Communicator Preferences

Application

General Preferences (Windows):

• Languages: Supported languages include U.S. English, German, Spanish, French, Italian, Japanese, Dutch, Brazilian Portuguese, Russian and simplified Chinese.
• Change skin: Choose between a dark (black) and light (silver) skin in the Windows version.
• Choose whether to launch Communicator when Windows starts.
• Call immediately once a phone number is selected

General Preferences (Mac):

• Choose whether to have Communicator automatically pause iTunes when making or receiving calls.
• Choose whether Communicator should be your default softphone client.

Default Actions (Windows):

• Select the default action for the “Call” and “Transfer” buttons.
• Select the default action when double-clicking an entry in the Contacts tab.

Alerts and Sounds

The tabs on this panel let you control the Call Alerts box and lets you assign sounds.

• Alerts: You can control whether the Call Alert box is displayed in different situations.
• Sounds: You can assign specific sounds to actions or events.
• Select the “Enable Sounds” check box and select the check boxes for each desired event, or clear the “Enable Sounds” check box to disable all sounds.
• You can change the sound for each event by selecting the individual event. The value in Sound preference will change. Select the desired sound.
• You can also import sounds; these will be added to the list of available sounds when assigning a sound to an event.

You can create your own ringtone and then select it here. The file must be:

• a WAV file (MP3 files will not work)
• PCM format
• 16-bit audio sample size
• any sampling rate
• mono or stereo

Privacy

You can control how contacts and other people can contact you by phone.

• Global Contact Settings: Choose one option. If you choose “Allow only”, then all contacts will be able to contact you unless they are in the Blocked list.
• Blocked section: Optional. Enter addresses and domains that will be prevented from contacting you. You can add and remove entries from the blocked lists. Entries are also added to this list when you block someone “on the fly.”

Numbers blocked in Communicator can still call into other numbers or extension in your Phone.com account. If you instead prefer to block a number across your entire account, use the “Block this number” feature on the Call Logs page of your Control Panel.

Devices

Communicator automatically detects devices each time it starts up, and selects the most appropriate device for each purpose. If you do not like this selection, you can override it on this panel. If you override a selection, it will apply the next time you start the program, unless the device is no longer available, in which case the device to use will again be selected automatically.

• Zero-touch device configuration: Typically, leave on. When device configuration is on, if you change your audio or video device; Communicator will automatically detect the new device and start using it.
• Also ring PC speaker (Windows only): Click on or off, to suit your preference.
• Test Devices: See Troubleshooting: Testing Audio and Video Devices for more details.

Only change these fields if you want to override the devices that Communicator automatically selected. “Headset Mode” and “Speakerphone Mode” are selected via the main toolbar button.

• Speaker: Select the device to use for sound playback.
• Microphone: Select the device to use for sound recording.
• HID Device: See "What USB devices are integrated?" under "Headsets, Cameras and Hardphones."

You can set different devices for the speaker and microphone. For example, you can set the speaker to the speakerphone and set the microphone to your headset.

The “Other Devices” tab contains settings for a few other items.

• Ring On: The device where you want to hear the phone ringing: the headset, the speakerphone, or “None.”
• Camera: Select the camera you wish to use. If a camera is not detected, it will be set to “None.”
• Deskphone: Not used.

Shortcut Keys (Windows only)

You can enable shortcut keys for several actions. Use this screen to enable, disable or modify them.

To change the default key combinations:

• Make sure “Enable shortcut keys” is checked and the action you want to change is enabled.
• Select an Action and click the “Edit” button. The “Edit Shortcut Key” dialog appears.
• Make sure there is a checkmark in the keys you want to use. You must turn on at least two keys.
• Type the desired letter or number in the field.

The following rules apply:

• You cannot override standard Microsoft Windows combinations, like [Ctrl]+[Alt]+[Delete].
• The shortcut applies when Communicator is running, regardless of which application is in focus. For example, if Communicator is running but another application has focus, pressing [Ctrl]+[Shift]+[Alt]+[A] will still answer an incoming call.
• If another application has the same shortcut combination, then the application that was started most recently will have control over that key combination.
• If the shortcut is not valid at a particular moment, then it has no effect. For example, pressing [Ctrl]+[Shift]+[Alt]+[A] has no effect if there is no incoming call in Communicator.

Network

Select the type of network connection for your computer.

The sliders move to show the bitrate that will be used for sending and receiving. These rates are typical rates for the selected configuration.

If you know that your computer and network can handle a faster sending speed, select "Custom" and move the slider. It is recommended that you not change the receiving speed.

You will know that you have set the sending speed too high if:

• The remote video shows black areas or is slow or jerky.
• The remote audio is garbled.

You will know that you have set the sending speed too low if the audio is good but the video quality is grainy.

Audio and Video Codecs

This panel shows all codecs that are included with Communicator.

The enabled codecs and their priority are controlled by Phone.com; they are set when you log into Communicator. Any changes you make may adversely affect the behavior of the program. If you change something and want to revert back to the original settings, simply log out of Communicator and log back in.

Quality of Service (Windows only)

The Quality of Service panel lets you request a specific transport service for audio, video and signaling traffic.

There are two types of services. The service to use depends on what your internet service provider supports:

• GQoS, which is available for audio and video.
• DSCP (also known as ToS), which is available for audio, video and signaling.

In a network that has the default configuration, the recommended value for audio is “46,” because that is the standard marking for audio.

Communicator supports 802.1p QoS packet tagging. If your network is set up for QoS, Communicator will include the specified information in the packets that it sends to the network provider. However, for QoS to work, each network provider must be able to read the QoS packet information and prioritize packet delivery based on the requested service. Check with your network administrator or your internet service provider if you’re unsure about these details.

Media Quality

Audio Quality:

• Reduce echo: This feature is typically on by default; it improves sound quality.
• Reduce background noise: Typically on for the speakerphone, this automatically attempts to remove background noise.
• Automatic gain control: This feature is typically on.
• Preserve bandwidth: When this feature is on, Communicator stops sending audio when you are not talking. When this feature is off, the program 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.
• Volume Control (Windows only): Choose the setting that suits your setup.

Video Quality:

• Enable this option… (Windows only): Check or uncheck to flip the video image.
• Disable HD video (Windows only): If you enable this checkbox, Communicator will not use HD resolutions.
• Resolution: Leave at standard, or change the size as follows:
• Set it to high if you have a good camera and a computer with a fast processor. You will know that you have set the resolution too high if your computer slows down (the video is using too much of the system resources) or if the video shows black areas or is slow or jerky.
• Typically set it to low only in special situations, for example, when on a low-speed connection or if using wi-fi in a heavy-traffic environment. You will know that you have set the size too small if the video is fuzzy.

Directory

Typically, directories are only used in enterprise situations and are set up by a system administrator.

Call Automation

These settings let you configure how you want the Auto Answer feature to handle incoming calls, when the feature is enabled.

Advanced

This tab contains advanced settings such as DTMF, RTP, and Web Page Tabs.

These settings are controlled by Phone.com; they are set when you log into Communicator. Any changes you make may adversely affect the behavior of the program. If you change something and want to revert back to the original settings, simply log out of Communicator and log back in.