What is a softphone? [and what it is not]
As a progressive and purposeful business, you communicate with many people many times a day. We think it's highly likely that you're using a range of tools and technologies, above all email (pure text), phone (pure voice), and messengers which are somewhere in between.
We've lived through the number of forecasts which promised a quick death for voice communications but they are still alive and don't look close to dying. In honor of such awesome zest for life we dedicate this article to programs which makes voice communications possible viz. softphones. And we think voice will be a permanent and lasting part of our human life as long as people have mouths. That’s our forecast! :)
A softphone is a virtual phone
For a start, a bit of boring theory. You may be familiar with the terms VoIP and SIP which stand for Voice over Internet Protocol and Session Initiation Protocol. VoIP is more fundamental, and SIP is a practical implementation of opportunities VoIP brings. So this means that VoIP / SIP softphones are phones too with no physical embodiment, just software. The only physical thing that remains is a headset as we still need a speaker and a microphone. (Should we speak about mobile softphones, speakers and microphones are already built into the body, no headset required albeit can bring some extra convenience.)
So a softphone aka software phone is an app for desktops and smartphones that makes and receives calls via the internet. It is generally accepted that there are the following types hereof: a simple dialer, a business softphone, and a software phone as a part of UCaaS platform. Accordingly, the price varies too: from zero (free softphones) to dozens dollars per user per month (enterprise segment). In the latter case a softphone is expected to offer such features as Call Log, Voicemail, encryption, and integration with CRM. Anyway, the main purpose of softphones is to provide calling. How do they do this?
A softphone is a SIP client
Nearly always a softphone is a SIP client (VoIP SIP client is also a frequently used term): an application that makes and receives calls on PC, smartphone, or tablet. This means you’ve got to have a SIP account given your telephony provider. Setup is usually quick and simple: in most cases it requires only such credentials as login, and password, and server IP address. Softphone.Pro supports provisioning: users work with a pre-configured installer, it remains only to set it up and log in, and all ready to go.
Softphones untie the hands
Calling via a softphone implies using a headset (laptop’s speakerphone and microphone are also of use but audio quality might be not quite as good). That means that both hands are free: one can comfortably type and work with CRM right during the conversation. Let it be the shortest paragraph herein, and let us say just 10 key words: save time; talk and type simultaneously; be multitask and almighty.
Softphones bring flexibility and confidence
Whoever uses a softphone, can work from anywhere. Softphone.Pro easily integrates with CRM and turns a home office into a real, full-fledged, and efficient office (except that an office coffee machine does not appear automatically and is to be purchased separately). In spite of telecommuting, Softphone.Pro shows who of your colleagues is busy or away, and who is online; and vice versa, they can see your availability by means of the BLF (Busy Lamp Field) indicator.
Softphone.Pro can record calls and upload them to a cloud storage e.g. Dropbox, Google Drive, Microsoft OneDrive — every call is cherished, nothing gets lost. Besides you can be quite confident: records are not kept locally, аnd clients’ numbers are hid if it is somehow important for you. In case of agents dismissal, they have no longer access to a SIP server whilst their license is not forfeited — and of that you can be confident too.
But we also need to say what softphones are not. First of all…
A softphone is not a PBX
Sometimes we receive questions like “I downloaded it and set it up but it makes no call, why?” — precisely because calling requires a SIP PBX, which a softphone is not (needless to say, it’s neither SIP server or SIP proxy). This dance is performed in pairs, and a softphone is just one of the partners.
However, customer expectations are quite clear: providers often propose softphones together with the main dish core product viz. telephony. Plus, many providers don’t develop softphones by themselves but purchase ready and proven solutions like Softphone.Pro. In the market of goods it is called OEM (original equipment manufacturer), in the market of software we call it White Label.
A softphone is not a VOIP platform
Apparently, a platform is a large entity: as a whole, it is much bigger and stronger than a single softphone. A softphone solves one primary task (calls) and a few collateral (forward, hold, record, upload); platform’s capabilities are much wider: chats, cloud faxing, video, SMS, you name it. Though in fairness, Softphone.Pro can do SMS too: it’s a very useful practical feature e.g. to send a message with a link to the price web page or so upon completion of the call.
By the way, the year just started, and Forbes has already published it’s 10 Best VoIP Services Of 2025, we see there a number of well known and familiar names. RingCentral, 8x8, Nextiva, Twilio — if you’re using them, on our website you’ll find configuring manuals. Sure, the list is not limited to only these services: Softphone.Pro is completely compatible with any SIP PBX, the majors you can see here.
A softphone is not a CRM system
Some CRM solutions include apps for calls but none of softphones is a CRM system. Lead or ticket management, email marketing, workflow automation, sales funnel — softphones can do nothing of this. At the same time, Softphone.Pro can easily integrate with any CRM (with the most common it has built-in integration right out-of-the-box).
A softphone is not a power dialer
A power dialer is a service that automates the dialing of contacts in a list. A robot (not an agent, not a human being) dials phone numbers from your outreach list without manually entering each number. It’s funny: softphones are often called dialers but have nothing to do with power dialers. Though both are used for communication with clients: when a client says hello, a power dialer is out of the play, and a softphone gets in. Not instead but together: so it goes e.g. in contact centers which specialize in telemarketing.
Wow, we've come to the end. Now you know what softphones are and what they are not. As the saying goes, all that glitters is not gold, and not all that works good is Softphone.Pro (though it works good too).
The only thing remaining is to get the latest release here and create a Team account here (if you haven’t yet). Let it do its best together with your PBX, CRM, and power dialer :)
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