[David Strom's Web Informant] 1 February 2010: Searching for softphones

[David Strom]

Web Informant 1 February 2010: Searching for softphones

Remember when your office phone was a solidly built multi-line key
system with push buttons for the different extensions? And you had a
secretary who would answer all of your calls? It seems so quaint now,
like something out of a Tracy/Hepburn movie like the "Desk Set."
(Which for those of you that haven't seen it, features a plot about a
room-sized computer that replaces human workers at the TV station.
Amazingly, 50 years ago too.)

The biggest change for office telephony these days is the separating
of incoming and outgoing calling plans and how we will use computers
instead of an actual phone instrument. Maybe, if we all can get our
softphones to work properly.

I am not talking about some Claes Oldenburg sculpture, but the
software running on your PC that enables you to make and receive
calls. Softphones aren't new – I recall writing about them in the
early 1990s. Sadly, the quality of software development is still akin
more to this era than the modern day.

Voice over IP has made calling almost too cheap to meter, to recall a
phrase from the 1950s (then it was about nuclear power, and we know
what happened to that). That's why many vendors currently offer
unlimited monthly calling plans for their VOIP Service – Vonage ($25),
Skype ($3), Google Voice (Free!). What is important to note is that
these are all outgoing calling plans. Anyone can call you without any
plan, you just need a phone number. Here is where things get tricky.

I have been a happy customer of Vonage since around 2002 or so, using
their phone service in three different states and for both home and
work. The best part about using Vonage (or any other VOIP phone with a
reasonable feature set) is that I can set up what happens when someone
calls my number. Right now I have it ring both office and cell numbers
simultaneously. This way I just have to give you one number to call
me, and I can change cell numbers, or add a new location if I am
working someplace for an extended period of time. The next best part
about Vonage is that I can do all of this with just a couple of mouse
clicks, without having to wait on hold for a Bell business office
service rep to try to upsell me with services that I don't want.

But I don't really get that many calls anymore, not that I am
complaining. Most of the time when I am on the phone it is to
interview someone for an article I am writing or to listen to a
conference call briefing. Those are calls that I initiate and I don't
really need a physical phone anyway – I much prefer to use a headset
connected to my computer, to free my shoulder so I can type in my
notes. (Yes, I could use a Bluetooth headset for my phone, too.)

I started thinking that perhaps I could eliminate my office phone
line, and swap it for a Vonage softphone, and perhaps save some money
in the process. That led me to searching for a softphone that will run
on my Mac, connect to my Vonage account, and be reliable. Getting all
three criteria has turned into A Project over the past week.

The softphone costs $10 a month. A call to Vonage customer support set
up things, and moved my office number over to the softphone account. I
thought I was doing well.

Alas, it wasn't so easy. First of all, while Vonage has its softphone
app on both Windows and Mac, the Mac version is a poor cousin and I
couldn't get it to work properly. After spending some time with Vonage
tech support, I found out that there are "issues" with it running on
Intel-based Macs (which are all recent Macs for the past several
years).

Vonage does have a softphone for the iPhone (and Blackberry too), but
you need to set up another $25 a month subscription plan. It really is
designed to call internationally from your phone and save you on these
charges. So it really isn't the softphone that I am looking for.

There are numerous softphone VOIP software companies, and some even
have Mac clients. I have tried a few, and tried to get them configured
for my Vonage account, but with no success. There is a lot of poor
quality information online, and many of these are smaller companies
with no tech support.

What about Skype? Yes, Skype can be considered a softphone (and more,
since it does video calls too). The monthly unlimited calling plan is
$3, but you also need to purchase an online number for another $3 a
month if you want people to call you. All of a sudden, my expected
savings are evaporating. I like Skype and have used it for years,
mostly for the IM features, and the voice quality is terrific.

How about MagicJack? This is a pretty cool USB device that you can
connect to both Macs and Windows PCs, and it will set up a softphone
(or you can use a regular phone and wire it to the USB device
directly). All for $40 for the first year, and $20 a year thereafter.
My one problem with the Jack is that I keep getting people calling me
who are calling wrong numbers. Not sure what that is all about. I do
get the occasional Skype from someone I don't recognize but not as
often.

And then there are Google Voice and eVoice, a new service from J2
Global  Communications, the people that are behind eFax and jFax.
These aren't quite softphones, but do offer some interesting
communications features to manage your telephony, and if I didn't keep
my Vonage number I would probably be more interested in them. Google
has also purchased Gizmo Project, which had a really nice softphone
that came with a built-in voice recorder, so who knows what will
happen to that.

Not having a traditional land-line phone can be an issue, I will
admit. But it isn't usually a problem. So as I transition to a
phone-free desk, I think back to the days when I had one of the old
Western Electric phones. Maybe I should buy one and just keep it on my
desk for old time's sake while I keep fooling around with my
softphones and headsets. If you are interested, check out this site
which has all sorts of great info on the golden era when people had to
rent, not own their phones, and they still had dials instead of
buttons.
http://www.frillfreephones.com/