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VOIPstudio is apparently trying to prove that email is not just dead; it might also continue to be a valuable member of the unified communications cast.

A provider of its cloud-based telephony system of the same name, VOIPstudio recently announced the launch of its new smartphone, which will integrate directly with Microsoft (News - Alert) Outlook and has the potential to entirely replace similar functionality within Microsoft Lync. What this means for businesses is that they can use the new softphone to manage their contacts within Outlook directly from that hardware. For small businesses, the new phone can save them time by allowing employees to work more efficiently with contacts they already have saved in their email programs, and it can reduce the need for small organizations to consider splurging for an expensive UC platform.

The VOIPstudio announcement provides a quote from Martin Ozarek, a marketing specialist at VOIPstudio, who comments on the ability for the softphone to work as part of his company's cloud-based PBX (News - Alert).

“2015 is year of integrating every-day office applications for more effective of communication,” Ozarek said. “Using a telephone systems that is utilizing specially hosted PBX'es [sic] with other applications is the new trend for businesses wanting to work more efficiently. Now, our users can connect their Outlook client with our Cloud PBX, which is simply the best solution for small businesses.”

VOIPstudio's softphone is able to reach into the contacts present within Outlook and then allow employees to make calls based on that list without any additional setup. The phone finds a user's contact and then immediately is able to dial out to that contact. Referred to as “one click to call,” it can shave several seconds off of every call that, for instance, a sales person might make. After making hundreds of calls, that can add up to significant time savings which sales teams can better spend completing other important tasks.

This product should be particularly useful for small companies that primarily use Outlook to complete the majority of their marketing or which keep a number of contacts within that software. With Windows-ready PCs, the Outlook client is already present, so companies may find themselves using it because it works out of the box and does not incur businesses additional costs. Years of contacts built up inside that email software can be extremely valuable to organizations that complete a lot of email-based marketing and who use those lists as their official contact files. A simple setup with the VOIPstudio softphone can now harness those years of accumulation while providing an ease of use in the process.