softphone
5 ResultsDictionary
softphone
(SOFTware PHONE) A software-based phone for voice over IP (VoIP) that is installed in the user's PC. The audio interface can be a microphone and speakers plugged into the sound card, although a...
Dictionary
Definition: softphone
(SOFTware PHONE) A software-based phone for voice over IP (VoIP) that is installed in the user's PC. The audio interface can be a microphone and speakers plugged into the sound card, although a headset is preferred. For better clarity, a USB phone or Bluetooth phone can be used.
Softphones can work as stand-alone phones or be part of an IP PBX family. They offer the full range of phone features, such as call forwarding and conference calling, and also provide integration with applications such as Outlook for automatic phone dialing.
The first VoIP softphone was VocalTec's Internet Phone, which was introduced in 1995 (see Internet Phone). See VoIP, IP phone, IP PBX and IP telephony. See also software defined radio.
One of the First SoftPhones
Launched in 1996, Net2Phone was one of the first softphone-based VoIP services. It used advertisers to support its low domestic and international rates. (Image courtesy of Net2Phone, Inc., www.net2phone.com)
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SipGate Brings Enterprise Telephony to the Cloud
Cloud communications took a twist yesterday with the launch of Team Edition by SipGate. The Web-based service replaces both phone systems and phone lines with a Web-based softphone, allowing small...
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Beware of the TrixBox
For those of you thinking of cutting over to a packaged Asterisk solution, you'll want to read this account from Dr. Adrian Steele, the Managing Director of Mercian Labels, a UK SME...
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Company tells me they are working on touchscreen monitors for softphones
Here at the Internet Telephony conference in Miami Beach, I had a fascinating coversation late yesterday with a representative of a Canadian company called One Monitor. The rep-who did not want...
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Number 7 Most-Read Post of the Year: softphone GUIs compared
First of all, Merry Christmas. Checking our server logs, we find that the seventh most-read post on this blog up through December 5 of this year is, rather surprisingly, a holdover post that...
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I test out RingCentral's new DigitalLine VoIP service
I've been using DigitalLine, a new VoIP service that integrated business telephony communications solutions provider RingCentral is introducing today. My conversation yesterday with RingCentral...
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Additional Results
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SipGate Brings Enterprise Telephony to the Cloud
Cloud communications took a twist yesterday with the launch of Team Edition by SipGate. The Web-based service replaces both phone systems and phone lines with a Web-based softphone, allowing small...
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Beware of the TrixBox
For those of you thinking of cutting over to a packaged Asterisk solution, you'll want to read this account from Dr. Adrian Steele, the Managing Director of Mercian Labels, a UK SME...
-
Company tells me they are working on touchscreen monitors for softphones
Here at the Internet Telephony conference in Miami Beach, I had a fascinating coversation late yesterday with a representative of a Canadian company called One Monitor. The rep-who did not want...
-
Number 7 Most-Read Post of the Year: softphone GUIs compared
First of all, Merry Christmas. Checking our server logs, we find that the seventh most-read post on this blog up through December 5 of this year is, rather surprisingly, a holdover post that...
-
I test out RingCentral's new DigitalLine VoIP service
I've been using DigitalLine, a new VoIP service that integrated business telephony communications solutions provider RingCentral is introducing today. My conversation yesterday with RingCentral...
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New Bria softphone: addy book centered, not dialpad centered
VoIP softphone developer CounterPath Solutions has just rolled out what strikes me as a usability-enhancing new rev of its Bria interface. Bria 2.0's cool new features include: An address...
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