. Also, it is easy for anyone to read and decipher the text-based SIP messages passed between the endpoints in a session.

SIP leaves fewer margins for error:

Because SIP isn’t affected by external factors, there are lesser things that can go wrong with it. While traditional phone lines can be affected by bad weather, SIP trunks use the internet and can have back-ups set up to ensure that even if your internet connection goes, you aren’t offline for too long.

Big cost benefits:

SIP works out to be much cheaper than traditional phone lines. Small to large businesses that switch to SIP-enabled VoIP phones reduce the cost of their local calls and save on international calls as well. Once the initial setup is done, the only thing that businesses pay for is the Wi-Fi that you use to place these calls and your unlimited SIP trunk subscription.

How SIP enables a VoIP session call flow

Now that we have understood the dynamics of how SIP works, let’s look at how a SIP call flow establishes a VoIP call. There are four parts that together establish a call:

Registration:

When a user agent – let’s suppose it’s a softphone – launches, it has to register with a SIP server so it can be found by other users. This happens by using the SIP Register request message. The message provides the location details through the To and From SIP URIs. Besides the message, additional binding can be provided through the contact field.

Establishing a call:

This is where the real work happens – in the following steps:

SIP invite request: The SIP invite initiates an attempt to establish a call. This is sent from the caller to the SIP server where it finds the call receiver’s number. In larger networks, the SIP server may need to consult other SIP servers if this user number is not local. Once the number is located, the invite is forwarded.

SIP response 100: A message is sent from the SIP server to the number of the end-user in order to confirm the invite request.

SIP Response 180: This message is a confirmation that the invite has been received and the user agent is alerting the user.

SIP Response 200: A 200 response is sent to confirm a call when it is answered by the end-user. Also, the user agent sends a message with the VoIP call parameters. This message results in an exchange and negotiation of VoIP call parameters.

SIP Ack Request: In the final lap, the caller confirms the call by sending an Ack request to the number he has called.

VoIP Call:

The VoIP call is transmitted between the user agents using RTP (real-time transport protocol), which is also used for sending audio and video data over Internet Protocol networks. Besides this protocol, RTCP (RTP control protocol) is used to provide statistics and control for the RTP transmissions.

Terminating a call:

When a user ends a call, a SIP Bye request is sent. The call can be ended from either side of the line. The termination is confirmed by the other user agent with a SIP 200 status code response.

How SIP works during a voice call

Before voice information is sent over the internet, it needs to be encoded in codecs. This enables audio signals to be translated into data. There are two primary types of codecs that are used: G.711 and G.729. Let’s take a step-by-step look at how SIP connects voice calls:

Real-time transport protocol (RTP) is used to transport packets of encoded audio data. RTP comes with its own protocol application layer which facilitates the movement of audio and video data in real-time.
In the next step, the RTP and SIP packets are transported by protocols at the transport layer. This is done either by using a Transmission Control Protocol or a User Datagram Protocol. User Datagram Protocols are considered to be better suited for transporting VoIP calls.
In the final step, as SIP is a media-independent application, another application layer protocol – known as the Session Description Protocol (SDP) – works with SIP. SDP indicates the type of media that the SIP client sending the call and the client receiving the call can support.

Benefits of SIP for Businesses

Enterprises today are trying to figure out how to support a host of new unified communications applications in an era of new devices, mobile connections, and sophisticated end-users. In such a scenario, how does SIP benefit organizations?

Customer engagement is a top priority for sales agents, and this is where SIP stands out the most. Using a text-based medium to transcribe messages, this VoIP function enables both agents and clients to run through the messages exchanged during every session, and makes it smoother for both developers and network managers to find and correct mistakes.
Whether it’s through their computers or mobile phones, clients can efficiently communicate with agents through SIP. Since its appearance, SIP has played a key role in the success of internet telephony as a critical tool for call centers in providing customer service.
This VoIP function has played a significant role in helping companies become cost-efficient in their communications. You could be located anywhere in the world SIP has made it possible to make free audio or video calls.
Telecom major AT&T has confirmed that SIP “can reduce access costs, improve bandwidth utilization, and bring down operational expenses. Enterprises using SIP can save significant money by converging their voice and data networks, particularly if they are covering multiple locations.” Gartner estimates that SIP trunking will reduce telecom expenses by 50% in the US.
Since SIP has become a well-accepted telephony standard, it has helped enterprises eliminate telecom complexities, accelerate innovation and avoid vendor lock-ins. Using SIP, technology organizations can construct diverse multi-vendor networks that meet their functional and financial needs.
SIP is a valuable tool for companies that have employees working in locations across the world, and need to collaborate over long distances. As SIP facilitates fast and powerful multimedia sessions, it’s an ideal solution for such businesses.
Businesses deploy SIP to boost efficiency and increase ROI within their organizations. For example, instead of having several platforms to manage video, telephony, and other services, they can use SIP to manage them all with one interface.
SIP calling ensures that an enterprise is always available and on-call for their customers to contact them.

Conclusion

SIP has become one of the most common protocols to be used in VoIP technology, as this application layer protocol works in conjunction with other such protocols to control multimedia communication sessions over the internet. SIP is fast gaining momentum as being a protocol of choice to facilitate audio calls, video conferencing, and instant messaging in next-generation networks, to boost efficiency and cost-effectiveness for businesses.

19Apr

What is a Softphone – Definition, Benefits and Lots to Know

April 19, 2021 Maulik Shah 74

In the days of the good old PSTN (landline, in simple terms) you had a nice phone with a round dial and you spun the dial to connect with someone. The round dial gave way to push button type dialers that did the same thing and that was that. These are hardphones.

What is a softphone?

Softphones, by definition, mean software based dialers. Everyone is familiar with the dialer interface on mobile phones. Softphones are similar. The mobile dialer is software based.

To understand how softphone is different than the hardphones or deskphones, we’ve made a comparison chart on Softphone Vs. Hardphone:

VoIP softphones on desktop and mobile

The softphone software does need to be installed. You can install it on a mobile in the form of a mobile dialer app. You can install a softphone on your desktop. You need internet connection on both devices in order to make and receive calls the same way you make and receive calls on a regular phone. For desktop computers you need a microphone and speakers attached to the audio ports. A headset that has both is recommended.

The key difference is that the softphone front end dialer initiates calls or accepts calls. The crucial background service is SIP based.

The SIP factor in VoIP softphones

What you see when you download the softphone dialer is the front end. You have a visual interface that allows you to make and receive calls among other things. However, a lot is going on in the background since calls are now internet based and this is where you have SIP working in the background.

SIP is short for Session Initiation Protocol, one of the different protocols used in internet telephony. You download the app and your app provider takes care of SIP provisioning in the background. This comprises of:

Creating a user account and authentication process
A direct inward dialing SIP phone number that you can use like any other phone number to make and receive calls to other SIP phones, mobiles and landlines.
Connecting to the backend SIP Proxy server and gateway.
SIP is responsible for identifying user location, user availability, capability, session setup and management. You can also transfer calls and have intercom features or turn a call into a conference, all thanks to SIP.

SIP is important for VoIP telephony using softphone dialers. SIP defines messages, initiates a call, keeps track of it and terminates it on hang up. It comes into play for audio and video calls.

You have the newer WebRTC technologies from Google that supports audio-video calls and conferencing plus document exchange during calls but even this needs SIP in the background. More details about SIP appear in our blog here. For end users it is not of material importance to go into details of SIP, just to know that it is there powering your mobile softphone.

Why use a softphone if I can use my phone for audio video calls?

For individual users that question is easy to resolve: you can do without SIP softphone apps.

However, business is a different thing. Even if each employee has a mobile device with unlimited calls and internet, there are limitations to mobile phones that SIP softphones overcome.

Each employee has a different number. It is difficult to integrate all these seamlessly into your IP PBX or office phone system and CRM. Softphones integrate with IP PBX and CRM.
If contact data is updated then all individual employees must update their contact list. With softphones your employees all access a centralized database of contacts and, importantly, relevant data of contacts such as purchase history, complaints and so on.
There is no security or confidentiality of calls nor do you have centralized records, which is crucial for business. Softphones record calls and log data of calls received and sent.
Employees may use mobile softphones on their phones when out of office and be available should they choose to be so or set “presence” to off and yet receive push notification if someone is trying to get in touch with them.
They can use the softphone dialer on the mobile and also on desktops, ensuring continuity. Efficiency increases.
It is easy to transfer a call to another employee simply by dragging the call to the other employee name in the contact list.
You can convert a call into a conference call by inviting other employees to participate. If you opt for webRTC powered softphones then it permits you to exchange documents and mail or share video within video. (Read more about WebRTC phones here). Your mobile phone may simply not have this feature.
Desk Phones have limitations – accessible only when you are in office. On the other hand, SIP softphones on mobiles let employees carry their office and data with them wherever they go and access office records or be accessible at any time. (read about softphones vs deskphones here).

There is more to SIP softphones that make it virtually indispensable for business users.

The Softphone features

Provided you choose the right SIP softphone from the right provider you get more than internet telephony. You get all the benefits of Unified Communications plus low cost.

You can make and receive audio and video calls
Convert audio video calls to audio-video conference on a SIP softphone
Hold, transfer, barge in, forward calls
Use presence feature to indicate availability
Enjoy push notification that tells you someone is trying to reach you
Send a text message from within the softphone app
Send voicemail from the SIP softphone app
Access CRM and complete data of customers through the mobile dialer app
Caller ID, call logs, call recording, one click call
Share documents, show video within video, share screen, send email or fax and send message even during an ongoing audio-video conference
Access email, send emails.
Higher levels of encrypted security so you can be sure business communications are absolutely confidential and remain so.

The benefits of SIP Softphone

Here are a few benefits of SIP softphone you cannot ignore

As stated in the previous section you have quite a few more features in SIP softphones and all of them are integrated into a single dashboard. No mobile phone can integrate all these features and permit low cost national and international calls and video conferencing with secure lines.
You do not need dedicated lines. Each employee’s mobile device becomes a sort of extension of the office IP PBX if you have one, or slips smoothly into the SIP proxy server setup.
You will deliver a happier customer experience by being available at any time, by responding quickly and by responding intelligently through access to CRM data. You can even configure it to work with the IP PBX IVR and then auto route calls to the one employee most capable of handling an incoming call.
Call anyone, anywhere at any time from anywhere at a low cost. This is simply not possible using mobile phones or desk phones. If you take your mobile phone abroad then roaming charges can be horrendously high as everyone knows. No worries with SIP phones. You can be in London and call without cost worries and you can be in New York the next day and use the softphone. You just need internet or wi-fi internet for it to work. You can get wi-fi anywhere in the world.

Now that you know just how useful a softphone is for your business the next question is which softphone to get.

Which SIP Softphone to choose?

SIP has plenty of features and developers of Softphone Mobile Apps can do a lot to develop a complex softphone dialer with all the bells and whistles or simply dish out a plain version. It is up to you to choose. However, at a minimum, consider:

Your SIP softphone should permit set up with direct inward dialing numbers and have features stated above as well as integrate with CRM.
WebRTC is desirable. You can do more with it than with plain old SIP softphones, take our word for it.
As said above there are plenty of features but not all employees may use all features at all times. What you need is a SIP softphone that has features represented by icons that users can drag and drop into the main operational area – less clutter, speed of operations is the result.
Superior codec, transcoding and protocol handling. This sounds like a mouthful and it is. With no codec handshake, you simply cannot talk with other parties. It is up to the developer to integrate codecs and protocols so you never know that such a hurdle even exists. But do ask, all the same.
Full HD audio is a must and how it is implemented keeping in mind variable internet bandwidth and speed is important. SVC implementation takes care of smooth video regardless of video speed and, likewise, your softphone developer should be able to integrate audio codecs for crystal clear clarity regardless of internet connectivity. Tragofone is top of the line softphone with full customizable options.

Tragofone is as good as it gets with SIP server support and WebRTC layered over customization, security and ease of use. Request a demo to find out all that it can do for you.

Maulik Shah

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