New XPhone release: Softphone in the App

Deutsch

English

C4B Com For Business AG has published the latest release of its UC solution XPhone Connect: the centrepiece of XPhone Connect 9 is the Softphone in the Mobile App, which allows XPhone users to make calls via WLAN or the mobile network.

Munich, 24 May 2022. Two years of the pandemic have made one thing clear: work does not have to be tied to a specific location. "Today, the workplace can be anywhere," notes Thomas Pecher-Wagner, Head of Product at UC manufacturer C4B Com For Business. "In principle, there is only one prerequisite left – and that's the internet."

As a consequence, C4B is expanding all functions with which the in-house UC platform XPhone Connect supports hybrid working models. The centrepiece of the new version XPhone Connect 9 is therefore the Softphone in the Mobile App. The Softphone can be used both via WLAN and in the mobile network (5G, 4G and 3G). It is also possible to switch smoothly between WLAN and the mobile network as well as between different WLAN access points.

Thanks to Softphone, XPhone users can make calls worldwide via WLAN or in the mobile network under their office number.

Make calls worldwide via WLAN

"The advantage is that thanks to Softphone, employees can make calls worldwide under their office number,” Pecher-Wagner points out. Due to growing mobility, he says, a seamless One Number concept is playing an increasingly important role. "If I make calls via WLAN, costs can also be massively reduced. If an employee calls the German headquarters from China with the Softphone, the costs are zero."

Thanks to Softphone, call control functions such as forwarding, consultation and swap hold are now also available in the XPhone App. The XPhone App is thus a real alternative to the DECT device, says Pecher-Wagner. Currently, C4B is gradually rolling out Softphone Mobile to partners and customers in various network constellations.

Payload separation

Softphone in the Desktop Client is also getting an upgrade. With the new release, the audio stream can be routed past the VPN. "Our Softphone uses the OPUS codec. OPUS adapts extremely flexibly to the different bandwidths and offers very high quality with HD audio," explains Thomas Pecher-Wagner. "But the best codec doesn't help if the VPN is under full load and can't prioritise voice packets. Now our customers have the chance to route all audio packets past the VPN and are therefore independent of the VPN tunnel in terms of quality."

Not only is the quality to be increased, however, but also the expansion level of the Softphone: the number of external calls that can be made in parallel can be doubled with the new XPhone version. The prerequisite is that customers use the new option to move the "XPhone Call Controller" (XCC) to a Linux satellite. "Not only do all Softphone calls run via the XCC. It also controls our hotline management and AnyDevice," reveals Pecher-Wagner. "It's fair to say the XCC is the heart of the XPhone Server. And this heart can now be transplanted." Such a transplant serves in particular to ensure security, as the XCC can now be placed in the DMZ if required.

Office 365 integration

Another innovation concerns integration into the Microsoft universe. The latest feature addition here was bidirectional presence syncing of XPhone Connect with Microsoft Teams. Thanks to syncing, XPhone recognises when a user is sitting in a Teams meeting and automatically forwards incoming calls.

With the new release, XPhone is now released for Office 365. XPhone automatically syncs the Office 365 calendar and sets up the desired call forwarding if required. In addition, Office 365 meetings can be created and edited from the XPhone Client. Call alerts can also be sent.