Mitel Connect is configured by default to use your desk phone for incoming and outgoing calls. By changing over to softphone, you will have all the functionality of your desk phone but without needing the phone itself. Switching over to softphone instead uses your computer as the phone instead. 

The softphone feature can be used at any time, but its main use is for making phone calls from your extension while off campus or if you do not have a desk phone. To use this while off campus you will need to be connected to one of the CUI_VPN options in order to make and receive calls. The use of the softphone feature is intended to replace a desk phone. The Mitel Connect client should be used to place and receive phone calls from your computer. 

When the softphone feature is enabled, your desk phone screen will display an “Anonymous” phone state instead of your name and extension. In this state, only internal phone calls can be made from the desk phone and will display a “Caller ID Unknown” to the recipient of the call.

In some instances, the Windows Mitel client may not be able to properly connect to the device microphone, especially if being run in a virtual desktop solution (such as AWS workspaces). Often, this is a result of Windows privacy permissions not set correctly. To resolve it:

1. Go to the Settings App, which can be found on the left-hand side of the Start Menu.

2. Next, select the 'Privacy' pane.

3. On the left-hand side of the Privacy section, scroll to the Microphone menu, under App Permissions.

4. Ensure that:

   1. Microphone Access for your device is on.

   2. Apps are allowed to access the microphone.

If the microphone is still not working as expected inside of Mitel, you may need to manually set the audio device that you wish to use under Windows sound settings, as Mitel may not always work with the option to "use defaults" in settings.