Do you still need desk phones if your business phone system has an app?
Summary
Not for everyone. Zoom Phone, Microsoft Teams Phone, Google Voice, and Ooma Office all put the company number in a smartphone app, so desk phones only need to go where someone answers all day, like a front desk. Two things can catch you out: some providers leave the desktop app off their cheapest plan, and a mobile app may not be able to place a 911 call the way a desk phone can.
What each app covers
Zoom Phone runs in Zoom's desktop and mobile apps and on compatible desk phones from makers such as Mitel, Yealink, and Poly. Zoom also offers to let employees use Zoom Phone on their own devices.
Teams Phone lives inside Microsoft Teams, and Microsoft lets users move a call from one device to another mid-conversation. Hardware comes from a list of Teams-certified devices. A separate option, Teams Phone Mobile, ties a user's mobile number and business number into one.
Google Voice works on mobile devices, laptops, and supported desk phones, and calls can be made and answered inside Gmail. Admins can provision HP Poly desk phones from the console without touching each phone.
When the laptop app costs extra
Ooma Office is the clearest case. The mobile app is included in Essentials at $19.95 per user per month, but the desktop app starts with Pro at $24.95. Neither plan requires a contract. Pro also adds call recording, text messaging up to 250 messages a month, and video meetings for up to 25 people. An office where people answer calls on a laptop headset needs Pro seats for those people.
911 from a mobile app
Emergency calls from an app follow the provider's own rules. RingCentral's emergency services policy says its smartphone app cannot place emergency calls over Wi-Fi and hands them to the phone's native dialer instead. Tablets and other devices without a native dialer and a wireless plan cannot dial emergency services at all. Users on a virtual extension with no direct callback number are told to keep another way to reach 911.
Keeping a traveling employee's address right
Because an app goes wherever the phone goes, the address 911 receives can be out of date. Zoom Phone requires emergency addresses on the account before direct numbers are bought, and each site carries a default address. An admin can turn on a prompt that asks users to set or confirm their default address, and Zoom's Nomadic Emergency Services can detect a user's location automatically for emergency calls.
Sources
- zoom.com/en/products/voip-phone
- support.zoom.com/hc/en/article?id=zm_kb&sysparm_article=KB0060203
- microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-teams/microsoft-teams-phone
- workspace.google.com/products/voice
- ooma.com/small-business-phone-systems/plans
- ringcentral.com/legal/emergency-services.html
Related on this site
- How much do desk phones and headsets add to a business phone setup?
- When does a business outgrow using a regular cell phone for calls?
- What happens behind the scenes when someone calls a cloud phone number?
- How much internet speed do VoIP calls actually need?
- Will 911 know where you are if you call from a VoIP phone?
- Can employees use the company phone number while they're abroad?
Written by Kaz (pen name). Figures are copied from providers' published pricing pages on the dates shown. We have not used these products. Corrections: contact form.