Why You Should Use a Handset Over a Softphone

When using VoIP phones, you typically have to choose between a softphone or a handset – a hardphone. Each have their own set of pros and cons, and both will get the job done. Depending on your needs and situation, one may be better than the other. Let’s take a look at the differences of the two:

Handsets

Handsets are the typical phones that everyone knows and are used by holding them in the hand or by plugging in a headset.

Pros:

• Different employees prefer using an actual phone
• Reliable services
• Reliable voice quality
• Easily and quickly dialling an emergency number
• Hard phones usually contain a real DSP to help echo cancellation

Cons:

• Higher cost
• Difficult to enter SIP’s, URL’s, and anything using alphanumeric keyboards
• High price for installation and setup is more complicated
• Less features when compared to softphones

Softphone

A softphone is software that is installed into a computer and uses it as an application to make calls straight from the computer. There is no physical phone or handset with a softphone.

Pros:

• Lower cost compared to hard phones and super easy installation and setup
• Easily enter SIP’s and alphanumeric numbers or URL’s with your computers keyboard
• Agents working for your company can easily work from home without the need of an actual phone
• Perfect for those who travel, easy mobility; It can be installed on a laptop and remember all of the users information and preferences
• More features than typical hard phones

Cons:

• Certain factors can play in downtime that are not controllable by the user
• Not fast to make emergency calls, it requires the user to log in before making an actual call
• Echo cancellation all depends on the hosts media processor
• To maintain quality, a significant amount of tweaking is required at the network level
• Due to clash between VOIP calls and other data being transferred, the quality can be significantly impacted

We recommend that you use a handset for higher quality and reliability, and the softphone when you are travelling.

admin

See Full Bio