Frequently Asked Questions


Product: VTALL


If you have difficulty installing or working with IP blue VTALL softphone, please refer to the following list of symptoms and try the suggested steps to isolate and solve the problem. If you cannot find the answer, you can also search the Knowledge Base or submit a technical request form.

See also
   • FAQs for VTGO
   • FAQs for VTGO for PocketPC



How can I manually configure VTALL to receive and make calls?
How and where do I configure VOIP interfaces (gateway, gatekeeper)?
How do I disable the Gatekeeper autodiscovery process?
How do I configure a dialing plan?
What does the Generate in-band DTMF option do, and why is it not recommended?
What can be done to improve audio quality?
Why can't I hear anything (or be heard)?
Why do I hear a delay?
Why do I sound extremely loud to other people?
What is the Hoot Tab?
How do I configure the Hoot buttons?
How do I perform a directory search?
How do I view the contents of a directory?
How do I modify the information in a directory?
How do I set up Codec properties?
What is the function of the Active Call Statistics tab?
How do I set up voice mail?
How do I record a call?
How do I set up call log properties?
How do I sort which call log records will be displayed?
How do I make a call in VTALL?
How do I set up and use private line buttons?
How do I add a fast transfer call destination?
How do I redirect all inbound calls if I am unable to answer them?
How do I change the Virtual Terminal sounds?
How do I add an application to be launched from VTALL?
What types of conferencing does VTALL have?
To add calls to a conference
To remove calls from conference


How can I manually configure VTALL to receive and make calls?
To manually configure the minimal operational settings follow the steps below:
  1. Going to Tools / Options.
  2. Select the General properties tab and complete the following user information fields: First name, Last name, Display name, Telephone number, Email address. ( Note: These fields are usually set for you by the system administrator.)
  3. Select the Audio properties tab and select the audio device to be used for the following: Microphone, Call Audio, Notifications.
  4. Select the Codecs properties tab and select the following bandwidth/compression settings: Internet Connection type and whether you want to choose your codec automatically or manually.
  5. Select the Calling Options properties tab and specify an IP address for the Gatekeeper.
  6. Click OK to save and close the Options window or Apply to save your changes and keep the window open.
 
How and where do I configure VOIP interfaces (gateway, gatekeeper)?
To configure your VOIP interfaces follow the steps below:
  1. Go to Tools / Options…to display the Options window
  2. Select the Calling Options tab
  3. You will be asked to make the following configurations and choices:
    • Gatekeeper - By typing an IP address or URN in the address field for the gatekeeper you are enabling it to place calls to other H.323 terminal devices. Gatekeepers provide call control; bandwidth allocation, call routing and IP address translation to its registered endpoints. If there is more than one gatekeeper on a network, the user can force VTALL to register with a specific gatekeeper instead of the default one that the application discovers.
    • Gateway – By selecting the check box and typing in your TFTP Server address you enable your Virtual Terminal to use H.323 gateways to bridge voice over IP calls to the public telephone network. Gateways use hardware and associated software to connect two dissimilar networks.
    • Use Dial Plan – Select this checkbox to configure VTALL for use with your telephone system dialing plan.
    • IP Address to use for the Realtime Stream – Type your computer’s IP address for the VOIP connection.
    • Generate in band DTMF – Select this check box to make Virtual Terminal emulate and transmit DTMF
      (touch tone digit sounds) audibly over the audio path. (Not Recommended)
    • Use DNS to resolve a call destination when not operating in gatekeeper mode – Select this checkbox to find a call destination by it’s associated domain name instead of its IP address. This setting is not recommended because it can tie up Virtual Terminal operation while DNS tries to translate the domain name to its corresponding IP address.

  4. Click OK to save and close the Calling Options tab or Apply to save your changes .
 
How do I disable the Gatekeeper autodiscovery process?
VTALL is programmed to auto discover a Gatekeeper as part of the start up process. The normal time for this process is measured in milliseconds . However, the discovery process can prevent calling for up to 30 seconds as VTALL tries to locate a Gatekeeper and register the user name , telephone number(s) and email aliases. If the network does not have a gatekeeper the user probably will want to disable this process permanently. The Gatekeeper discovery process can be disabled by following the steps below.
  1. Quit VTALL
  2. Run Regedit from the Start/Run menu popup.
  3. Open/expand the path to the gatekeeper's settings: HKEY_CURRENT_USER/software/VB
    and VBA Programs/IP blue/Virtual Terminal/Options/Gatekeep
  4. Add a new string value and label it "_disabled". Set the value of _disabled to "true".
  5. Close regedit.
  6. Run VTALL. Text at the top of the VTALL window will state that the gatekeeper has been manually disabled.


Please note you will be able to place calls to other VTALL and H.323 devices by IP address and DNS machine names only. E.164 addresses will not be resolved and will not be dialable without a gatekeeper. VTALL will still be able to dial the PSTN through a direct gateway as defined under the Tools/ Options/ Calling options section of the program.
 
How do I configure a dialing plan?
If you selected to use a dial plan in the gateway section of the Calling Options tab you will need to follow the below steps in order to configure your dial plan:
  1. Select Tools / Options …to display the Options window.
  2. Select the Calling Options tab
  3. Click Dialing Plan to display the Dialing Plan window.
  4. Complete the following fields:

    · Country/ region code – Type the number corresponding to your country or regions telephone service.
    · Area code – Type the three digit number corresponding to your telephone service area code.
    · Remove location area code from number when dialing a local number – Select if your telephone service
    does not require an area code for local calls. To access an outside line for
    local calls, dial – Type the number used to access an outside line for making
    a local telephone call.
    · To access an outside line for long-distance calls, dial – Type the number used to access an outside line
    for making a long-distance telephone call.
    · Prefix to use when dialing a long distance number – Type the telephone number prefix your telephone
    service requires when dialing a long-distance call.
    5. Click OK to save and close the Dialing Plan window or Apply to save your changes .
    After saving your dialing plan configuration, and with the Dialing Plan window open, you can see how Virtual
    Terminal formats telephone numbers for use by the gateway. Simply type the number in the Test number box and
    see the results in the Number will be dialed as box.
 
What does the Generate in-band DTMF option do, and why is it not recommended?
DTMF tones are the tones heard when pressing a standard analog telephone keypad. These tones are used to operate menus and voicemail systetms. By default VTALL sends DTMF tones out-of-band as messages to a DTMF enabled router which then transmits the tones through the PSTN. If you click the "Generate in-band DTMF" option VTALL mixes the DTMF tones into the audio stream. Select this option if you are using network hardware that does not respond to out-of-band DTMF messages. It is not recommended because the in-band DTMF is sometimes unreliable.
 
What can be done to improve audio quality?
What can be done to improve audio quality? Why do I hear stuttering, popping, or jitter? Why do I hear an echo?

There are a number of settings in VTALL that allow you to optimize the audio settings for your particular hardware, configuration, and network connectivity:

  1. In the Tools menu there is a "Configuration Wizard" item. In the VTALL configuration wizard there is a panel labeled "Fine Tune Your Audio Settings." This option changes the size of the audio jitter buffer and can solve some problems caused by slower processors or audio hardware.
  2. Select Tools / Options and select the "Codecs" tab. Turn up the silence detection and experiment to find a silence detection setting that most improves audio quality.
  3. If you are still experiencing audio problems, the problem could be in the audio settings outside of VTALL. Open your system Control Panel and select "Sound and Multimedia". If you are using a USB audio device or some other audio device open the utility used to adjust its settings. Check the volume of your microphone and speakers to make sure your not overloading or clipping. Under Advanced Microphone settings check to make sure that Microphone boost is off. You also should mute your microphone monitor level under sound playback to prevent echo.
 
Why can't I hear anything (or be heard)?
If you can't hear any audio there are a few potential problems:
  1. Select Tools / Options and select the "Audio" tab. Check that your call audio and microphone are routed to
    the correct audio device. You can click the test button to make sure. Alternately, you can run the
    "Configuration Wizard" under Tools and select and test your audio devices there.
  2. Check your sound card settings under your system control panels and make sure that your audio devices are
    not muted that there is adequate volume.
  3. Check that your speakers/headset/microphone are plugged in and turned on.
 
Why do I hear a delay?
Delay is most likely caused by a high latency network connection. If you are experiencing significant delay, select a lower bit-rate codec. Select Tools / Options and select the "Codecs" tab, and adjust the slider to less bandwidth intensive codec.
 
Why do I sound extremely loud to other people?
Open your system Control Panel and select "Sound and Multimedia".Under Advanced Microphone settings check to make sure that Microphone boost is off. Check the volume of your microphone and speakers to be sure you are not overloading or clipping.
 
What is the Hoot Tab?
The Hoot function allows the user to listen in on hoot broadcasts traditionally delivered over a bridged hoot-and- holler network. This enables the enterprise to significantly lower costs by replacing these expensive carrier- provided circuit networks using cheaper IP connectivity. The user can “tune in” to up to nine simultaneous hoots, each of which can be configured on the Hoot buttons.
 
How do I configure the Hoot buttons?
To set up a Hoot Button, follow the steps below:
  1. Display the Private Button Configuration window one of two ways:
    • Right click on the Hoot button and select “Properties”.
    • Left click on a vacant Hoot button.
  2. Fill in the following information in the appropriate fields:
    • Label– Type the name of the hoot.
    • Tooltip (optional) – Type a tooltip to be displayed when the cursor hovers over the Hoot button. If the hoot is active, this tooltip will show an “Active” status, and the codec information of the hoot (These are also displayed if the tooltip is left blank). If the hoot is not in use, the tooltip will simply read “(idle)”.
    • Multicast Address– Type the IP address of the hoot broadcast (this can be obtained from your IT administrator).
 
How do I perform a directory search?
Use the Directory Search window to search for a contact in local and remote directories. After specifying the
search parameters and directories to search, you can call a contact by selecting it and clicking Call.

To perform a basic directory search follow the steps below:
  1. Go to Tools.
  2. Select Find Contacts and select the Basic tab.
  3. Type your selection criteria in either of the following fields:
    · Name – Type the name of the contact you want to find. Depending upon the directory field mapping you
    only need to type the first few letters of the first name or the last name to return a list of names beginning
    with the letters entered.
    · Email – Type the first characters of the email address for the contact you want to find.

    Select the directories you want to search in the Directories to search list box. Your options will depend on
    what you have configured for VTALL.
    Click Find to process your search criteria and display the search results in the Results list box. The Results
    list box will contain all the matches from your specified criteria.
 
How do I view the contents of a directory?
You can view the contents of a directory you’ve added to VTALL in the directory tab by following the steps below:
  1. Go to Tools / Services
  2. Highlight the directory you want to view and depress Set as default directory service. You should then see
    the contents of the directory appear in directory tab in VTALL.
 
How do I modify the information in a directory?
You can modify contact information in your directories by following the steps below:
  1. Go to Tools / Services
  2. Highlight the directory you would like to modify and click Properties.
  3. Make the necessary changes to the General and Field Tabs and then click apply and OK to save them
 
How do I set up Codec properties?
Virtual Terminal supports multiple codecs because they make it possible for voice compression, decompression,
encoding and decoding of a signal. By compressing and decompressing data, codecs enable VTALL to use
smaller amounts of bandwidth. For example, many codecs use silence detection to reduce bandwidth usage
by identifying silence intervals and compressing for transmission.

To configure your computer’s Codec properties follow the below steps:
  1. Go to Tools / Options
  2. Select the Codec tab
  3. Complete the following bandwidth / audio compression fields:
    · Connection Type – Select the method you use to connect to the Internet.
    Depress the arrow key to scroll down the list of your options.
    · Automatically choose the best codec for the selected connection type –
    If you select this check box you enable VTALL to automatically assign the best codec for the speed with
    which you access the Internet
  4. Select one of the following silence detection methods:
    · Adjust silence detection automatically – Select this option to have Virtual Terminal set the silence
    detection automatically based on the codecs in use.
    · Let me adjust silence detection myself – If you select this option, you need to modify your silence
    detection settings manually by using the slide control.
 
What is the function of the Active Call Statistics tab?
You can view the following statistics about currently active calls if you elect to enable this feature from the
Phone tab in the Options menu:
· Inbound – Displays the codec in use, transmission rate, and number of bytes received for the active
calls inbound audio path.
Outbound – Displays the codec in use, transmission rate, percentage of outbound audio compressed as
silence, and the number of bytes saved due to silence compression.
 
How do I set up voice mail?
To set up the answering machine follow these steps:
  1. Select Tools / Options
  2. Select the Voice Mail tab
  3. Select one of the following voice mail greetings to record:
    · Standard – Select this option to record or modify the standard voice mail greeting presented to callers.
    After recording, leave this option selected to play this message to callers when they enter your voice mail
    to leave a message.
    · Extended Absence – Select this option to record or modify the voice mail greeting to be presented to
    callers when you will be unavailable for an extended length of time, such as away training or vacation. After
    recording, leave this option selected to play this message to callers when they enter your voice mail to leave
    a message.
    · Other – Select this option to record or modify an alternative voice mail greeting to be presented to callers.
    After recording, leave this option selected to play this message to callers when they enter your voice mail to
    leave a message.
  4. Record the greetings using the Record, Play, Stop and Default buttons provided. The Default button
    will erase your recorded greeting and revert back to the original VTALL default greeting.
  5. Specify the amount of time each caller has to leave a new message using the following field:
    · Only allow up to minutes of recording per a call – Use the up and down arrow keys to select the
    maximum message size, in minutes, available to callers.
  6. Click OK to save and close the Options window or Apply to save your changes and keep the window open
    for further processing.

NOTE: Although you can record three separate voice mail greetings, VTALL only lets you use one greeting at
a time. Simply select the one that you want to use before clicking OK or Apply.
For instruction on how to play back voice mail messages please see Call Log.
 
How do I record a call?
Virtual Terminal lets you record a call in the following ways:
  • Automatically - If it’s an outbound call from a Private line button or an inbound call that matches contact
    information in a Private line button and has been configured to automatically record all calls.
  • Manually – By right clicking on the call anywhere it has an appearance (Call Status area, General or
    Private line button) and then selecting Start Recording.


When a recording begins, the status of a call changes to “active/rec.” in the Call status window. You can stop
the recording by right clicking in the call in the Call Status area or associated General or Private line button
and selecting Stop Recording.
 
How do I set up call log properties?
To have VTALL automatically delete calls after a specified amount of time follow the steps below:
  1. Go to Tools / Options
  2. Select the Call Log tab
  3. Click the check box next to Automatically delete call log entries after n days
  4. Enter the number of days you would like to keep calls stored in VTALL that have no recordings or call notes.
    Calls will automatically be deleted after the specified amount of time lapses.
  5. Click OK to save and close the Options window.

NOTE: If you do not select the checkbox, Automatically delete call log entries after n days, calls will be stored
indefinitely.
 
How do I sort which call log records will be displayed?
All inbound and outbound calls are logged and displayed in the Call Log window. You can display all call records
or restrict the search to specific calls by following the steps below:
  1. Go to Tools
  2. Select Call Log
  3. Use the following fields and button to control the number of call log records displayed:

    • Restrict display to log entries where – Select this check box to limit the display of call log entries based on
      filtering parameters.
    • The other party contains – Type a sequence of characters to restrict the display to only those entries containing
      that sequence in the other party field.
    • And the Call direction is –Select whether you want to restrict the display to only inbound, outbound or both
      inbound and outbound calls.
    • And the Call type is – Select whether you want to restrict the display to only calls with recordings, unopened
      voicemail messages, voicemail calls or all calls.
    • Refresh – Click this button to redisplay the call log entries that meet specified restriction parameters. If no
      parameters are specified, then all call log records are displayed.
  4. To display all call records do not fill in the checkbox for Restrict display to log entries. Simply click the Refresh
    button.
  5. To display a restricted list of call records complete one or more of the above search parameters and
    click the Refresh button.


Note: A microphone icon identifies calls that were either recorded or have a voice message.
After displaying the call records, you can take call notes, play back recorded messages, play back voice mail messages, or return the call.
 
How do I make a call in VTALL?
Virtual Terminal lets you initiate an outbound call in any of the following ways:
· Typing the call destination in the call address field and pressing Enter. You can type a telephone number,
extension, IP address or computer name in the call destination field.
· Typing the call destination in the call address field and clicking the Dial button.
· Typing the call destination in the call address field and clicking the General line button.
· Clicking on a previously configured Private Line button.
· Right clicking on a previously configured Private Line button and selecting Searching and selecting the call
destination from a previously configured directory service.
· Right clicking on an entry in the Call Log window and selecting Call from the list of options.

Note: Unless the destination being dialed matches a Private Line, VTALL will automatically select the first
available General Line for an outbound call. You must have at least one General Line available in order to initiate
an outbound call.

After a call is answered you can perform traditional telephone call control tasks such as: transferring, conferencing,
holding and releasing a call. In addition, Virtual Terminal lets you record an active call for later playback, take
notes and assign calls to Private line buttons for easier redialing.
 
How do I set up and use private line buttons?
Virtual Terminal's Private panel contains up to 252 Private line buttons that receive inbound calls and place outbound
calls from or to pre-configured call destinations.

Private line buttons are arranged in one or more panels of 10 buttons as set up in the Options window's Phone tab.
You can "page" through these panels one at a time using the page forward and page back button at the top of the
panel. You can select to make more or less private lines visible by using the Options/ Phone tab.

Each configured Private line button contains properties that correspond to the contact information provided by most
personal information managers. These properties can be set up by right clicking on a Private line button and selecting
Properties, or if the Private line button is vacant, just by clicking on the button.

Making a call to a contact represented by a Private line button is as simple as clicking on that button. Alternatively, you
can right click on a configured private line button and select Call followed by the call destination to use.

If Virtual Terminal can match an incoming call's properties to that of an already configured Private line button, then that
call appears on the corresponding Private line button.

To set up a Private Line Button follow the steps below:
  1. Display the Private Button Configuration window one of two ways:
    · Dragging an Active Call from a General line button or from the call status area to a vacant Private Line button.
    · Clicking on a vacant Private Line button.
  2. Complete your Private Button Configuration — Name properties
  3. Select the Contact information tab and complete the Private Button Configuration — Contact information
    properties.
  4. Specify the Default Number for your contact. You need to specify a default number in order to use private line
    functionality.
  5. Click OK to save and close the window.
 
How do I add a fast transfer call destination?
Use the Fast Transfer tab to create call destinations to which you can perform unsupervised transfers on active
calls. An unsupervised transfer is a call that is forwarded immediately to another destination without establishing
the origin of the call. To open the Fast Transfer tab follow the step below:

To add a fast transfer call destination follow the steps below:
  1. Go to Tools / Options.
  2. Select the Fast Transfer tab.
  3. Select an entry from the Fast Transfer list.
  4. Complete the following fields:
    · Name – Type the name/label to associate with the fast transfer call destination.
    · Destination – Type the fast transfer call destination.
  5. Click OK to save and close the Options window.
 
How do I redirect all inbound calls if I am unable to answer them?
You will be asked to specify how you want inbound calls to be handled if you are unable or elect not to answer
a call right away. To establish how you want inbound calls redirected follow the below steps:
  1. Go to Tools / Options.
  2. Select the Call Handling tab.
  3. Make the following configurations and choices:
    · Classify me as busy if I have more then n active calls
    · Classify me as away if I don’t answer within n number of rings
    · Classify me as busy if I have no more General lines available – This will automatically be done by VTALL.
    · Forward the call to – Select this option to forward a new call to a specific call destination when your
    status is either busy or away. Type the forwarding call destination in the box provided.
    · Forward the call to voicemail – Select this option to automatically forward a new call to voicemail
    when your status is either busy or away.
    · Reject the call – If you select this option the call will automatically be rejected by VTALL when your
    status is either busy or away.
  4. Click OK or Apply to save and close the Call Handling tab.
 
How do I change the Virtual Terminal sounds?
If you elected to Change Sounds in the notification sounds section of the Audio tab you will need to follow
the below steps to customize VTALL sounds for telephone events:
  1. Select Tools / Options
  2. Select the Audio tab
  3. Click Change Sounds to display the Change Sounds window
  4. Use the following fields in the Change Sounds window to change the default audio files:
    · Name – Displays the sound file (*.wav) for the selected VTALL audible indicator. You can type
    a replacement filename in the Name field.
    · Play – Click to hear the currently selected sound.
    · Browse – Click to display the file selection window.
    · Default – Click to return to the currently selected sound back to its default audio file.
  5. Select the sound to be changed from the list of telephone events.
  6. Click Play to listen to the currently selected sound.
  7. Type the new audio file in the Name field or click Browse to select the new audio file.
  8. Click OK to save and close the Sounds window.
 
How do I add an application to be launched from VTALL?
To add applications to VTALL follow these steps:
  1. Go to Tools / Options.
  2. Select the Application Launching tab.
  3. Select one of eight application placeholders from the application list.
  4. Complete the following fields:
    · Name – Type the name of the application. To assign a graphic to the application button other than its
    default, click Change Icon.
    · Command –Type the command to launch the application, including any required command line switches.
    Click the browse button (…) to find the executable if necessary.
    · Tooltip – Type a tooltip to be displayed when the cursor hovers over the application button.
  5. Select the check box corresponding to the application just defined to enable its button in Virtual Terminal.
  6. To verify that you have set up the application correctly, depress the button next to Click this button to test
    the command.
  7. Click OK to save and close the Options window or Apply to save your changes and keep the window
 
What types of conferencing does VTALL have?
Virtual Terminal’s conferencing capabilities are determined by whether or not it has access to a Multipoint Control Unit
(MCU) and a gatekeeper. VTALL supports two types of conferencing:
  • Internal Conferencing - When you cannot connect to an MCU and a gatekeeper, VTALL provides three-way conferencing (you and two other callers). This type of conferencing is similar to the conferencing capabilities of a standard, multi-line telephone.
  • External Conferencing – When you can connect to an MCU and a gatekeeper, multiple parties can be supported depending on the bandwidth resources available to VTALL. This feature can be compared to using VTALL as a conference bridge.
 
To add calls to a conference
Drag the call from anywhere it has an appearance to the Conference tab. Right click on the call anywhere it has an appearance and select Add to conference from the list. Notes: Calls participating in a conference call can be identified in the Call Status area by the silhouettes of two people. The Virtual Terminal user setting up the conference controls the audio connection between the conference members
 
To remove calls from conference
Drag the call from the Conference tab to anywhere else in the Virtual Terminal window.
  1. Right Click on the call anywhere it has an appearance and select Remove from conference.
  2. Select the call in the Call Status area and click Remove in the Dialpad tab.
  3. Simply release (hang up) the call.

Note: After a call has been removed from conference, it’s automatically placed on hold unless it’s the last remaining call in the conference, in which case, it remains in the state it had when it was in the conference
 


Related Pages

   FAQs for VTGO
   FAQs for VTGO for PocketPC
   Search Knowledge Base