We are currently using and recommending Linphone for any customers who need a softphone on Android. It seems to work well and we don’t generally get any issues with battery saving / no background preventing incoming calls.
However, for iOS I don’t have the same experience. Unless it’s changed fairly recently Linphone just didn’t cut it. I’m sure it’s not their fault as such but no incoming calls is not something we can have.
I found a couple of posts, this one being the most recent but it’s a year and a half old (ish) so I thought I would check if the recommendations are any different.
Additionally are there any gotchas with using the Sangoma Talk or Clearly Anywhere apps (like “oh yeah, you need these 3 commercial modules to make them work” type things?)
Both Sangoma Talk and Clearly Anywhere are paid, and you do need commercial modules installed on your system. They are both built using the Acrobits SDK, so you can use the Groundwire app instead. It’s also paid, but only 1 time instead of monthly/yearly.
Second the poster above about Acrobits. I use the trimmed down version of Groundwire (they call it Soft phone) with zero issues. Reliably wakes up on ANY call. The draw back with both of their solutions is that they don’t work for texting. One time payment and I’m golden
I see that the Sangoma one is a 20 user, one year license for $300 ($1.25/user/month) which would be fine but I only really want 1 or 2 users. The clearly Anywhere one seems to be free on both Android and iOS. Do you need commercial modules to make them work?
Groundwire does seem to be a good option though from what people are saying.
I don’t but I know a man who does so will be sending him a link to this post!
Thanks for the clarification. I think at ~9 GBP for Groundwire any company that wants a softphone will be ok with that. If you can afford to kit your staff out with iPhones then an extra £10 is a drop in the ocean!
We offer a 3-month free trial for up to 2 users if you’d like to try it out. After the trial, you can purchase individual licenses for $19 USD MSRP — no need to commit to a 20-user bundle.
I did say it before and keep saying it now. Very happy with Groundwire. No issue with background execution (ships with push), very well maintained and with a one time payment.
Couldn’t be happier really, working fine for years now on both Android and iOS
My only regret is I wish I better researched the difference between Softphone and Groundwire. I havent had to use transfer and conferencing yet so not so bad. I will always recommend any of the Acrobits offering. 100% reliable for waking up even in flaky network.
Another vote for Groundwire. You can setup BLF, and therefore park buttons too. If I am doing a higher user count, I use Sangoma talk as it is plug and play for end users and I am getting more people wanting to use softphone on their desktop, so Sangoma talk gives them both.
BTW. For a versatile desktop client, check out the 100% open source tSIP. It is simply amazing.
Clearly Anywhere is great, used it for years. But it is subscription. Also use Ringotel on our Chromebooks, which works well for us on wifi. Ringotel has issues on the phone over LTE data though, especially if you are in an area without ideal reception.
We gave up on the Sangoma products for iOS and have been very happy with ringotel.co
A flawless application that works the way a phone application should integrate with a PBX. Pricing is very inexpensive too. (About $2/mo per user). We can also add the extensions of non-paid users that do not need iOS application so they show up in the ringotel application.
Reach out if you have additional questions or are having an issue setting up ringotel.
Another big upvote for Groundwire here. We’ve used it maybe for 10 years or more, and it rarely has any issues. The only one little niggle for me, is that it doesn’t ring the Apple watch. It does notify that a call has come in, but it doesn’t ring, so it’s usually after the event.
I wish we had the business case to build our own version with the SDK, but the cost is too high compared to the £10 or so one off purchase.
A couple of words of advice - make sure you set up the push servers on the firewall, and go through the configuration of the app thoroughly. The configuration is quite complex, and if setting up multiuple phones, you would want to get it right before you deploy to the masses.
What figures are we talking? I’ve stupidly casually mentioned Acrobits SDK to a slightly warm lead. Let me know if I should take that off the table and go with Linphone SDK backed with Flexisip for Push
I honestly can’t remember. It was several years ago, but whatever the cost is, has to be factored in to how you’re going to sell it. I’m assuming we’re resellers, internal situations will be different.
Effectively, you’re turning a one off purchase of £9 or £10, into a monthly fee, if you want to get payback, so you’ll have to differentiate the offer by making it more of a managed service than a product, but then ensure the client has more value at the same time.
How much would you charge a month… Would it cover the cost to Acrobits, your own time, and your managment of the service committment…