Packet8 SoftalK User Manual Download

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S ftalk

Soft

lK™

User’s M

(Firmware version 1.5 and later)
Revision 1.5

Summary of Contents for SoftalK

Page 1: ...S ftalk TM SoftalK User s Manual Firmware version 1 5 and later Revision 1 5 ...

Page 2: ...Encryption 9 Ending a Call 9 Redial 9 Answering a Call 9 Placing a Call on Hold 10 Dial Pad Controls 10 Microphone and Speaker Adjustment 10 Softalk Menu 11 Options 12 Account Settings 20 Accounts 20 Setting up for Security outside of Softalk 21 Setting up for Security within Softalk 22 The Privacy Management Window 23 The About Window 24 Window Controls 24 Controls within Packet8 Softalk for Wind...

Page 3: ...Speakerphone 27 Call Record 27 Voicemail 27 Chapter 5 The Wings Settings Menu 28 The Contact Wing 28 Managing Contacts 29 Managing the Lists of Calls 33 The Video Wing 35 Chapter 6 Application Hot Keys 36 Packet8 Softalk Troubleshooting 38 Audio Problems 38 ...

Page 4: ... has video calling and messaging capabilities The following is a partial list of features available and specifications in the Packet8 Softalk softphone Call record Acoustic echo cancellation Message waiting indicator Audio video tuning wizard Touch tones Call forwarding 3 caller audio video conferencing Speakerphone Caller ID Call timer Mute Direct IP calling Speed dial Hold Do not disturb Call ig...

Page 5: ...ftalk calls are made over computer networks through an Internet service provider or a local area network LAN This breakthrough in telecommunications is called Voice over Internet Protocol VoIP or Voice over IP Calls made anywhere in the world to similar Internet based telephones are generally free while calls made to traditional telephone systems can be much cheaper than typical long distance and ...

Page 6: ...k without a video camera but one is necessary to allow other callers to see a caller s image Packet8 Softalk will work with most USB video cameras Audio Only All Features Minimum Optimal Minimum Optimal Processor Intel Pentium II 400 MHz or equivalent Pentium III 1 3 GHz or equivalent Intel Pentium III 700 MHz or equivalent Pentium 4 2 0 GHz or equivalent Memory 128 MB RAM 128 MB RAM 256 MB RAM 25...

Page 7: ...E LICENSE AGREEMENT TERMS TO INSTALL PACKET8 SOFTALK FOR WINDOWS 4 Select Launch Packet8 Softalk at the final step of the wizard to start using the softphone 5 Click Finish to complete the installation Uninstalling Packet8 Softalk To uninstall an existing version of Packet8 Softalk follow the steps given below 1 Launch the Windows Control Panel 2 Select Add or Remove Programs 3 Select the appropri...

Page 8: ...k softphone provides an easy to use key pad as the main user interface which allows for quick access to both basic and advanced calling features Refer to Figure 1 below for an illustration of the Packet8 Softalk user interface Figure 1 Packet8 Softalk User Interface ...

Page 9: ...oticeable during poor network conditions Most broadband connections provide adequate bandwidth for high quality voice and video If you experience poor audio or video quality please see Packet8 Softalk Troubleshooting in Appendix A Logging In The log in dialog will show up and request user to log in to the network by entering your Packet8 Softalk number and password When finished entering all of th...

Page 10: ...ous digits click the Clear button within the dial pad or press Backspace button on the computer keyboard to make corrections When you enter a phone number you will receive prompts for completing that number as shown in Figure 3 To enter the rest of the number as suggested hit the Tab key on the computer keyboard to enter the remaining digits When you are finished entering a number click the green ...

Page 11: ... or any of the lists in the Calls tab to the Call display If the Contacts list contains lots of contacts use the field to filter the list Then drag the entry Right clicking Right click an entry on the Contacts tab or any of the lists in the Calls tab and choose Phone this Person If the Contacts list contains lots of contacts use the field to filter the list Then right click the entry Redialing Pre...

Page 12: ...h traditional phones softphone calls are brought to a close when either the Packet8 Softalker or the other caller hangs up You can end an active call by clicking the on screen Hangup button When a call has ended the message Hung up will appear in the call status screen After a call has ended details of the call such as the length of the call and the caller ID will remain in the call display To cle...

Page 13: ...utton will flash to indicate that its corresponding call has been placed on hold To resume a call that is on hold select the line again by clicking on the appropriate line button 1 or 2 Dial Pad Controls The keypad includes several controls which allow you to customize your Packet8 Softalk experience Microphone and Speaker Adjustment The Packet8 Softalk keypad includes microphone and speaker slide...

Page 14: ...ncing problems with Softalk For information see Options Advanced Diagnostics on page 19 Privacy Management See The Privacy Management Window on page 23 Log In This is where you login to your new Softalk or exisiting account Help This menu item takes you to http www packet8 net support faqs About Shows the version of Softalk Exit To exit Softalk To launch the dial pad Softalk menu by clicking at th...

Page 15: ...Chapter 3 Options 12 Options Options are settings and preferences that apply to all accounts Options General Application Figure 7 General Application ...

Page 16: ...alk Typically leave this setting on If you have several audio or video devices and you do not like the device that Softalk selects you can override the selection on the Devices pane See page 25 Enable Zero Touch bandwidth detection When clicked on Softalk detects the speed of your network connection and hence the potential bandwidth If you move your computer to a different IP address Softalk autom...

Page 17: ...ou can activate one ringtone You can delete a ringtone Set up Softalk to bring the softphone to the front automatically when a call comes in Set up Softalk to display the Call Alert box below when a call comes in either always or only when Softalk is not visible Figure 8 Options General Alerts and Sounds Figure 9 Call Alert box ...

Page 18: ...dio in recording your voice The only situation in which the headset is not used is when the Speaker Phone button on the dialpad is pressed Therefore unless you will always be using Softalk in speakerphone mode you must make a selection here Select the headset in both the Speaker device field and Microphone device field Use acoustic echo cancellation AEC Reduces the echo effect that can arise with ...

Page 19: ...h device configuration Make the appropriate choice Select the device that you want to use for audio in recording your voice when the Speaker Phone button is pressed It can be any microphone it does not have to be the microphone on the device you specified as the speaker device For example it can be the microphone on your camera Select None if you do not have a speaker phone The Speaker Phone butto...

Page 20: ...e phone ringing the headset the speakephone or none Speaker volume The volume of the ringer Camera Camera This field appears only on version of Softalk that include video functionality Complete this field only if you have disabled zero touch device configuration Select the camera model ...

Page 21: ...s off Softalk always sends audio which uses more bandwidth but may result in better call quality Typically off However if you are using a slow dial up or ISDN connection you may want to turn it on Call inactivity When this feature is on Softalk automatically hangs up a call when it detects the specified period of inactivity In other words if you are on a call and the call gets disconnected the cal...

Page 22: ...rder not to create large files when logging which may create computer problems you must not remain logged on indefinitely when logging You should occasionally exit and restart Softalk If requested by a customer support representative you can Open the logging folder and then open a log file using a text editor E mail the logs in the specified folder to customer support Click Send logs to customer s...

Page 23: ...see the following pages for details NOTE Note You must enable an account in order to make and receive calls on that account Click the Enable box beside each account You can never place a call on a disabled account even if you enter a prefix If you place a call that is only known to the service provider of a disabled account it will fail with a Not found message You can never receive a call on a di...

Page 24: ...computer in the root certificate store Setting up the root certificate on your computer ensures that the connection to the proxy is TLS secure the first hop Any proxy in the chain between you and the caller that does not support TLS may cause an insecure link in the chain Therefore if the other party is outside your domain you cannot be completely sure that the call is secured at the signaling lev...

Page 25: ...e callwill berejected and will be placed in the Blocked list in the Calls Contacts drawer Prefer to make and accept encrypted calls Softalk will place all calls with TLS The call INVITEwill specify SRTP media encryption If the correct certificates arenot in placeor if the other party does not accept encryptedcalls thecall will fail Softalkwill then place the call without encryption Softalk will ac...

Page 26: ...g Phone number 1 Click Add The Add new privacy management dialog box appears 2 Complete the dialog box If you click Add rule for a person enter a phone number The new name is added to the Privacy Managment list with all groups set to Yes or No Changing Settings To change the settings for an existing name click in the cell you want to change the value changes for example from No to Yes Figure 15 Pr...

Page 27: ...ndow Controls At the top of the Softalk keypad are the Help Hide in System Tray and Exit buttons see Figure 1 Depending on the version running the behavior of these buttons may vary as described below Controls within Packet8 Softalk for Windows As expected the Hide in System Tray button will send the application to the Windows system tray You will still be able to receive calls when the softphone ...

Page 28: ...lowing them to arrange the call themselves For example you can create a simple three way call by following the steps below 1 With an active call place it on hold by either a selecting another line and dialing a third caller or b accepting an incoming call from a third caller by clicking the line on which the call arrives NOTE Either operation places the original caller on hold 2 After informing th...

Page 29: ... Do Not Disturb mode When Softalk is set to this mode all incoming calls will be sent to voicemail or be given a busy indication Do Not Disturb is toggled on off by clicking the on screen DND button Auto Answer Packet8 Softalk allows you to employ an Auto Answer mode When the Softalk is set to this mode it answers calls automatically after pre determined time that can be adjusted in the Settings m...

Page 30: ...d calls are to be stored Open the Settings dialog Choose the Media branch Under Folder for Media Files click the Choose Directory button Choose the desired directory and click OK To record a call click the REC button at any time during the call Click the button again to stop recording Recordings will be saved as AVI files Voicemail Packet8 Softalk has a voicemail box If you have a voicemail messag...

Page 31: ...o store a list of contacts in a virtual phone book Softalk also includes a settings dialog that provides access to a variety of relevant settings The Contact Wing To open the Packet8 Softalk Contact wing click the black button toward the extreme right edge of the graphic display Figure 17 Contact Wing Open ...

Page 32: ...he group so that only the text is selected Type the new text and press Enter To delete a group select the group and choose Delete Group The group is deleted The contacts in that group are moved to No Group Call a contact To use the person s primary number double click or drag the contact to the Call display To choose the number to use right click and choose Call then click the desired number E mai...

Page 33: ...ct and choose Edit The Contact Properties dialog box appears see below Some of the changes you can make are Change any contact details Add delete or change a contact method Change the primary contact method Move a contact to another group by selecting a different group Add an existing contact to more groups by selecting one or more extra groups Moving or Deleting a Contact To drag a contact to a d...

Page 34: ... starts 2 As soon as you click Finish on the wizard the Contacts tab in Softalk is updated to show the imported entries Note that none of the entries are set up with availability turned on in order to view availability of contacts you must modify the appropriate entries by changing the Show this contact s Availability checkbox See above for details Field Description Name Complete as desired Displa...

Page 35: ...le as csv Exporting Contacts You can export a contacts list to a comma separated file a pst file or a vcf file 1 Click the Contacts menu and choose Export The Export Contacts wizard starts 2 When you click Next the export starts The result is For an Outlook export the existing pst file is updated to include the entries from the Softalk contacts list If Outlook is open the entries immediately appea...

Page 36: ...ed if it is from a person you have banned or if it is does not match the security option you have specified Managing the Lists of Calls You can open and close each list to show or hide its contents Figure 19 Calls Tab Detached Icon Meaning This group is currently empty There are entries in this group There are calls in this group and at least one is an unanswered call This group is currently expan...

Page 37: ...time see Managing Contacts on page 29 Delete the call Add to contacts The Add Contact dialog box appears Complete the dialog box and press OK For more information on the fields see Managing Contacts on page 29 Privacy Management You can allow or ban another person from contacting you You can also ban a person in the Received Dialed or Blocked list Right click on the name and choose Ban this Person...

Page 38: ... Softalk is set to this mode Packet8 Softalk enable video automatically when a call is established To enable Auto Video simply click on the AV button on the top of the Video Wing To configure a video camera click the Video Tools button The options available depend on the type of camera being used For more information please refer to the appropriate camera manufacturer s documentation You can close...

Page 39: ... Select Line 1 F1 or Ctrl 1 Select Line 2 F2 or Ctrl 2 Settings Dialog F8 or Ctrl 8 Diagnostic Window F9 or Ctrl 9 Toggle Letters to Digits Space bar Auto complete number to dial Tab Clear Backspace Dial Enter Auto Answer AA Ctrl a Do Not Disturb DND Ctrl d Hang up Ctrl h Call Ignore Ctrl i Mute Ctrl m Conference Ctrl n Hold Ctrl o Exit Ctrl q Redial Ctrl r Send to Voice Mail Ctrl s Paste Ctrl v ...

Page 40: ...Chapter 6 Application Hot Keys 37 Inc Dec Speaker Volume Up Down Arrows Inc Dec Microphone Volume Right Left Arrows Function Keyboard Shortcut ...

Page 41: ...e quality of the network connection network device quality and headset model Some of the common problems experienced are given below along with some useful tips on how to minimize their effect Audio Contains Pops at Loud Points in Voice Popping sound is a symptom of over modulation Ask the other caller to decrease their microphone slider and or adjust the microphone gain Audio Contains Bothersome ...

Page 42: ...y have performance problems Make sure to use the latest driver Audio Contains an Echo The following tips may be useful for reducing echo heard during the conversation Try using a headset with plugged into the sound card Another suggestion is to use a USB enabled headset which bypasses system sounds by acting as its own sound device If using a boom type headset note that some boom headsets can crea...

Page 43: ...nformation to a log file You can view this log file by pressing F9 on their keyboard The log is rather cryptic but when having difficulties with Packet8 Softalk it may become necessary for the user to e mail the log to their technical support representative Figure 9 Diagnostic Log ...

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