Sky Softphone

A softphone is an application that runs on a computer and functions as a phone but without the physical device and handset associated with a phone. The Sky Softphone is a virtual phone that provides two-way audio and graphically appears like a desk phone on your computer screen.

Sky Softphone reproduces virtually all of the features of the physical desk phones that are supported by the Sky phone system. Features such as shared line appearances, soft keys, on-phone conference control, barge, call recording management, voicemail, and intercom function exactly the same on the softphone as they do on a physical phone. Features such as call history and directories are also available on the softphone, but with a slightly different interface.

Note that a managed profile can be used exclusively with a softphone, or shared between a physical phone and softphone, with minimal loss of functionality.

Table of Contents

Softphone Uses
Requirements
Limitation
Installation
Using Softphone
Supported Headsets
Audio Settings

Softphone Uses

Sky Softphone can be used with the following:

• Contact Center agents
• Salesforce.com and other CRM integrations
• Browser-based click-to-dial
• Sky Replay
• Outlook

Requirements

• Windows XP, Vista, 7 or higher
• Managed profile
• USB headset or other type of headset that plugs into the mic/speaker jack on a computer
• A wired Internet connection. A wireless Internet connection is not recommended or supported.
• A license is required for each computer used to install the Sky Softphone.

Limitation

When a Sky Softphone receives an incoming call, if the call is being routed by a Ring Group, the name of the ring group or queue does not display as it would on a physical phone. To work around this limitation, view inbound calls in Phone Assistant while using the softphone.

Installation

To install, setup, and use your  Sky Softphone, see our Sky Softphone Installation, Configuration, and Log In article.

Note: A license key, which must be obtained from Support, is required for installing a Sky Softphone on a computer. This license may be installed on only one computer, but the softphone can be used by any number of users on that computer. If you need to utilize a Sky Softphone on another computer or move a license from one computer to another, contact Support.

Using Softphone

The following Call Management and Service Buttons sections provide basic information for using the Sky Softphone.

Call Management

Call management through the Sky Softphone functions similarly to a Cisco 7960 model IP Phone on the Sky system. All call management functions are available through use of the soft keys. See our Call Management article for more information on basic call handling in the Sky phone system.

• Place a Call - Enter the number in the call display using the softphone keypad of the computer keyboard
• End a Call - Click the End Call soft key

Service Buttons

Service buttons function similarly to the service buttons on other phones supported on the Sky system. Depending on the "skin" selected for your softphone, your directories buttons may look different from a physical desk phone, but the functionality remains the same.

Supported Headsets

The Sky Softphone supports a variety of Plantronics headsets such as the SAVI 730, SAVI 740, SAVI 440, and the Blackwire c420. With these headsets, users can answer a call, place a call on hold, resume a call, answer a call on a second line, toggle between calls, mute a call, and hang up a call. Note that a headset will not take a line off hook.

Configure the Sky Softphone to set the following (see the Configuration section of the Sky Softphone Installation article for more detailed instructions):

• Open Settings, select the Phone tab, and select the headset option.
• Select the USB Phone Enabled checkbox.
• Select the headset to be the Microphone and the Speaker.

To enable full call-handling functionality with a supported Plantronics headset, users may need to do the following:

1. Download Plantronics Hub or other Plantronics Spokes software from this website: http://www.plantronics.com/us/support/software-downloads/
2. Depending on the type of headset, you may be required to either upgrade or downgrade a version of Plantronics software to achieve the full functionality of the headset.

Audio Settings

The Sky Softphone application may require additional configuration of the Windows audio settings. The following explains how your computer's operating system specifies a list of valid audio devices.

When your computer is booted (started), it generates an audio list which details the following:

• Default audio device
• Default communication device
• All other audio devices (enabled or disabled)

If adjustments are made to this audio list, the computer needs to be rebooted so the list can be re-populated with the changed settings. After rebooting, perform the following steps:

1. Right-click the Speaker icon on the right side of the taskbar, located at the bottom of the screen.
2. Select Playback devices.
3. EXCEPT for the desired audio device (to process calls using the softphone), DISABLE all other audio devices by right-clicking each one and then clicking Disable.
4. Open the Sky Softphone application and do the following:
   1. Open Settings.
   2. Select the Phone tab.
   3. Adjust the audio devices as follows:
      • Set all microphone options to the desired microphone
      • Set all speaker/speakerphone options to Default Communication Device.
5. After the above steps are complete, restart the computer and open the Sky Softphone application. Placing a test call should yield successful inbound and outbound audio.