Zoom Phone Benefits

There are many benefits to a softphone application including added features, cost benefits and a more robust communications service. The following is not an exhaustive list, but some of the most prominent benefits of a softphone application for the university community.

• Greater mobility
  Full telephone functionality at home, on campus, traveling, or wherever there is an internet connection, allowing faculty and staff to seamlessly work, and have a more consistent presence, with their U-M number no matter where they are.

• Expanded privacy
  Telephone abilities with a U-M phone number so faculty and staff no longer need to provide their personal number to others for work purposes.

• Device options
  Ability to choose any combination of how the softphone application is used; university-provided or personally owned laptop, desktop, mobile device or from a desktop phone if needed. Also offers multi-device compatibility.

• Increased functionality
  Comprehensive calling features, including options for when/how calls are received, contact integration, and more. These features are all available with a quick application download through an easy-to-use interface.

• Decreased environmental impact
  A cloud based softphone service limits physical devices and backend equipment. Eliminating the need for physical phones also eliminates the costs associated with updating, maintaining, and moving telephone lines.

• Efficiency with a Softphone Application
  The softphone application user interface offers shortcuts and enhancements such as drag-and-drop call transfers, ability to transcribe voicemails, and voicemail-to-email service. These features will enable phone communication that is faster and easier to manage.

• Network flexibility
  Ability to use the softphone application through most internet connections, without the requirement of a VPN.

Zoom Phone Features

This is not an exhaustive list of the softphone features available, but a limited list of those that may not be currently available with a physical phone. All current features available with a traditional phone will continue to be available to the university community with a softphone.

• Traditional phone capabilities such as: call forwarding, call hold, call transfers, shared contact directory, incoming call notifications, caller information, and voicemail options.

• Customizable call parameters to ensure you are only getting notifications from your U-M number when you want to receive notifications.

• Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) enables calls with a U-M number from any of owned devices you choose to use without using your personal cell phone number.

• U-M Presence from your softphone which indicates when individuals are online, offline, busy or in a meeting. This enables others in the university community to know when they should reach out or when they might not get an immediate response.

• Effortless conference calls including the ability to switch a call from your softphone application on one device to another quickly if needed.

• Easily switching from a voice call to Zoom Meeting (videoconferencing)

• E911 Emergency calling from Zoom Phone Mobile App, Desktop App, or deskset.

More information can be found here.