telephony
Webphone
A webphone is a softphone that runs inside a web browser, letting an agent take VoIP calls with nothing to install beyond the browser itself.
A webphone is a phone that runs inside a web browser tab. The agent opens a page, allows microphone access, and starts taking calls — no app to download, no driver to install. For a call center that means a new agent can be live in minutes on almost any laptop, which is why webphones have largely replaced installed clients on busy floors.
A webphone is really a Softphone with the browser as its home. It speaks SIP (Session Initiation Protocol) to register with the server and carries audio over VoIP using the browser's built-in real-time media support. Because everything runs in the tab, the webphone usually lives right beside the VICIdial agent screen, so the same window holds the dialer controls and the call audio for one continuous Agent session.
The trade-offs are worth knowing. A webphone depends on the browser staying open and the network staying steady, so a closed tab or a flaky connection ends the call. A Hardphone (deskphone) is more rugged but far less flexible. For most teams the convenience wins: agents need no special hardware, support has nothing to install, and onboarding is fast. When audio quality drops it is usually the network, not the webphone itself, so check the connection before blaming the browser.
Related terms
Agent session
The stretch of time from when an agent logs in to when they log out, during which VICIdial tracks every call, pause, and status change they make.
Hardphone (deskphone)
A hardphone is a physical desk telephone with its own hardware that connects to the phone system over the network, as opposed to phone software on a computer.
SIP (Session Initiation Protocol)
The standard signaling protocol that sets up, manages, and ends internet phone calls — how VICIdial talks to phones and carriers.
Softphone
A softphone is phone software running on a computer or mobile device that makes and receives calls over the internet instead of using physical desk-phone hardware.
VoIP
Voice over Internet Protocol, the technology that sends phone calls as data packets over the internet instead of over traditional copper phone lines.