Getting started
You've been given a Slingshot line
Someone at your company set up the phone system and added you to it. You have your own extension, and it rings on the phone you already carry. Calls you make go out as your company's number, and your own mobile number stays private.
About 10 minutes. Have these ready: your welcome email, a computer, and your phone.
Find your welcome email
Look for an email from Slingshot with the subject "Your [company] line is ready." It shows your extension and your company number, and it has a button that says Set up my phone.
Found it? Go to the next step.
Can't find it? Search your inbox and spam folder for "Slingshot".
Still can't find it? Ask your admin to resend your invite. Your admin is whoever set up the phone system at your company. It may never have been sent, so asking is the quickest fix. Not sure who your admin is? Contact us and we will send it.
More than 7 days old? The button stops working after 7 days. Ask your admin to resend your invite. Nothing about your line changes when a new one is sent.
Open the link on your computer
Open the email on your computer and click Set up my phone. It signs you straight in. You do not need a password to use your line, and the app never asks for one.
Use a computer for this, not your phone: the computer screen shows a code, and your phone scans it.
Only have your phone? Open the link on your phone instead and tap Add my line to this phone on the App page. There is nothing to scan. See Adding your line on the same phone (no scanning).
Scan the code with your phone's camera
Open the App page. There is a code on it.
- Open your phone's ordinary camera, the one you take photos with, and point it at the code. Do not use a scanner inside another app.
- Tap the link that appears. A page opens and gets you the app if you do not have it yet.
- On an iPhone, tap Open when it asks to open "Softphone". On Android there is no question; the app opens by itself.
The app is called Cloud Softphone in the App Store and Google Play, and the iPhone calls it Softphone. It is the app your Slingshot line runs in. Searching the store for "Slingshot" will not find it, which is why the code installs it for you.
Asking for a Cloud ID or password? The app was opened from the store instead of from the code. There is nothing to type. Close the app and scan the same code again with your camera.
Say yes to notifications
Your phone will ask for a few permissions.
- Notifications: allow. Without this your phone cannot ring when the app is closed.
- Microphone: allow. It asks on your first call.
- Contacts: your choice. It only shows names instead of numbers.
The app may also ask to become your default calling app. You can say no. Saying yes sends calls you dial from your own contacts out over the work line.
Make a test call
Out: dial your own mobile from the app's keypad. You should see your company's number on the call.
In: from another phone, call your company number. A menu answers first. Dial your extension, shown in your welcome email, and your app should ring.
If both work, you are done.
If something is not working
The app says it is not connected, or calls will not go out
Switch between Wi-Fi and mobile data and try again, then force-quit and reopen the app. See My app won't connect.
Calls go out, but nothing rings when someone calls in
Check that notifications are allowed for Cloud Softphone in your phone's settings, and that Do Not Disturb or a Focus mode is off. See People can't reach my number.
Calls go straight to voicemail
Still stuck? Ask your admin, or contact us at support@slingshot.tel. We are a phone company. Calling us is allowed.
Article SL-107