We are always looking for more flexibility and ease of communication needs for churches. With the increasing processing power of desktop computers, laptops and smart phones, the need for a software based phone for churches has become evident. Enter the Softphone on an IP PBX platform.
What is a softphone? Wikipedia defines…
“A softphone is a software program for making telephone calls over the Internet using a general purpose computer, rather than using dedicated hardware. Often a softphone is designed to behave like a traditional telephone, sometimes appearing as an image of a phone, with a display panel and buttons with which the user can interact. A softphone is usually used with a headset connected to the sound card of the PC, or with a USB phone.”
Just think of it as an ip-phone that runs on your computer, iphone, ipad, blackberry or Android device. You can replace or extend your phone from your church desk to your mobile world. You control your calls and functions transfer, hold and conference from anywhere you have an internet connection. A Softphone allows you to have extreme flexibility with who you contact and who contacts you.
Softphone features:
- Available on multiple platforms:
- Windows
- Linux
- Android
- iOS
- iphone
- ipad
- ipod touch
- Blackberry
- Extends Phone Features
- Hold
- Transfer
- Conference
- Caller ID
- Integrates Contacts
- Multiple accounts
- Inbound and outbound calls
Church Softphone Price:
Softphone’s prices for churches range from FREE to $75 depending on the many programs out there. Wire Speed Telecommunication’s VoIP and IP PBX service can be used with many of the soft phones out there. Although free ones work and can provide a basic service, our favorite is Bria by Counterpath we will do a review of their softphone in the coming week.