Softphone
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Softphone
The Phone tab is a built-in softphone that lets you make and receive calls directly from your browser. It works right inside Chrome, Edge, Safari, and Firefox — no plugins, downloads, or additional software needed.
Two transfer modes: Blind (instant handoff) vs Attended (talk to target first, then connect)
The softphone displays its connection status at the top of the Phone tab:
| Status | Indicator | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| Ready | Green dot | Connected and ready to make or receive calls |
| Connecting... | Yellow dot | Establishing connection to the phone system |
| Disconnected | Red dot | Not connected — try refreshing the page |
| In Call | Green dot | Currently on an active call |
The softphone works even on locked-down networks — a corporate office, a hotel, or guest Wi-Fi — that allow only standard web traffic on port 443 and block the ports voice calls normally use. On those networks the softphone automatically routes your call audio over an encrypted relay so the call still connects and stays clear; there is nothing for you to configure.
The dial pad shows a small indicator of how the current call is connected:
Either way the call audio is encrypted end to end. The indicator is mainly useful when you are troubleshooting a quality question with support — it tells them at a glance whether the call went direct or via the relay.
For external calls, dial the number as you normally would from your desk phone. For internal calls, enter the extension number (e.g., 101).
Quick redial: with the number field empty, press the green Call button to populate it with your most recent call — then press Call again to dial. Edit the number first if you want to tweak it.
When an incoming call arrives, a notification overlay appears with the caller's information (if available). You have two options:
A ringtone plays while the call is ringing. The notification shows the caller's name and number when available.
During an active call, the following controls appear below the call timer:
| Button | Function |
|---|---|
| Mute | Mutes your microphone. The other party cannot hear you. Click again to unmute. |
| Hold | Places the call on hold. The other party hears hold music. Click again to resume. |
| Record | Starts or stops recording the current call mid-conversation. The button is shown only when your administrator has granted on-demand recording for your extension. When recording starts, both parties hear the audible cue your administrator configured (a beep, a spoken announcement, or nothing — depends on the tenant policy). Stopping is silent. Pressing Record a second time stops the segment; pressing it again starts a new segment in the same call. |
| Transfer | Opens the transfer dialog. Enter the destination and choose Blind Transfer (instant handoff) or Attended Transfer (speak with the target first). |
| Keypad | Shows a dial pad for sending touch-tones during a call (for example, when navigating a phone menu like “press 1 for billing”). |
| Hang Up | Ends the current call. You can also press Escape on your keyboard. |
The browser softphone supports the platform's full call-recording feature. There are two independent things to know about: full-time recording (your administrator turns it on for inbound calls to a phone number, or for your outbound calls, and the system records every call automatically) and on-demand recording (you click a button mid-call to start or stop). This section is about on-demand — the part you control yourself.
Two things must be true before on-demand recording works for you. Both are admin-controlled:
If both are on, the Record button appears in the in-call control bar (alongside Mute, Hold, Transfer). If either is off, the button is hidden entirely — you won't see a grayed-out button or an error message. Ask your administrator to enable it if you need the feature.
Three ways, all of which write to the same recording file and produce the same audit-log entry — identical behavior across surfaces:
*1 DTMF code from the in-call Keypad — click the Keypad button on the active-call screen and dial *1. First press starts; second press stops. Useful as a keyboard alternative to the on-screen button.*1 DTMF code from a desk phone or iPhone app on the same extension — if your extension is logged in on multiple devices and the call was answered on a different one, pressing *1 there toggles recording for the whole call. The browser softphone's Record button updates to reflect the change within a second.Whenever recording starts — whether full-time or on-demand — the system can play a short cue into the bridge so both parties hear it. Three policies, set by your administrator at the tenant level:
Stopping is always silent — no cue plays when you click Stop. The cue plays each time recording starts, including every restart in a multi-segment call.
You can stop and restart recording multiple times in the same call. Each on/off cycle creates its own recording file with a sequence-number suffix in the file name. All segments show up under the same call in your call history with an On-Demand badge so you can tell them apart from full-time recordings.
Click Record while you're bridged in a normal conversation with another person, and the recording captures both sides of the conversation from the moment you click. Recording attaches to your call leg specifically, so:
If you routinely transfer calls and need uninterrupted coverage, ask your administrator to turn on full-time inbound recording for the relevant DID, or full-time outbound for your extension — on-demand is for situations where a normal call unexpectedly turns into something worth capturing.
The Record button is hidden, and pressing *1 on the keypad returns silently or plays a short error tone, in these situations:
Recordings sync to Cloudspire's secure cloud storage about a minute or two after the call ends. Open the call from Call History in the customer portal; if a recording is available, an inline player appears. Recordings are kept for the tenant's configured retention period (typically 30–90 days, set by your administrator).
Recording laws vary by jurisdiction. In two-party-consent regions, every party on the call must be aware that the call is being recorded. If your tenant's administrator has set the recording start notification to None and you're in a two-party-consent jurisdiction, you are responsible for verbally informing the other party that you're recording before pressing the button. Cloudspire Voice does not provide legal advice — check with your administrator or legal department about your local rules.
During an active call, click Transfer to open the transfer dialog. Enter the destination extension or phone number, then choose one of two transfer modes:
Click Blind Transfer to send the call immediately. The caller is connected to the destination and your call ends. Use this when you don't need to speak with the recipient first.
Click Attended Transfer to speak with the recipient before connecting them to the caller:
If the recipient doesn't answer or the consultation call fails, you are automatically returned to your original caller.
The softphone can merge two active calls into a conference and let you keep adding participants — all bridged together on the server so everyone can speak and hear each other.
While on a 2-party call, press the Conference button in the in-call action row. The other party is sent to your conference room first, and your softphone joins them automatically. Add more participants from there using the steps below.
If the active call is to a number that can't be conferenced (voicemail, a parked call, an IVR menu, or anything not in a normal bridged state), the original call stays connected and a brief notice explains why.
The button is hidden when you're already in a conference, in the middle of an attended transfer, or already on a call to your own conference room (you can't add yourself to your own room).
If you'd rather consult with the second party first before bringing both of you into the room, use the attended-transfer flow:
Once you're in a conference, the Transfer button becomes Add Participant:
If you hang up, the conference keeps running as long as at least one other person is still in it. A Your Conference pill appears at the top of your softphone while the room is active — tap Join to rejoin without looking up the room number. Conferences automatically end when everyone has left.
By default, your ad-hoc conference is private — only you and the people you've transferred in can hear the call. If you want to open the room up so anyone on your team can join with a single tap, press the 🌐 button on the Your Conference pill.
When more than two rooms are open across your tenant, the list collapses into a 🌐 N open rooms ▾ tray you can expand from the softphone header. Admins can disable discoverable rooms tenant-wide if the feature isn't wanted.
If your admin has programmed a Conference key on your desk phone, it lights up whenever you have an active conference room and goes dark when the room ends. Press the key anytime to rejoin your room, or use the *38 feature code: while on a call, press your phone's Transfer button and dial *38 to drop that call into your conference. Repeat for each person you want to add, then press the Conference key (or dial *38 by itself) to join the room.
The softphone includes a collapsible side panel with quick-access features that are always available, even during calls:
| Panel | Description |
|---|---|
| BLF Keys | Shows your BLF (Busy Lamp Field) key layout with real-time presence indicators for monitored extensions. Click a BLF key when you're not on a call to dial that extension; click it during an active call to transfer the call to that extension. The softphone detects your current call state and chooses the right behavior automatically — blind transfer if the key is tapped while a call is up, direct dial otherwise. |
| Recent Calls | Lists your last 20 calls (deduplicated), showing the contact name or number. Click an entry to dial. |
| Directory | Searchable directory of all extensions in your organization. Click an entry to call. |
| Voicemail | Displays a badge with the count of new voicemail messages waiting in your mailbox. |
| DND Status | Shows your current Do Not Disturb status. When DND is active, an indicator appears on the side panel. Toggling DND here sets system-wide DND — the state syncs instantly to your desk phone, the mobile app, your BLF keys, and the admin console, and your presence flips to Do Not Disturb. This is different from the DND button on the desk phone itself, which only silences that one phone’s ringer and is invisible to the rest of the system. |
The side panel stays accessible when you switch to other portal tabs, so you can browse contacts or check recent calls while on a call.
Click the speaker icon at the bottom of the softphone to expand the audio device selector. Here you can choose:
If you connect a new headset or audio device, click the speaker icon to refresh the list and select the new device.
The first time you use the softphone, your browser will ask for permission to access your microphone. You must Allow this for the softphone to work. If you accidentally deny the permission:
The softphone supports full keyboard control so you can make calls, answer, hang up, and manage calls without using the mouse. Shortcuts are automatically disabled when you are typing in other areas of the portal (such as chat or search fields).
| When | Key | Action |
|---|---|---|
| Not on a call | 0–9, *, # | Types digits into the dialer (auto-focuses the number field) |
| Enter | Places the call | |
| Backspace | Deletes the last digit | |
| Incoming call ringing | Enter | Answers the call |
| Escape | Declines the call | |
| On a call | 0–9, *, # | Sends touch-tones (for navigating phone menus) |
| Escape | Hangs up | |
| M | Toggles mute | |
| H | Toggles hold |