NocTel Go FAQ

A softphone is a software-based telephone. The default Phone app on your smartphone is a softphone, too! Softphones and softphone apps reproduce the behavior of a regular telephone, and depending on who made it and for what purpose, it may or may not include business functionality like cold/warm transfers, multiple lines, extension dialing, and conferencing capability. NocTel Go is a business use softphone app.

All softphones need to work is a voice (VoIP) service provider, a phone number, and/or extension number; depending. Because the operation of the "phone" is all done within the app (software), the only physical component you need is the device the softphone is installed on. This means your device's SIM card and the provider as well as phone number associated with it are not necessary for the softphone to work.

NocTel Go brings the major business functionalities of a phone to mobile devices, but it may not be a drop in replacement at large for physical handsets. For example, while NocTel Go does have a speed dial capability, it is found in a separate app view that must be pulled up. For users like secretaries or front of office staff, it may be more effectively to use a physical handset with a sidecar extension to see quickly many extensions within the organization and their current status.

Also consider the reliability quality of the two options. Softphone activity is simply data over the internet, so it is difficult to implement QoS around or segregate to a dedicated VLAN. This means if the organization's available bandwidth gets saturated, phone calls will likely be impacted. Whereas in using physical handsets it is possible to prioritize voice VLAN traffic and keep call quality and stability during particularly busy periods.

There are other organizational level considerations to be had as well, such as whether your organization subsidizes or reimburses data plans of employees who use their own personal devices for work functions (BYOD) or if the organization furnishes issued mobile devices to all or certain employees. While reimbursing or subsidizing data plan cost for employees sidesteps one time cost of dedicated physical handsets or purchasing company devices and an MDM solution, it creates an associated recurring additional cost to services that can catch up and exceed those one time costs.

If you are unsure of whether NocTel Go can fully replace the use or need of physical handsets or just want to know more about the tradeoffs between options, feel free to reach out to us for consultation at support@noctel.com.

We plan to add those features to NocTel Go in future updates as major features.

Generally speaking, the current mobile OS version minus 3 major versions is a good rule of thumb. For example, as of this writing Android 14.x is the current Android major version making Android 11.x and newer generally safe for compatibility with your device. However, this rule is not hard and fast so operating system requirements may change significantly relative to what the OS developers change major version to major version. This may introduce new or modified permissions, security, and fundamental operation that may make newer mobile apps incompatible with older versions.

In general, both the Google Play Store and Apple App Store will notify you if a device you are attempting to install or update NocTel Go on is not compatible.

Unless you have used an extractor app for Android or otherwise procured a copy of an older version of NocTel Go from an official source there is no method to downgrade an existing installed version of the app.

An installable client app for Windows and MacOS are available. You can find info and links to installing them here.

At this time NocTel Go is only compatible with NocTel Talk cloud-hosted voice service.

As long as the headset being used provides a microphone input, it should generally work.

For Bluetooth headsets, you should verify the device provides the A2DP and HFP profiles which are necessary to interact with and handle phone calls. More advanced headsets that feature button controls will also typically include the AVRCP profile which allows the paired device and media/phone apps to correctly interpret button presses. As the range of possible devices is incredibly large, NocTel cannot test every valid combination of mobile device to headset device. We encourage you to evaluate a headset with your NocTel Go extension before purchasing it and presuming it fit for normal use.

NocTel provides no warranty or guarantee any and all headset peripheral and mobile device combination will be fully compatible with NocTel Go.

This has not been extensively tested, but may work as long as the smartwatch has the physical capabilities (speaker, microphone) to handle calls. Some gestures to handle calls in a rudimentary manner may work, such as answering or rejecting a call through the smartwatch.

NocTel Go currently does not have any smart assistant interoperability with well-known assistants such as Siri, Google Now, and Alexa.

If the tablet is running a modern version of Android or iOS, it can install, provision, and use NocTel Go the same as any smartphone would.

At this time NocTel does not offer any native integration or cloud storage service for calls recorded from NocTel Talk. Call recording and storage for NocTel Flow is a feature, but not extended for calls at large for customers using only NocTel Talk. You will need to furnish your own storage provider or strategy. NocTel recommends working with your IT department to identify your needs and to be aware of information security compliance that may apply to the industry your organization belongs to.

NocTel Go extension are limited to a single device at a time. If you need to deploy the extension on a new device please contact support@noctel.com

Not at this time. When a NocTel Go extension is provisioned it is bound to the device it is activated on. If you need to deploy the extension on a new device please contact support@noctel.com

When NocTel Go is first launched it will prompt permission to your mobile device's local contacts. Local contacts on mobile device may be pulled in by iOS or Android from the default Phone app as well as productivity apps like Gmail, Outlook, etc.. The contacts pulled by the mobile OS from first and third party communications and productivity apps are made available to NocTel Go through the Contacts permission. NocTel Go does not pull contacts from other apps installed on the same mobile device directly.

If you do not wish to have NocTel Go pull local contacts from your mobile device, do not allow the Contacts permission. You may revoke the permission for NocTel Go specifically on your mobile device. The location may vary with mobile OS and OS version. Consult the appropriate documentation for your mobile device make, model, and mobile OS version for assistance.

Local settings you've set in Go remain persistent as you've configured them. As NocTel does not assert configuration of every deployed Go extension, undesirable behavior relating to settings you have made are generally corrected by defaulting the app settings back.

iOS and Android are two separate and very different mobile operating systems under the hood and their respective ecosystems operate differently as well. While iOS and Android do many things similarly, the degree to which varies. So the differences in setting options between the versions are not because we wanted to give Android users more choice out of preference, it may be a result of the capability to do the same on iOS wasn't available or feasible.

NocTel Go extensions are operable extensions on your account. The quantity of NocTel Go extensions on your account, call volume, minute usage, etc. are calculated as part of the NocTel Talk reporting provided in NocTel Insight. For NocTel Go specific usage, you would filter the Device Type to only include NocTel Go devices.

Beyond Insight reporting as captured in NocTel Talk metrics, NocTel Go extension monitoring such as latency graphs are available within the NocTel control panel.

If you have lost or had your mobile device stolen, report the loss immediately to your organization's IT support department. Commonly, your organization's IT support staff may issue a remote wipe of the lost/stolen device rendering it totally useless to the person in possession.

Loss or theft of personal or company assets constitutes a security incident which your organization's IT department is responsible for. Support inquiries for assistance in these circumstances cannot be accommodated.

NocTel Go retrieves your mobile device's contact info from the mobile operating system itself through requesting and requiring consent to access Contacts. Selecting Deny prevents NocTel Go from accessing your personal contacts. If you selected Allow initially and change your mind, navigate to your device's security and app preferences. Locate NocTel Go and toggle Off the Contacts permission.

NocTel Go will by default store any call recordings you create on demand or create by default to the mobile device itself. These recordings are not encrypted to allow portability, storage, and playback from other devices or services, such as AWS S3. If you require encryption of call recordings or a retention policy, we recommend working with your organization's IT department to establish and implement appropriate datasec policies and practices.

NocTel Go extensions are billed on a monthly basis the same as a physical extension is. The rate may vary depending on if your organization has a contract specifying different monthly rates for NocTel Go extensions and physical handsets. VoIP usage is also billed on a minutely basis the same as other extensions according to your organization's domestic and international rates.

A NocTel Go extension that is twinned to a physical Poly phone is billed at $0/month (FREE)*

*standard usage rates apply

No, NocTel Go extension usage is measured and billed the same as physical handsets. NocTel Go extensions abide by the same minutely rate your organization has applied domestically and internationally as well as the fixed monthly cost for service. Usage is billed in minutes and not on a different basis like data expenditure/transit.

NocTel Go does not measure and report data usage for calls that used mobile data at any point in the call whether that was briefly or the entirety of the call. If your organization provides work mobile devices or provides full coverage or partial subsidy of data use each month, your organization should have or be using tools specifically to better track it. In most cases, mobile devices will provide a local device report on how much data apps have used. You may refer there for such information.

For enterprise organizations wanting to track NocTel Go data usage on BYOD or company devices, NocTel recommends seeking an MDM (mobile device management) solution that includes individual app data use reporting.

NocTel Go extensions like physical extensions on your account will continue to be billed so long as the extension exists as an extensions in your NocTel account.

When an employee leaves the organization and you no longer wish to have the NocTel Go extension present and be billed for it, you should:

• Delete the NocTel Go extension off the account*

*It may be necessary to remove the Go extension from configuration such as number routing and Hunt Groups before the extension can be deleted.