Call from browser: a tool for business?

    Today we will say a few words about the popular technology - a call from the browser. Gradually, its incarnations began to appear on various platforms, and they even offered business calls directly from the Internet page. But is it convenient?

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    Our telephony platform has been supporting the call function from a browser for a long time, but recently we have increasingly been approached with a request to connect telephony through a browser. Like it is profitable, very simple and does not need to install anything. That is why we wanted to say a few words about "what is good and what is bad" in matters of telephony.
    As we already said, there is an open API library for the IPtelefon platformwhich allows you to embed the telephony function in any platform and in any object using standard methods. In particular, through the API, you can embed a call interface to the site. It can be a call button without any number - just an IP connection to your PBX for a client, or a form with the ability to enter a phone number for your employees so that they can make low-cost calls to customers directly from the browser.
    However, as practice shows, switching to browser telephony is also not a panacea, and there are 3 reasons for this:

    1. When calling in some browsers, an employee loses the ability to freely switch between windows, which means that additional information is not available to him, and if you switch to another tab, you can lose the window in which the call occurs.
    2. In the event of a browser crash or spontaneous closure, for example, due to lack of memory, the call will be interrupted and the client will have the feeling that the operator simply “hung up”.
    3. If the browser page with an active call is not displayed on the screen, there is no way to mute the microphone if the employee needs to consult with a colleague in the office.

    Each case has its own decision.

    However, no one says that working with IP-telephony should be uncomfortable. From a technical point of view, it does not matter to the server which client it communicates with. For example, a browser page with a script interacts with your PBX in exactly the same way as any program phone (softphone). However, the difference is that softphones are constantly evolving and their developers are making considerable efforts to make them more convenient. Therefore, if you decide to use soft telephony, for regular calls it is better to install a specialized program, for example, the desktop version of Zoiper.
    The second option, which allows you to make an employee even more autonomous and even independent of the computer “freezing”, is to use a hardware SIP phone. In this case, you can immediately install a digital device, for example, the relatively inexpensive Fanvil F52. You can also use analog phones, if, for example, they are already on the balance sheet of the company or even DECT handsets in order to be able to move around the office with a cordless phone. To do this, just install an adapter that connects to the network and acts as a SIP device.

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    The third way is to install a softphone on an employee’s smartphone, for example, the same Zoiper, but in the mobile version. Then the specialist could talk with the client without any additional devices, but everything also remained independent of the PC’s performance. This approach has one more plus - you can contact the client on the go, during lunch, and even when the washing machine is being repaired, when there is no computer nearby (stable Internet access is required).

    The last option is integration with the CRM customer service system. For example, our Hive PBX is already integrated with AmoCRM, but having an open API also makes it easy to integrate telephony with any other system. From a technical point of view, it looks very simple - for example, the “call” button appears on the client’s card, which sets up a call directly from the CRM system or from any other program, just like a softphone.

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    Conclusion

    Thus, a call from a browser is a very useful feature that makes it easy to connect a client to an employee of the company, but when it comes to reverse communication, other approaches are more effective. Yes, you can call a couple of times through the browser, so this function in a virtual telephone exchange will not be superfluous, but for comfortable work and a large number of calls it is better to consider other connection options.
    SpecialistsIPtelefon constantly advises customers which particular connection method will be more profitable and convenient in each case. And if you are in doubt whether to use softphones or, for example, calls from the browser, please contact us, we will be happy to share our experience with you! In addition, all of the above technologies are supported in our Hive PBX , so you can choose at any time how it will be more convenient for your employees to make calls.

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