We’re adding a softphone to GoTo Room, our suite of conference-room technology.
Why is this a big deal? OK, it’s not a HUGE deal. It’s just one more way we’re making it easier to adapt to the new realities of hybrid work. If you already use GoTo Room or if you’re thinking about getting it, then you’ll want to know more about the new softphone — which is economical, easy to add, and purpose-built to make your conferences flow smoothly.
Wait a minute, what exactly is a softphone?
A softphone is a digital equivalent of a conventional telephone. It uses a digital interface to present a numeric keyboard and provides everything you need to make and take phone calls.
Softphones are one of the pillars of voice-over-internet-protocol (VoIP) systems, which convert voice calls into packets of data and stream them over the internet. Indeed, a softphone is one of the core technologies of GoTo Connect, our premium VoIP package.
A softphone has everything but the hardware for calls. Usually, the hardware is a smartphone, but a softphone can be installed on pretty much any internet-connected gadget — PCs, tablets, and devices built specifically for telephony.
The GoTo Room hardware suite includes a touchpad — which now includes an optional softphone for those who like the idea of having one.
Why does GoTo Room need a softphone?
We built GoTo Room as a suite of hardware and software that turn a conventional conference room into a smart conference room with all the benefits of internet connectivity.
GoTo Room includes cameras, microphones, speakers, microprocessors, and software to help you create multimedia pitches and pull in people from around the world to improve your conferences. You can use it to organize impressive presentations and to bring in people from anywhere.
At the same time, we always strive to keep our tools as simple as possible and to avoid building bloatware full of “nice-to-haves” that hardly anybody actually uses.
So, our GoTo Room developers put the most priority on building better, simpler conference room tools. A couple of years ago, the absence of a softphone was not a major issue for GoTo Room customers. After all, a well-equipped conference room typically had a phone for incoming and outgoing calls. And everybody in a conference room already had a phone in their pocket. Calling or taking calls was a bit clunky, but it didn’t happen all that often.
But two years after the arrival of COVID-19, conference room dynamics have shifted. With so many people on hybrid work schedules, collaborating with remote workers is becoming much more commonplace in conferences.
Thus, today’s ideal conference room technology makes it as easy as possible to place outgoing calls and to accept incoming calls. It builds softphone capability right into the hardware suite’s user interface, so it’s simple to bring more people into your conference room.
How would GoTo Room’s new softphone work in real life?
Picture this: You’re in a conference room with potential clients who do what all prospects must do — ask the one question that stumps everybody.
The person who knows the answer is working from home this week. Fortunately, you have GoTo Connect in addition to GoTo Room. You pick up the touch-screen tablet that comes with GoTo Room and dial in the person who can answer the question.
OK, there may be a neighbor’s dog barking in the background, but your call answers the prospect’s questions and eliminates a potential deal-breaker. Everything comes through with crystal clear audio because GoTo Room’s hardware includes high-fidelity speakers.
Without the GoTo Room softphone, you’d have to make the call with another device, put the call recipient on speakerphone, and hope for the best (while preparing for the worst). Audio quality would be hit-or-miss and the whole experience would seem, well, sub-optimal.
A GoTo Room softphone can optimize the experience.
What else do I need to know about the GoTo Room softphone?
The GoTo Room softphone requires a GoTo Connect license. This gives you access to an industry-leading softphone with vast telephony options. You also get:
- Consolidation. Your conference and telephony tools are built into a single easy-to-use software package. You don’t have to buy, configure, and manage multiple calling devices, which cuts up-front costs and saves money over the long haul.
- Future-proofing. Adding VoIP gives you much more freedom to scale your business to new heights. The more ways you can converse and collaborate with employees, customers, and prospects, the better your options are for bringing in new business in the future.
- Device swapping. GoTo Room supports Android and NUC devices. If you don’t have these conference room devices but you do have other ones, we’ll take them off your hands via our swap program.
We’ve made it easy for your IT people to add a GoTo Connect license to your GoTo Room service package. Please let us know if you’re interested in taking advantage of GoTo Room’s new softphone.
