Yesterday, XTEN Networks announced a new version of their X-Pro softphone with TAPI support. Call X-Pro TAPI, it is a drop-in component for any application that formally required a TAPI compliant voice modem to make telephone calls. The press release talks extensively about Outlook support because with this new release, X-Pro can now do click to call dialling from any Outlook contact record. More important, theoretically X-Pro TAPI is also a drop in component to convert any TAPI compliant system into a VoIP system – think of the impact on legacy CRM systems, and call centres.
Once again, close your eyes and repeat after me: softphones are platforms.
Alec Saunders is the Vice President of Developer Relations for BlackBerry make Research in Motion. This is his personal blog, with his personal viewpoints. Prior to this Alec was the CEO and co-founder of Calliflower — the easiest way to hold a meeting, online, on a conference call, or on the go. A double-decade veteran of product management and marketing, he spent nine years at Microsoft where he helped launch Windows 95, the first two versions of Internet Explorer, the Universal Plug and Play initiative, the push into home markets, opt-in email marketing and what might well go down in history as the very first direct email list ever.
