|
Microsoft Office
Communicator 2007 Getting Started Guide |
Published: July 2007
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©
2007 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.
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Table of Contents
In this Part:
Chapter 1: What’s
New with Office Communicator
Chapter 2:
Getting Started
In this chapter, we will cover what’s new with:
·
Contact Management
·
Enhanced Presence and Presence Management
·
Conferencing
·
Phone and Video
Office Communicator 2007 offers new features that make it
easier for you to manage your contacts and Contact List, as shown in Figure 1.1
below. New features include:
·
Show Recent
Contacts. A Recent Contacts group is now available in the Communicator Contact List.
The Recent Contacts group is a list
of the ten contacts with whom you have most recently communicated, whether by
IM, phone, or video.
·
Drag and
drop contacts into groups. You can now drag contacts from the Search Results pane into your Contact
List. You can also drag and drop contacts between groups within the Contact
List. Note that you cannot drag contacts into a distribution group.
·
Drag and
drop contacts from the Contact List to Conversation window roster, or vice
versa. You can add contacts to an IM, call, or video session by dragging
contacts from the Contact List into the roster in the Conversation window. You can also drag contacts from the roster in
the Conversation window into your
Contact List to add contacts to your Contact List.
·
Distribution
Group Integration. Now you can add any mail-enabled group that is in Active
Directory to your Contact List.
·
Improved
User Interface for Contact Details. You
can click a contact’s Presence
button to view his or her Contact Card. The Contact Card provides additional
details about the contact and provides options for contacting the person.
Figure 1.1. The Office Communicator Contact List and
Contact Card
Office Communicator 2007 offers new presence states to more
accurately reflect a person’s willingness and ability to communicate. In
addition, Communicator now gives you more granular presence management,
enabling you to control access to your presence information by assigning
contacts to access levels, as shown below in Figure 1.2 New presence features include:
·
New
presence states. Office Communicator 2007 introduces new presence
states to more accurately reflect a user’s status. New presence states include:
·
Inactive. The
contact may be available, but their computer has been idle for more than the
idle-time interval, which is five minutes by default.
·
Busy
Inactive. (The contact is engaged in another activity such in a
meeting but their computer has been inactive for the idle-time interval, which
is five minutes by default.
·
Transitioning
presence states. Office Communicator 2007 introduces new presence
states that are determined by a user-configurable, idle-time setting that
monitors user activity on the computer. If no activity is detected on a user’s
computer, the presence state transitions from Available, to Inactive,
to Away.
·
Improved
Presence Management. Office Communicator 2007 offers greater
granularity for controlling access to your presence information. Now you can
assign varying levels of access to your contacts to control who can see your
presence information, and how much of it they can see. For example, you can
assign the Team access level to your
closest coworkers to allow them to see your mobile phone number and to
interrupt you when in Do Not Disturb
mode. For other co-workers in your company, you can assign the Company access level, so that they can
see your work phone number, but not your mobile phone number, and they cannot
interrupt you when in Do Not Disturb
mode.
Figure 1.2. Access levels determine the
amount and type of presence information that is available to contacts
·
Interrupt
list. You can now assign a Team
access level to your contacts to create a preferential list of contacts who are
allowed to communicate with you, even when your Presence status is set to Do Not Disturb.
·
Location
setting configuration. You can now set your Location status from the Presence
menu in the Communicator window status area. You can select the Home or Office location, or enter a custom location. Location information is
visible to contacts that are granted Personal
or Team access levels.
New conferencing features in Office Communicator 2007
include:
·
Ability
to dial out to an alternate phone number. You can join a conference by redirecting the conference invitation to
an alternate phone, such as your mobile phone. In addition, if you are a
conference leader, you can invite users to a conference by dialing out to a
PSTN/PBX or mobile phone number.
·
Seamless
switching of one-to-one phone conversations to a conference call. You can
switch seamlessly from a one-to-one phone conversation to a conference call by
simply inviting new contacts to the call.
·
Ability
to start a conference call by selecting a group in the contact window. You
can multi-select contacts in the Contact List or click a group in the Contact
List, and then select a conference call option to start a conference.
·
Improved
connection in conference roster. New icons in the conference roster provide
additional conference connection status, indicating whether a user’s status is Inviting, Connecting or Connected.
Figure 1.3. The Conversation window
during a conference call
·
Rejoin
experience. If you are disconnected from a conference, you can now easily
rejoin the conference from a Rejoin
button that appears in the Communicator Conversation
window or in the Conference Call item in the Outlook Conversation History folder.
New Phone and Video features in Office Communicator 2007
include:
·
The
ability to move seamlessly between modes. With Office Communicator 2007, you can
seamlessly turn an IM session into a phone call, and then add video, all within
the familiar Communicator Conversation window.
You can also invite additional contacts to an IM session or phone call to
create an IM conference or phone conference call.
·
Communicator
Call. Office Communicator 2007 no
longer shows a contact’s SIP URI (typically a contact’s e-mail address) as a
menu item in the Call options menu. Instead, Office Communicator 2007 provides
a Communicator Call menu item, as
shown in Figure 1.4. When selected, Communicator
Call places a call to all of the contact’s devices that are running Office
Communicator 2007. Depending on the devices that the contact has configured,
the call can be placed to a contact’s computer, or to a computer or USB
telephony device that has been configured for Office Communicator 2007.
Figure 1.4. Communicator Call in the Call
options menu
·
Call forwarding
options. If your environment is configured for enterprise voice, you can
forward calls to another number or contact, enabling you to receive calls on
your mobile phone when you are not in the office. You can also configure Call Forwarding Settings to
simultaneously ring an additional number or redirect unanswered calls to
another phone, contact, or to Voice Mail, as shown below in Figure 1.5.
Figure 1.5. Call Forwarding options in
the Conversation window
·
Add a
conversation subject and importance flag to a phone call. With Office Communicator 2007, you can add a
conversation subject and importance flag to a call before you make it, so the call
recipient knows why you are calling and realizes the urgency of the
call—without having to answer the call.
·
Keep a
record of all instant messaging and phone conversations. With
Office Communicator, you can find previous IM conversations and view a log of
phone calls in the Microsoft® Outlook® messaging and collaboration client.
For a full list of new features in Office Communicator, see What’s New in Microsoft Office Communicator
2007, which is included with the Office Communicator 2007
documentation.
The following documentation is available for Communicator 2007.
You can find the documents on your Office Communications Server 2007 TAP Web
site. The Online Help is accessible directly from the Office Communicator 2007
client.
·
Office Communicator 2007
Release Notes Covers product limitations and
workarounds for the Public Beta release.
·
What’s New with Communicator
2007 Provides a list of new features.
·
Communicator 2007 Quick
Reference Cards Provides quick visual reference to the
tasks most commonly performed with Communicator. The following cards are
provided:
·
Office Communicator 2007 Contact Management,
Presence, and Instant Messaging Quick Reference Card
·
Office Communicator 2007 Conferencing with
Communicator Quick Reference Card
·
Office Communicator 2007 Phone and Video Quick
Reference Card
·
Office Communicator 2007 Online
Help Provides online Help which can be accessed
directly from the product.
·
Communicator 2007 Testing
and Troubleshooting Guide Designed for system
administrators, this document explains how to install, configure, and test
Office Communicator 2007 in a laboratory environment.
·
Communicator 2007
Deployment Guide Covers Communicator 2007 group policy
settings, as well as information about how to implement custom tabs and custom
presence states.
·
Communicator 2007 Group
Policy Settings Covers Group Policy Settings for Office
Communicator 2007.
In this chapter, we will cover:
·
Software and hardware requirements for Office
Communicator 2007.
·
Installing Office Communicator 2007.
·
Starting Office Communicator 2007 and signing
in.
This release of Communicator 2007 is compatible with the following
environments, as shown below in Table 2.1.
Table 2.1. Office
Communicator 2007 Compatibility List
|
Operating System
|
Outlook Version
|
Exchange Server Version
|
|
Windows Vista®
|
Microsoft Office Outlook® 2007
Outlook 2003 SP2
|
Microsoft® Exchange Server 2007
Exchange Server 2003
|
|
Microsoft Windows® XP SP2
|
Microsoft Office Outlook® 2007
Outlook 2003 SP2
|
Exchange Server 2007
Exchange Server 2003
|
|
Microsoft Windows Server™ 2003 SP1, or later
|
Outlook 2007
Outlook 2003 SP2
|
Exchange Server 2007
Exchange Server 2003
|
|
Windows 2000 Professional SP4, or later
|
Outlook 2003 SP2
|
Exchange Server 2007
Exchange Server 2003
|
To leverage the features of Office Communicator 2007, you
must have Office Communications Server 2007 Standard Edition Server or Enterprise pool deployed
in your organization. For more information, contact your system administrator
or refer to Office Communications Server 2007Planning Guide and
Office Communications Server 2007 Standard Edition Deployment Guide or Office
Communications Server 2007 Enterprise
Edition Deployment Guide.
Office Communicator 2007 supports a variety of hardware
devices for audio\video communications, as described in the following sections.
Audio Requirements
To make and receive phone calls with Office Communicator,
you must have one of the following:
·
A headset or other universal serial bus (USB)
audio device, or speakers and a microphone.
·
A half-duplex or full-duplex sound card.
Half-duplex audio allows only one person to speak at a time. Full-duplex audio
allows two people to speak simultaneously.
Video Requirements
·
To make video calls, you must have a webcam
connected to your computer. Note that you can receive video calls without a
webcam and view the caller’s video stream.
Before you install the latest version of Communicator 2007,
you may need to remove previous versions of Communicator. For example,
Communicator 2007 (Beta 2) must be removed prior to installing Communicator
2007.
 |
To remove earlier versions of Communicator
1.
Exit the Microsoft Internet Explorer® Internet
browser and any Microsoft Office programs that are currently running.
2.
On the taskbar, click Start,
click Control Panel, and then click Add
or Remove Programs.
3.
Click Microsoft Office
Communicator 2005, or Microsoft Office Communicator
2007 (Beta 1) if present, and then click Remove.
4.
Follow the instructions on the screen to remove
all Communicator files.
5.
Restart your computer.
|
|
To install Communicator
1.
Exit any Microsoft Office programs that are
currently running.
2.
On the taskbar, click Start,
and then click Run.
3.
In the Run dialog box,
click Browse, locate the Communicator.msi
file, and then click Open.
4.
In the Run dialog box,
click OK.
5.
In the Microsoft Office Communicator 2007 Setup window, click Next.
6.
Review the license agreement. If you agree with
the terms, select the I accept the terms in the License
Agreement check box, and then click Next.
7.
On the Configure Microsoft
Office Communicator page,
either accept the default location or select an alternative location for the
product files to be installed. We recommend that you accept the default
location.
8.
Click Next to begin the
installation process.
9.
When the installation is complete, click Finish.
Typically, Communicator is configured for you by your system
administrator. The administrator may or may not have configured Communicator to
start automatically when you log into Windows, so we will cover this option in
this section.
|
|
To start Communicator
1.
Click Start, point to All Programs, and then click Microsoft
Office Communicator 2007.
2.
In the Communicator 2007 window, enter your
password, and then click Sign In.
3.
In the Office Communicator Title bar, click the
Menu button 
.
.
4.
Click Tools,
click Options, and select Automatically start Communicator when I log into Windows.
5.
Click OK.
Office Communicator will start automatically the next time
you log into Windows.
Office Communicator 2007 provides a Set Up Audio and Video option that automatically detects and
selects the preferred audio and video devices for you. Your audio and video
devices, such as headsets, speaker and microphone, and webcam should work with
Office Communicator without any special setup. However, you may want to run the
Set Up Audio and Video to test
and/or adjust devices before conducting any important communications with
others.
|
|
To test or configure audio and video devices
1.
In
the Office Communicator Title bar, click the Menu button 
.
.
2.
Point to Tools, click Set up Audio and Video, and then follow the instructions in Set Up Audio and Video.
In this Part:
Chapter 3: Manage
your Contact List
Chapter 4:
Customize your Presence Information
Chapter 5: How to
Contact Others
Chapter 6: Send
and Receive Instant Messages
Your Contact List is a list of co-workers, family, friends,
and associates with whom you communicate most often. The Communicator Contact
List shows the availability of your contacts and allows you to view additional
contact details by clicking on the contact’s Presence button. The Contact List is your starting point for
communicating with your contacts. With a mouse-click or two, you can place a
phone or video call, start an instant messaging session, or start an
audio/video conference.
In this chapter, we will show you how to:
·
Add contacts and distribution groups from your
corporate directory to your Contact List.
·
Create contact groups.
·
Add federated contacts to your contact list.
·
Add public instant messenger contacts to your
contact list.
·
Add contacts outside your company to your
contact list.
·
View a person’s contact card.
·
Change the way you view contacts.
When you first start using Communicator, you need to build
your Contact List to suit your needs. You can add individual contacts and
distribution groups to your Contact List, and you can create custom groups. If
your company’s Office Communications Server supports Public Internet
Connectivity, you can even add contacts from AOL®, Yahoo!® Messenger, MSN®
network of Internet services, and Windows Live™ network of Internet services.
If you are not sure if your company supports Public Internet Connectivity,
check with your system administrator.
Figure 3.1 below shows the Office Communicator window, and points out the portions of the user
interface that you use most often when managing your contacts and Contact List.
Figure 3.1 The
Office Communicator window and Contact List
|
|
To add a contact or distribution group to your
Contact List
1.
In the Office
Communicator window, type the display name or e-mail address of a person or
distribution group in the Search box.
By default, Communicator lists all matching users and groups from the Active
Directory® Domain Services and the Microsoft Outlook Contact folder.
2.
Drag the name from the Search Results pane into the Contact List. You can drag individual
names into an existing group in the Contact List. You can also drag a
distribution group into the Contact List, but you cannot drag a distribution
group into an existing group.
You can create contact groups to organize the people in your
Contact List. After you create a group, you can right-click the group name in
your Contact List, and then communicate with the group in a variety of ways,
including an IM conference or conference call.
|
|
To create a contact group
1.
In
the Office Communicator window, right-click on an existing group name, and then click Create
New Group.
2.
In the New
Group box, type a name for the group, and then press ENTER.
3.
You can drag existing contacts from the Contact
List into the group or use the Communicator Search feature to find users and
add them to the group.
If your organization is configured to support public instant
messaging (IM) connectivity, you can add instant messaging contacts from AOL,
Yahoo, MSN, and the Windows Live™ network of Internet services to your Office
Communicator Contact List. When you add a public instant messaging contact, you
can communicate with the contact using instant messaging. Communicator Calls,
Video Calls, and Audio\Video conferencing, however, are not supported with public
instant messaging contacts.
The best practice for adding a public instant messaging
contact is to add the contact using the Outlook Contacts folder. When you add a
public instant messaging contact using the Outlook Contacts folder, you can add
home, mobile, and other phone numbers for the contact, so you can use
Communicator’s click-to-call feature to call the contact on his or her home,
mobile, or work phone number.
|
|
To add a public instant messaging contact to your Contact
List
1.
If you do not know the IM address of the contact
you want to add, contact them by phone or e-mail to get the address.
2.
Open the Contacts
folder in Office Outlook, and then click the New button.
3.
Enter a name for the contact in the Full Name box. The Company, Job title, and File as boxes are optional.
4.
Under Internet,
enter an e-mail address if you have one for the contact, and then ensure that
you fill in the following boxes:
·
Display
as. In this box, type the name that you want to appear in the Office
Communicator Contact List.
·
IM
address. In this box, type the IM address of the contact. If
this box is not filled in, you cannot add the contact to the Office
Communicator Contact List.
5.
Enter phone numbers for the contact. Use the
E.164 format to ensure the number will work. The E.164 format includes the
country code, area code, and local number. You do not need to format the
number. A number in the U.S.
for example, might look like this: 14255555555, where 1 is the country code,
425 is the area code, and 5555555 is the local number.
6.
Save the contact.
7.
Open Office Communicator and then type the name
you entered into the Display as box in Office Outlook into the Search box. The contact name appears in
the Search Results pane.
8.
Drag the contact from the Search Results pane into a group in the Contact List. You can now
have IM conversations with the contact. You can also click the phone button 
to the
right of the contact’s name. Communicator
calls are not supported for public IM contacts, but you can make calls to the
contact’s home, business, and or mobile phone numbers.
to the
right of the contact’s name. Communicator
calls are not supported for public IM contacts, but you can make calls to the
contact’s home, business, and or mobile phone numbers.
For more information about adding public IM contacts to your
Contact List, see the Communicator online Help.
Office Communicator and Office Communications Server 2007
support the ability to federate (connect) with other organizations, enabling
you to add contacts from those organizations. When you add a federated contact
to your Contact List, you can communicate with the contact using any of the
communication modes that are supported by both organizations. For example, if
both organizations support Communicator calls, video calls, and audio\video
conferencing, then you can make Communicator calls and video calls, and conduct
audio/video conferences with contacts from that organization.
The best practice for adding a public instant messaging
contact is to add the contact using the Outlook Contacts folder. When you add a public instant messaging contact
using the Outlook Contacts folder, you can add home, mobile, and other phone
numbers for the contact, so you can use Communicator’s click-to-call feature to
call the contact on his or her home, mobile, or work phone number.
|
|
To add a federated contact to your Contact List
1.
Open Office Communicator, and then type the name
you entered into the Display as
field in Office outlook into the Search
box. The contact name appears in the Search
Results box.
2.
Drag the contact from the Search Results pane into a group in the Contact List. You can now
have IM conversations with the contact. You can also click the phone button to the
right of the contact’s name. Communicator Calls are not supported for public IM
contacts, but you can make calls to the contact’s home, business and or mobile
phone numbers.
to the
right of the contact’s name. Communicator Calls are not supported for public IM
contacts, but you can make calls to the contact’s home, business and or mobile
phone numbers.
For more information about adding federated contacts outside
your company to your Contact List, see the Communicator online Help.
If your organization is configured to support public instant
messaging (IM) connectivity, you can add instant messenger contacts from AOL,
Yahoo, MSN, and the Windows Live™ network of Internet services to your Office
Communicator Contact List. When you add a public instant messaging contact, you
can communicate with the contact using instant messaging. Communicator calls, video
calls, and audio/video conferencing, however, are not supported with public
instant messaging contacts. Most likely, you make phone calls to others outside
of your organization as part of your work day. Using Office Outlook and Office
Communicator 2007, you can add contacts outside of your organization to your
Contact List, enabling you to make phone calls to your contact’s work, mobile,
or home phone numbers, if provided.
The best practice for adding an outside contact that is
neither a federated contact nor a public IM contact, is to public instant messaging contact is to add the
contact using the Outlook Contacts
folder. When you add a public instant messaging contact using the Outlook Contacts folder, you can add home,
mobile, and other phone numbers for the contact, so you can use the click-to-call
feature in Communicator to call the contact on his or her home, mobile, or work
phone number. With outside contacts that are not federated nor public IM
contacts, your can dial out to call the contact, but you cannot send an IM to
the contact, place Communicator calls or video calls to the contact, or conduct
Communicator audio/video conferences with the contact.
|
|
To add a non-Communicator contact that is outside
your company
1.
If you do not know the IM address of the contact
you want to add, contact them by using phone or e-mail to get the address.
2.
Open the Contacts
folder in Office Outlook, and then click the New button.
3.
In the Full
Name box, enter a name for the contact. The Company, Job title, and File as boxes are optional.
4.
Under Internet,
enter an e-mail address if you have one for the contact, and then ensure that
you fill in the following boxes:
·
Display
as. In this box, type the name that you want to appear in the Office
Communicator Contact List.
·
IM
address. In this box, type the IM address of the contact. If this box
is not filled in, you cannot add the contact to the Office Communicator Contact
List. If the contact does not have an IM address, use a placeholder address.
For example: username@msn.com.
5.
Enter phone numbers for the contact. Use the
E.164 format to ensure the number works. The E.164 format includes the country
code, area code, and local number. You do not need to format the number. A
number in the U.S.
for example, might look like this: 14255555555, where 1 is the country code,
425 is the area code, and 5555555 is the local number.
6.
Save the contact.
7.
Open Office Communicator, and then type the name
you entered into the Display as
field in Office Outlook into the Search
box. The contact name will appear in the Search
Results pane.
8.
Drag the contact from the Search Results pane into a group in the Contact List. You can now
have IM conversations with the contact. You can also click the phone button to the
right of the contact’s name. Communicator
calls, video calls, or audio\video conferencing are not supported for outside contacts, but you can make calls to
the contact’s home, business, and or mobile phone numbers.
to the
right of the contact’s name. Communicator
calls, video calls, or audio\video conferencing are not supported for outside contacts, but you can make calls to
the contact’s home, business, and or mobile phone numbers.
For more information about adding public IM contacts to your
Contact List, see the Communicator online Help.
A person’s contact card provides details about the contact’s
availability and activity. Depending on the access level that a contact granted
you, you can see a contact’s schedule, as well as any personal note the contact
has written. The contact card also provides a launch point for connecting with
a contact, including the ability to start an instant messaging session, call
the contact, schedule a meeting, or e-mail the contact, as shown below in
Figure 3.2.
Figure 3.2. The Contact Card is opened by
clicking a contact’s Presence button
|
|
To view a person’s contact card
·
In the Office
Communicator window, click the Presence
button in the Contact List to the left of the contact name.
You can open a user’s Contact Card in multiple places in the
Office Communicator 2007 user interface. For example, to view a person’s
contact card, you can click the user’s Presence
button in the Contact List, the Search
Results pane, or in the Communicator Conversation
window.
Office Communicator provides several views that you apply to
the Contact List to see contacts organized differently from the default view.
You can use the Communicator Change View
button 
to
view contacts grouped by Access Levels or
by Tagged Contacts.
to
view contacts grouped by Access Levels or
by Tagged Contacts.|
|
To change the way you view contacts
·
Click the
Change View button 
, as shown below in Figure 3.3, and then
select a view from the menu.
, as shown below in Figure 3.3, and then
select a view from the menu. 
Figure 3.3. The Office Communicator window and
Contact List
For more information about access levels, see Chapter 3, “Manage
Your Contact List.” For more information about tagging contacts, see Chapter 5,
“How to Contact Others.”
|
|
To sort contacts by availability or show the Recent
Contacts group
·
Click the Change View button , and then click Sort Contacts by
Availability or Show Recent Contacts.
, and then click Sort Contacts by
Availability or Show Recent Contacts.
Communicator provides a full set of personal presence
attributes that you can make available to other contacts to help them get in
touch with you. Presence attributes include information about you, such as your
work phone, mobile phone, and home phone, along with additional information,
such as your work schedule and personal notes. When you first start using
Communicator, it is generally best to customize and publish your presence
information, and then set access levels for your contacts to control the type
and amount of presence information that they see. In this way, you can make
presence information, such as your home or mobile phone numbers, available to
your closest contacts, but not available to everyone in your company.
In this chapter, we will show you how to:
·
Customize and publish your presence information.
·
Set access levels for contacts to control the
presence information available to them.
Your presence information includes a diverse set of
attributes that describe your availability, activity, contact information,
schedule, location, and notes, both Personal and Out of Office. Table 4.1 below
provides a full list of Communicator presence attributes that others can
potentially see. The left side of the table shows the presence information
attributes, while the right side of the table shows whether the attribute is
available for a given access level, which we will cover later in this chapter.
Table 4.1. Presence Information and Access
Levels
|
Presence Information
|
Block
|
Public
|
Company
|
Team
|
Personal
|
|
Offline Presence
|
X
|
|
|
|
|
|
Presence
|
|
X
|
X
|
X
|
X
|
|
Display Name
|
X
|
X
|
X
|
X
|
X
|
|
E-Mail Address
|
X
|
X
|
X
|
X
|
X
|
|
Title *
|
|
X
|
X
|
X
|
X
|
|
Work Phone *
|
|
|
X
|
X
|
X
|
|
Mobile Phone *
|
|
|
|
X
|
X
|
|
Home Phone *
|
|
|
|
|
X
|
|
Other Phone *
|
|
|
|
|
X
|
|
Company *
|
|
X
|
X
|
X
|
X
|
|
Office *
|
X
|
X
|
X
|
X
|
X
|
|
Work Address *
|
X
|
X
|
X
|
X
|
X
|
|
SharePoint Site *
|
|
|
X
|
X
|
X
|
|
Meeting Location
|
|
|
|
X
|
|
|
Meeting Subject
|
|
|
|
X
|
|
|
Free Busy
|
|
|
X
|
X
|
X
|
|
Working Hours
|
|
|
X
|
X
|
X
|
|
Endpoint Location
|
|
|
|
X
|
X
|
|
Notes (Out of Office Note)
|
|
|
X
|
X
|
X
|
|
Notes (Personal)
|
|
|
X
|
X
|
X
|
|
Last Active
|
|
|
|
X
|
X
|
*If these attributes are defined in Microsoft Active
Directory, they are visible to all contacts in your company, regardless of
access level. They are also visible to federated contacts, depending on the
assigned access level. They are not visible to public instant messaging
contacts.
Most of your presence information is automatically supplied
to Communicator by Office Communications Server, so you do not need to supply
much additional information. However, there are a few presence attributes, most
importantly your alternate phone numbers, which are not automatically supplied
to Communicator that you may want to make available to others.
Add and publish alternate phone numbers
As a best practice, you should add alternate phone numbers,
such as your Mobile number, to your presence
information.
|
|
To add and publish alternate phone numbers
1.
In the
Office Communicator window, click the Menu
button , and then click Tools.
, and then click Tools.
2.
Click Options,
and then click the Phones tab.
3.
Click the button for the phone number you want to
add.
4.
In the Phone
number text box, enter the number you want to add and then click OK. Use the International Phone Number
format. Enter the country code, followed by the local phone number. For
example, for a United States
number: 15555555555. Phone numbers
should contain only the digits 0123456789. Communicator removes parentheses and
additional characters. Do not include the international dialing prefix. For
example, (011) in the United States
and (00) in Europe. See the Communicator
online Help for examples.
5.
To make the number available as part of your
presence information, select the Publish
this phone number check box next to the phone number.
6.
To accept your changes, click OK in the Options dialog box.
Remember that once you publish your phone numbers, it is
important to set access levels for your contacts to control who has access to
those numbers. For example, if you publish your mobile phone number but do not
grant a Personal or Team access level to a contact that you
want to have access to your number, that contact will not be able to see your
mobile phone number. Setting access levels is covered in the following section.
With Communicator, you use Access Levels to control the level of your presence information
that others see. For example, you probably have a short list of co-workers who
you want to have access to your mobile and home phone numbers. To expose these
alternate phone numbers to a contact, you need to assign that contact to the Personal or Team access level. Setting Access
Levels is generally done in one of three ways:
·
You set an access level for a contact when you
add them to your Contact List. By default, when you add a contact inside your
company to your Contact List, they are given the Company access level. Contacts outside your company, such as
contacts from AOL, MSN, Windows Live, and Yahoo Messenger IM services, are
assigned the Public access level by
default.
·
After you add a contact to your Contact List,
you can easily change his or her access level to increase or decrease the
amount of information you want them to see.
·
When a contact adds you to his or her list, you
receive an alert that enables you to accept or reject the request. From this
alert, you can set the access level for the contact and add them to your
Contact List.
 |
To view contacts by Access Levels
·
In the Communicator
window, click the Change View button
, and then click Access Levels. (To understand what presence information is exposed
for each access level, see Table 4.1 above.)
, and then click Access Levels. (To understand what presence information is exposed
for each access level, see Table 4.1 above.) |
|
To change an Access Level for a contact in your
Contact List
·
Right-click a contact, point to Change Level of Access, and then select
an access level for the contact. If you have the Access Levels view applied in the Contact List, you can also assign
a contact to an access level by dragging the contact into an Access Level
Group. To understand how Access Levels
control what other see, see “Access Levels and Phone Numbers Example” later in
this chapter.
Assign Access Levels when someone adds you to their Contact List
When a person adds you to his or her Contact List, you
receive an alert, as shown below in Figure 4.1. The alert enables you to add
the contact to your Contact List and allows you to set the person’s level of
access to your presence information.
Figure 4.1. Contact request alert
|
|
To assign an access level when someone adds you to
their Contact List
·
In the Office
Communicator window, select an access level in the This person’s level of access list, and then click OK.
To understand how Access Levels
control what others see, see the following “Access Levels and Phone Numbers
Example” section.
One of the most important aspects of access levels is
controlling the exposure of your mobile and home phone numbers to others. After
all, you will want your closest co-workers to have your mobile number, but not
the entire company. In addition, you will want to make you home phone number
available only to a short list of people.
If you want to make your mobile phone number available to a
contact, you assign that contact to the Team
access level. If you want to make all your phone numbers available to a
contact, you assign that contact to the Personal
access level. Table 4.2 below provides an example of how access levels
assigned to a contact affect the phone numbers that they see.
Table 4.2. Access
Levels and Phone Numbers Example
|
If Kelly Rollin
Assigns Lola Jacobsen this access level:
|
Lola Jacobsen can see these phone numbers for Kelly Rollin in her Communicator user interface:
|
|
Personal
|
Work Phone number
Mobile Phone number
Home Phone number
Other Phone number
|
|
Team
|
Work Phone number
Mobile Phone number
|
|
Company
|
Work Phone number
|
|
Public
|
None
|
|
Blocked
|
None
|
Your Presence information is constantly being updated by
Communicator and Office Communications Server, based on a variety of factors,
including your Outlook Calendar, whether you are in a call, an instant
messaging session, or conference. However, there may be times when you want to
manually change your presence status. For example, if you are working on
something that is time critical, you may want to change your status to Do Not Disturb to avoid being
interrupted.
To set your status to Do Not Disturb
·
In the Office
Communicator window, click your Presence
button and change your Presence status to Do
Not Disturb in the Status area.
 |
When you change your Presence status to Do Not Disturb, as shown below in Figure 4.2, by default, only those people who you have assigned the Team access level can contact you.
Figure 4.2. Presence status set to Do Not
Disturb
For example, a person with a Team access level to your presence information can interrupt you
and sees this status in their Contact List:
A person with a Company
or lower access level to your presence information cannot interrupt you
with an instant message or phone call and sees this status in their Contact
List:
For more information about setting Access Levels to control interruptions, see the Office Communicator
online Help.
Each contact in your Contact List has a Presence button that
reflects his or her current state of availability. You can use a contact’s
presence status to decide which mode of communication is best suited for
successful communication that contact. For example, if a contact’s status is Available, you can send her an instant
message or place a call to her. If a contact’s status is Busy, you might want to send an e-mail or check the contact card to
determine when the person will be free for a conversation.
In this chapter, we will show you how to:
·
Determine if a contact is available for a
conversation.
·
Find additional contact details, such as a
schedule, to determine when a contact will be available.
·
Find alternate contact phone numbers, such as
mobile phone or other phone numbers.
·
Tag a contact so you are notified when the
contact becomes available.
The Presence information that is displayed for each contact in
your Contact List
reflects the availability of the contact, as shown below in Figure 5.1.
Presence status is indicated graphically by a Presence button to the left of
the contact’s name, and by a text string to the right of the contact’s name.
Some Presence states, such as Available,
can be set either by the user or by Office Communicator; other Presence states,
such as Inactive, can only be set by
Office Communicator.
Figure 5.1. The Contact List for Alex Robinson
Table 5.1 below describes each Presence button and the
accompanying status text.
Table 5.1. Presence states set by the
user or by Communicator
|
Presence button
|
Contact status
|
Description
|
 |
Available
|
The contact is online and can participate in conversations.
This status can be set manually by the user.
|
 |
Busy
In a Call
In a Conference
In a Meeting
|
The contact is available but engaged in another
activity. Activities include:
·
In
a Call The contact
is in a phone, voice, or video conversation.
·
In a Conference The contact
is in a multiparty conversation using phone, voice, video, or application
sharing.
·
In a Meeting The Office Outlook calendar shows that the
contact has a scheduled meeting.
This presence level can be set manually by the user.
|
 |
Do Not Disturb
|
You see this status for a contact if the contact has
assigned you to an access level other than the Team access level and one of the following conditions exists:
·
The contact has manually set his or her
presence status to Do Not Disturb.
·
The contact is displaying a Microsoft Office
PowerPoint® presentation or is running another program in full-screen mode.
|
|
|
Urgent interruptions only
|
You see this status for a contact if the contact has
assigned you to the Team access level
and one of the following conditions exists:
·
The contact has manually set his or her
presence status to Do Not Disturb.
|
 |
Away
|
The contact is probably not available. This status is
displayed for the following reasons:
·
The contact’s computer has been idle for more
than the idle time period setting—15 minutes by default.
·
The contact has manually set his or her
presence status to Away.
|
 |
Inactive
|
This contact may be available, but their computer has
been idle for more than the idle time period setting—five minutes by default.
In this state, the contact is online, idle, and transitioning from an
Available state. This status is set by Communicator.
|
 |
Busy (Inactive)
|
This contact is engaged in a meeting, but their
computer has been inactive for the idle time period setting—5 minutes by
default. In this state, the contact is online, idle, and transitioning from a
Busy state. This status is set by Communicator.
|
 |
Offline
|
The contact is not available. This status is
displayed for the following reasons:
·
The contact has manually set his or her
presence status to Appear Offline.
·
Communicator 2007 is not running on the
contact’s computer, or the contact has not signed-in.
·
The contact has blocked you from seeing his or
her presence status.
|
 |
Presence unknown
|
Communicator 2007 cannot determine the status of the
contact. This status is usually displayed because the contact’s presence
status is stored in another computer system, such as that of an organization
that is not a federated partner.
|
 |
Blocked
|
This indicator is displayed in your Contact List next
to the name you have blocked. To the person you have blocked, you appear to
be offline.
|
If a contact’s status is not available, you can open his or
her Contact Card to get additional details to determine when the contact will
be available, assuming that you have been granted Company access level or
higher.
|
|
To view a contact’s schedule information
·
In the Office
Communicator window, click the contact’s Presence button in the Contact List. If a contact has granted you
the default Company access level or above, you can click the contact’s Presence
button to view his or her schedule and determine when the contact will be available.
Sometimes you will need to contact a person on their cell
phone or at an alternate number. In Office Communicator, you can view a
contact’s alternate phone numbers by clicking the arrow to the right of the
Call button. In the previous chapter, we looked at how you publish your
alternate phone numbers. But how do you find alternate phone numbers for your
contacts?
|
|
To view calling options for a contact
1.
In the Contact List, click the arrow to the
right of the Call button associated with the contact, as shown in the following
illustration.
2.
The phone numbers that you see for a contact are
determined by the access level the contact has granted you. For example, if the
contact has granted you a Team or Personal access level, you will see his
or her mobile phone number. If a contact’s mobile number is not available to
you, you can contact that person and ask them to raise your access level to Team or Personal.
What Is a Communicator call?
One of the menu items in the Call option menu is Communicator call. A Communicator call
is a Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) call that is routed to all of a
contact’s devices that are running Office Communicator 2007. A contact can
receive a Communicator call on his or her computer or on a telephony device
that is configured for Office Communicator 2007.
|
Note
You can only make Communicator calls to Office
Communicator contacts within your company and to federated contacts outside
your company. Communicator Calls to public IM contacts or non-federated
contacts outside your company are not supported.
|
Communicator can notify you of changes in a contact’s status
by displaying an alert whenever the contact’s status changes to Available or Offline. The alert shows the contact’s name, title, instant
messaging address, and new presence status. You can click the alert to start an
instant messaging session with that person. Configuring Communicator to display
this alert for a given contact is called tagging.
|
|
To tag a contact for status change alerts
·
In the Contact List, right-click a contact, and
then click Tag for Status Change Alerts.
When a contact is tagged, a star 
appears on the contact’s status line to
indicate the contact has been tagged.
appears on the contact’s status line to
indicate the contact has been tagged.|
|
To view tagged contacts in the Contact List
·
In the Office
Communicator window, click the Change
View button 
, and then click Tagged Contacts. This view shows all your currently tagged contacts.
, and then click Tagged Contacts. This view shows all your currently tagged contacts.
With Communicator, you can start an instant messaging
session with a single contact or multiple contacts. After you start an instant
messaging session, you can invite other contacts to the session and seamlessly
add audio and video to the session without opening a new Conversation window.
In this chapter we will show you how to:
·
Start an instant messaging session.
·
Add emoticons to instant messages.
·
Format instant messages.
·
Invite another person to an instant messaging
session.
·
Accept or decline an instant message invitation.
·
Respond to an instant message invitation with an
audio call.
You typically start an instant messaging session by
double-clicking a contact name in the Contact List. Double-clicking a contact name
opens the Conversation window where
you enter your instant message and view responses from others, as shown below in
Figure 6.1.
Figure 6.1. The Office Communicator window and
the Conversation window
|
|
To start an instant messaging session with a single
contact
|
Note
Instant messaging is only supported with your organization’s Communicator contacts, public IM contacts, and federated contacts. |
·
In the Contact List, double-click a contact
name, type a message, and then press ENTER. If the contact is not in the
Contact List, type the person’s name in the Search box, and then double-click the name in the Search Results box.
To start an instant messaging session with a group
·
Do one of the following:
·
To send an instant message to a distribution
group or contact group, right-click a group name, click Send an Instant Message or press ENTER, type a message and then press ENTER.
·
To send an instant message to multiple contacts,
hold the CTRL key to select the contacts, right-click the last contact, and
then click Send an Instant Message or
press ENTER, type a message and then
press ENTER.
Emoticons are graphic images that you can use in your
instant messages to convey feelings and emotions, as shown below in Figure 6.2.
Figure
6.2. An emoticon is inserted into an instant message
|
|
To add an emoticon to an instant message
1.
In the Conversation
window, in the message area, place the cursor where you want to insert the
emoticon.
2.
Click the Emoticon
button, and then select an emoticon.
With Communicator, you can change the font, font size, and
color, or format text with additional attributes such as bold, italic, or
underlining.
|
|
To format instant message text for a single message
1.
In the Office
Communicator window, double-click a contact name in the Contact List to
start an instant message.
2.
In the Conversation
window, select the Change text color,
font, and other formatting button, 
and
then select the formatting options from the formatting popup window.
and
then select the formatting options from the formatting popup window.
In addition to formatting the current instant message, you
can permanently set formatting changes to apply for all your instant messages.
|
|
To format instant message text for all instant
messages
1.
In
the Office Communicator Title bar, click the Menu button 
.
.
2.
On the Tools menu, click Options.
3.
In the Options
dialog box, click the General tab,
and then click Change Font.
4.
In the Change
Font dialog box, make the changes you want, and then click OK.
5.
Click OK
again to accept the changes, and then close the Options dialog box. Your font changes will now apply to all your
instant messages.
You can start an instant messaging session with one person,
and then discover that you need to invite additional people to the conversation.
Here is how to do that.
To invite someone to join a conversation in progress
1.
In the Office
Communicator window, double-click a contact.
2.
In the Conversation
window, type a message, and then press ENTER.
3.
When the conversation begins with the contact, click
the Invite button in the Conversation window to add others as
needed.
4.
In the Search
box, type a name, or select a contact from the Contact List, and then click OK.
When someone sends you an instant message invitation, you
receive an alert that appears in the bottom right of your computer screen, as
shown below in Figure 6.3.
Figure 6.3. The instant message invitation
alert
|
|
To accept an instant message invitation
1.
In the instant message invitation alert, click anywhere in the left
pane of the invitation.
2.
In the Conversation window, type your response in the message area, and
then press ENTER.
|
|
To decline an invitation
·
In the instant message invitation alert, click the Close
conversation button.
|
|
To respond to an instant message with a call
·
In the instant message invitation alert, click Call, and then click a name or number
to place the call.
|
|
To set your status to Do Not Disturb until the top of
the hour
·
In the instant message invitation alert, click Set
your status to Do Not Disturb and your status will be changed to Do Not Disturb until the next hour
increment.
For example: If you your presence status to Do Not
Disturb at 11:15 A.M., your status will change to Do Not Disturb and will change back to Available at 12:00 noon.
In this Part:
Chapter 8:
Getting Started with Unified Communications Conferencing
Chapter 9:
Conferencing with Communicator
Chapter 10:
Moving Seamlessly Between Communication Modes
Chapter 11: Scheduling
a Conference Call or Live Meeting
With Office Communicator 2007, you can easily start a
conference from a one-to-one IM session. You can also seamlessly add
communication modes to conference sessions, including phone, video, and even
full Web conferencing and data sharing with Live Meeting.
The conferencing capabilities described in Part 3,
Conferencing and Collaboration, require you to have conferencing capabilities
enabled in your organization. If you are not sure whether conferencing
capabilities are enabled, contact your system administrator. Also, before you
start using Communicator’s conferencing capabilities, make sure you have the
required hardware and software installed, as covered in the “Automatic Set Up
of Audio and Video” section later in this chapter.
Microsoft Unified Communications offers a variety of
possibilities for conducting conferences. For example, for everyday informal
communications, you can conduct conferences with your closest co-workers using
Office Communicator 2007. For more formal presentations that require you to
present Web slides, or that require application sharing, you can schedule a
more formal Live Meeting conference. Table 8.1 below helps you decide which
conferencing method to use.
Table 8.1 Conferencing scenarios and
recommended methods
|
If you need to:
|
Use this method of conferencing
|
|
Conduct unscheduled multi-party conferences – for
example, you need to make a quick decision among co-workers
|
Use the conferencing capabilities of Office
Communicator. See Chapter 9, “Conferencing with Communicator.”
|
|
Make an unscheduled conference call
|
Use Office Communicator. See Chapter 9, “Conferencing
with Communicator.”
|
|
Present slides, share web pages, or perform desktop
or application sharing during an unscheduled conference call
|
Use Office Communicator to start the conference and
escalate to a Live Meeting Conference, if required. See Chapter 10, “Move Seamlessly
Between Communication Modes.”
|
|
Schedule a conference call to get on everyone’s calendar
|
Use the Conferencing Add-in for Microsoft Office
Outlook. See Chapter 11, “Schedule a Communicator or a Live Meeting
Conference. “
|
|
Schedule a Web conference where you present Slides,
Share Web Pages, or Perform Desktop or Application Sharing
|
Use the Conferencing Add-in for Microsoft Office
Outlook. See Chapter 11, “Schedule a Communicator or a Live Meeting
Conference.”
|
For audio (phone) conferencing you will need a headset; or a
speaker and microphone; or a USB audio device connected to your computer. For
audio\video conferencing, you will need a webcam connected to your computer to
initiate an audio\video call. You can, however, participate in an audio\video
conference and view other’s participant’s video stream without actually having
a webcam.
By default, Office Communicator detects your audio and video
devices so that you do not need to perform and special setup procedures.
However, before you schedule a conference call, you may want to run the Set Up Audio and Video wizard to
ensure your devices are properly adjusted.
|
|
To set up audio and video
·
In the Title bar of the Office Communicator window, click the Menu button , point to Tools, and then click Set Up
Audio and Video. Follow the instructions in the Set Up Audio and Video wizard. Note that the Set Up Audio and Video wizard sets up audio and video settings for
both the Office Communicator and the Live Meeting.
, point to Tools, and then click Set Up
Audio and Video. Follow the instructions in the Set Up Audio and Video wizard. Note that the Set Up Audio and Video wizard sets up audio and video settings for
both the Office Communicator and the Live Meeting.
If you plan on initiating Live Meeting sessions, you will
need to have the Live Meeting client installed. As shown previously in Table
8.1, there are a variety of possibilities for conferencing with Microsoft
Office Unified Communications. For example, you can open the Live Meeting client
from Office Communicator during a conference call if you decide that you need
data-sharing capabilities. You can also schedule Live Meetings from within
Outlook when a more formal scheduled Web conference is required. For
instructions on installing the Live Meeting client, contact your system
administrator.
With the Conferencing Add-In for Microsoft® Office Outlook, as
shown in Figure 8.1 below, you can schedule phone conference calls for
Communicator and Web conferences with Live Meeting. Contact your system
administrator for instructions on installing the Conferencing Add-in for
Microsoft Office Outlook.
Figure 8.1. The Conferencing Add-in for
Microsoft Office Outlook
For more detailed conferencing information, visit the
Conferencing section of the Office Communicator online Help. To access online
Help from Office Communicator 2007, click the Menu button , and then click Microsoft Office Communicator Help.
, and then click Microsoft Office Communicator Help.
Office Communicator 2007 is designed to support the natural,
typically unstructured way that you communicate with others. For example, with
Office Communicator, you might start an IM conversation with somebody and then
decide you need to invite another person to the conversation to make a
decision. When you invite a third person to the IM conversation—you create an
ad-hoc conference. Once you have started the conference, you can invite others,
or seamlessly add audio and video communication modes—without ever leaving the
Communicator Conversation window.
With Communicator, starting a conference requires only a few mouse clicks. For
example, a great way to take advantage of Communicator’s conferencing
capabilities is to start an IM conference or phone conference by selecting a
group in the Contact List and then clicking Send an Instant Message or Make
a Conference Call.
In this chapter, we will show you how to:
·
Start an IM conference by inviting others to an
IM session
·
Start an audio conference call by selecting
multiple contacts in the Contact List or by selecting a contact or distribution
group.
·
Start an ad-hoc audio/video conference from an
instant messaging session.
·
Join a conference.
Conferences with three or more participants, including
audio/video conferences, require an Office Communications Server 2007 A/V
Conferencing Server. If you are not sure if an A/V Conferencing Server is set
up for your organization, contact your system administrator.
Starting an unscheduled (ad-hoc) IM conference is often a
fast way to make decisions. Perhaps equally important, starting an IM
conference is as easy as multi-selecting contacts in the Contact List or
selecting a group, and then clicking Send
an Instant Message. You can start an IM conference from the Contact List by
selecting multiple contacts, a distribution group, or contact group. You can
also start a conference from a phone or video conversation between two people
by simply inviting another person to the conversation.
|
|
To start an unscheduled IM conference
·
In the Contact List, do one of the following:
·
Select multiple contacts by holding down CTRL as
you click the contacts that you want to invite to the conference, right-click
the last contact, and then click Send an
Instant Message. Type a message
in the Message Entry area and then press
ENTER.
·
Right-click a contact or group, as shown in
Figure 9.1, and then click Send an
Instant Message. Type a message in the Message Entry area and then press ENTER.
Figure 9.1. A
contact group is selected to start an IM conference
In the Conversation
window that appears, you see the Inviting
status for each contact, as the contact is sent the IM invitation. When the
contact accepts the call and joins the conference, you see the phone indicator
to the right of the contact name, as shown above in Figure 9.1.
When you send an Instant Message to more than one person,
the recipients of the IM see an IM conferencing invitation, as shown below in
Figure 9.2.
Figure
9.2. IM Conference Invitation
|
|
To join an IM conference
·
Click the left pane of the Conference invitation
alert.
At any time during the conference, you can invite additional
people to the conference by clicking the Invite button 
and then selecting those contacts that you
want to invite.
and then selecting those contacts that you
want to invite.
You can start a phone conference call from the Contact List
by selecting multiple contacts, or a group. You can also start a conference
from a one-to-one phone or video conversation between two people by simply
inviting another person to the conversation.
|
|
To start a conference call
1.
In the Contact List, do one of the following:
·
Select multiple contacts by holding down CTRL as
you click the contacts that you want to invite to the conference, right-click
the last contact, and then point to Start
a Conference Call.
·
Right-click a contact group, and then point to Start a Conference Call.
2.
Click one of the following options:
·
Start
Conference Now Using. Click Communicator to start the conference
from your default USB phone device or computer (if you have a headset or
speakers and microphone).
·
Start a
Conference Call by Calling Me At. Click
a phone number to have Communicator call the phone number and join you into the
conference when you answer the phone. Note that you can also enter a new phone
number from which to join the conference.
Figure 9.3. The Conversation window during a
conference call
During a conference call you can:
·
Click Start
video conference call to add your video feed to the conference (provided
you have a Web camera connected to your computer).
·
Click Show
instant message area to send an instant message to the conference
participants.
·
Click Invite
to add additional people to the conference.
When you place a conference call, the recipients of the call
see a conference call invitation, as shown below in Figure 9.4.
Figure 9.4. Conference call invitation alert
|
|
To join a conference call
·
Click the left pane of the Conference invitation
alert.
|
|
To join a conference call from another phone
·
To join a conference call from a phone other
than your default phone, click Join From
in the Conference Call invitation alert, and then select the phone from which
you want to join the conference. Communicator calls the phone number and when
you answer the call, Communicator joins you to the conference on that number.
One of the great new features in Office Communicator 2007 is
the ability to move seamlessly between communication modes during a session.
For example, you can start a simple IM “you there?” session with a co-worker.
After a couple of IM exchanges, you might decide you need a third person, so
you can invite another person to the session. Next you might decide you need
more sophisticated communication than IM, so you can add audio and video to the
conference. Then perhaps, you need to show a Web page or share an application,
so you can launch Live Meeting and share out your desktop. Office Communicator
makes this scenario not only possible, but relatively seamless. In this
chapter, we will show you how to:
·
Start an IM conference by inviting others to an
IM session.
·
Start an audio conference call by selecting
multiple contacts in the Contact List or by selecting a contact or distribution
group.
·
Start an unscheduled audio/video conference from
an instant messaging session.
·
Escalate a conference call to a Live Meeting
data sharing conference.
Conferences with three or more participants, including
conferencing-mode video sessions, require an Office Communications Server 2007
A/V Conferencing Server. If you are not sure if an A/V Conferencing Server is
set up for your organization, contact your system administrator.
One of the benefits of Communicator 2007 is that you can
easily move between communication modes without needing to open a new window.
For example, you can start an instant messaging conference with several users
and then add audio and video to the conference. Here is how:
|
|
To start an audio conference from an instant
messaging session
1.
First start an instant messaging conference.
Select multiple contacts in the Contact List by holding down CTRL as you click
the contacts that you want to invite to the conference. Right-click the last
contact, click Send an Instant Message,
type a message, and then press ENTER.
2.
After the participants have accepted the instant
messaging invitation, you can add audio to the conference by clicking the Call
button 
in the
Conversation window. Communicator
adds you to the conference as the conference leader and calls the other
conference participants. When the participants have accepted the conference
call invitation, you see the phone indicator next to their name.
in the
Conversation window. Communicator
adds you to the conference as the conference leader and calls the other
conference participants. When the participants have accepted the conference
call invitation, you see the phone indicator next to their name.
3.
After the conference participants have accepted
the audio call, you can add video to the conference by clicking Start a video conference call. This
sends a Join Video Conference invitation to the participants and displays the
video pane for the conference participants, as shown in Figure 10.1.
 |
Figure 10.1. The Conversation window during a conference call with instant messaging, audio, and video
|
Note
The Live Meeting menu options are only enabled for
conference participants who have Live Meeting installed and configured on
their computers.
|
With Office Communicator 2007, you can escalate a
Communicator conference, be it instant messaging or audio video conference,
into a Live Meeting Web conference, without having to re-invite participants.
|
|
Escalate a conference call to a Live Meeting
conference
1.
First start a conference call. Select multiple
contacts in the Contact List by holding down CTRL as you click the contacts
that you want to invite to the conference. Right-click the last contact, and
then click Start a Conference Call.
2.
After the conference participants have joined
the conference, you can escalate to a Live Meeting Web conference in one of the
following ways:
·
Click the Live
Meeting button in the Conversation
window to start a Live Meeting session and to send a Live Meeting invitation to
all conference participants, as shown below in Figure 10.2.
·
Click the options arrow to the right of the Live Meeting button, and then click one
of the following:
·
Share
Information Using Live Meeting to send an application-sharing invitation to
conference participants, who will receive the invitation request in the message
area of their Conversation window.
When the invitation is accepted, application-sharing will be conducted using a
Live Meeting session that is connected to the same Office Communications Server
that is hosting the conference call. This menu item will only appear if you
have Live Meeting configured to connect to Office Communications Server.
·
Meet Now Using
Live Meeting Service to send an invitation to conference participants to
join a Live Meeting using the Live Meeting service. When the invitation is
accepted, application-sharing can be conducted using a Live Meeting session
that is connected to the Live Meeting service. This menu item will only appear
if you have Live Meeting configured to connect to a Live Meeting service.
Figure 10.2. Launching
Live Meeting from the Conference window
After you log into signed in to Live Meeting, you can
begin sharing slides, applications, or collaborate on a Text Page, as shown below
in Figure 10.3.
Figure 10.3. A text page is shared
between participants of a Live Meeting session
When you send a Live Meeting invitation, the recipients of
the invitation see a Live Meeting invitation in the Communicator Conversation window, shown below in
Figure 10.4.
Figure 10.4. The Live Meeting invitation in the
Office Communicator Conversation window
|
|
To join a Live Meeting Conference
·
Click the Start
link in the invitation.
|
Note
If you have not installed the Conferencing Add-in for
Microsoft Office Outlook, contact your system administrator.
|
Microsoft Unified Communications offers you a Conferencing
Add-In for Microsoft Office Outlook that you can use to schedule Communicator
phone conferences and Live Meeting Web conferences.
You can use the Conferencing Add-in for Microsoft Office
Outlook to schedule an Office Communicator phone conference. Invitees to the
conference, including you, can join the conference from their traditional
(PSTN) phone lines, from cell phones, or from their PCs if they have a
speaker/microphone or USB audio device attached.
|
|
To schedule a Communicator conference call
·
Open Microsoft Office Outlook, click Conferencing, and then click Schedule a Conference Call.
|
|
To schedule a Live Meeting Web conference
·
Open Microsoft Office Outlook, click Conferencing, and then click Schedule a Live Meeting. Select the
meeting options as you typically would when scheduling a meeting with Outlook.
In this Part:
Chapter 12:
Getting Started with Office Communicator Phone and Video Capabilities
Chapter 13: Make
and Receive Phone Calls
Chapter 14: Make
and Receive Video Calls
Chapter 15: Call
Forwarding and Call Handling
Office Communicator 2007 offers phone and video capabilities
to improve your everyday communication. Now with Office Communicator 2007, you
can:
·
Make one-click phone calls by clicking a contact
in your contact list.
·
Make group conference calls by right-clicking a
group name, pointing to Start a
Conference Call, and then selecting a conference calling option.*
·
Configure Call-Forwarding Settings to forward
calls to another number, to simultaneously ring an additional number when your
number rings, or redirect unanswered calls to another phone number, contact, or
Voice Mail.*
·
Add a subject conversation and an importance
flag to a call.
·
Keep a record of all IM and voice conversations
in Outlook.
·
Take notes during a call with OneNote.
·
Move seamlessly from an instant messaging
conversation, to a phone call, to a full audio\video conference call – all
within the same Conversation window.
* Capabilities only available with Office Communicator
Enterprise Voice.
The Phone and Video capabilities described in this part of
the Getting Started Guide require Phone and Video capabilities to be enabled in
your environment. If you are not sure if these capabilities are available, contact
your system administrator.
Phone capabilities with Communicator can be configured for
Enterprise Voice or for Remote Call Control, as described in the following:
·
Enterprise Voice. With Enterprise Voice, your
phone system offers full unified communication capabilities, including the
ability to make single-party and multi-party VoIP calls, configure robust call
forwarding features and receive Voice Mail in your Exchange mailbox. To
determine if Communicator is set up for Enterprise Voice, click the arrow to
the right of the Call button 
. If you see a Preferred Calling Device option, you are configured for Remote Call
Control, not Enterprise Voice.
. If you see a Preferred Calling Device option, you are configured for Remote Call
Control, not Enterprise Voice.
·
Remote
Call Control. With Remote Call Control, your phone system is integrated
with a PBX system and offers call forwarding features, but does not offer features
such as ringing an additional number or redirecting unanswered calls. To
determine if Communicator is set up for Remote Call Control, click the arrow to
the right of the Call button . If you see a Preferred Calling Device option, you are configured for Remote Call
Control.
. If you see a Preferred Calling Device option, you are configured for Remote Call
Control.
Before you get started, make sure you should have a USB
audio device, headset, or speakers and microphone connected to your computer.
Make a Few Phone Calls
With the phone capabilities of Communicator, you can make
outbound calls to traditional PSTN/PBX phones or mobile phones and receive inbound
calls from these phones. In short, you can do everything you can do today with
your traditional desktop phone—and then some. To get started, try making a few
calls with Communicator.
 |
Call a contact in your Contact List
·
In the Communicator Contact List, click a
contact’s Call button to the right
of the contact name. By default, the Call
button, when clicked, will call the contact’s Work phone number. After you call a contact, Office Communicator
remembers the most recently used calling option and use that option when you
click the Call button again.
Figure 12.1. Call button for a contact
|
|
Call an outside number
3.
In the Communicator
window, enter a number (could be your home number) in the Search box (Type a name or
phone number). You do not need to format the number.
4.
Double-click the Call button for the number in the Search Results pane to dial the number.
Adjust Audio and Video
Office Communicator automatically detects your audio and
video devices, but it might be a good idea to run the Set Up Audio and Video option to adjust volume levels.
|
|
To run the Set Up Audio and Video option
·
In the Communicator
window, click the Menu button in the
Title bar, point to Tools, and then
click Set Up Audio and Video.
Communicator provides a variety of places for entering phone
numbers. If you are entering a phone number to call in the Search box, Communicator allows you to enter digits or alphabetical
characters. For example, you can enter a number such as 1-555-555-0101 or a
1-800 number such as 1-800-EXAMPLE.
If you are entering a phone number for call forwarding or to
publish one of your phone numbers, you should need to follow use the E.164 Number
Format. Enter the country code, followed area code, and then the local number. As
a best practice, the phone numbers you enter should contain only the digits
0123456789. Communicator will automatically add the formatting to the phone
number for you. Do not include the international dialing prefix—for example 011
(in the United States) and
00 (in Europe and South America).
If your system is configured for Enterprise Voice (you can
easily determine by clicking the arrow to the right Call button , and if you do not see a Preferred Calling Device option, you
are configured for Enterprise Voice) you will continue to receive your missed
calls and Voice Mail notifications in Outlook. However, with Enterprise Voice
capabilities, you can play Voice Mail items inline on your speakerphone,
without opening Windows Media Player.
, and if you do not see a Preferred Calling Device option, you
are configured for Enterprise Voice) you will continue to receive your missed
calls and Voice Mail notifications in Outlook. However, with Enterprise Voice
capabilities, you can play Voice Mail items inline on your speakerphone,
without opening Windows Media Player.
Instructions for retrieving your temporary PIN number and
for creating a new one are typically sent to you in e-mail by your system
administrator. If you need to use the Dial Pad to enter a PIN number, you can
find the Dial Pad on the Call Controls area of the Conversation window. Refer to the e-mail for the PIN and further
instructions on changing your Voice Mail greeting.
With Voice Mail systems or conference calls, you are often
asked to enter a PIN or make a selection by entering a number. To enter PINs or
to respond to automated voice systems, you need to either enter numbers from
your phone dial pad or the Communicator dial pad. While a call is being
connected, the dial pad is available in the Call Control area of the Conversation window, as shown below in Figure
12.2.
Figure 12.2. Communicator dial pad when a call is
connecting
 |
After the call is connected, the dial pad is available in the Call Control area, as shown below in Figure 12.3.
Figure 12.3. Communicator
dial pad during a connected call
Communicator enables you to contact others using a variety
of communication methods. You might start a conversation with another person
using instant messaging, for example, and then add audio (by using a phone
call) to the conversation as needed.
Communicator offers a rich phone communication experience
that extends beyond traditional phone capabilities. For example, using
Communicator’s Contact List, you can quickly see if a contact is available and
then call her with one-click calling. If the contact is not available, you can
click the View more options for calling
this contact arrow in the Contact List, and then place a call to the
person’s mobile phone (assuming you have a Team
or Personal access level). You can
also click the contact’s Presence button to view additional details about the
contact, including their schedule information to see when they might be
available next.
In this chapter, we show you how to use Communicator to
perform tasks traditionally associated with your desktop phone. To this end, we
show you how to:
·
Place calls with one-click calling from your
Contact List.
·
Find optional phone numbers, including mobile
phone, for contacts.
·
Make calls by typing a new call number in the Search box.
·
Add phone capabilities to an instant messaging
session.
·
Answer an incoming phone call.
·
Use Call Controls to place calls on hold or
transfer calls.
·
Add video to a phone call.
Each contact in your Contact List has a number that you can
call by clicking the Call button
associated with the contact. The number is the contact’s work number by
default, but can change based on the number most recently used to call the
contact. The Call button is shown below
in Figure 13.1.
Figure 13.1. The Call button in the Contact
List
|
|
To make a one-click audio call
·
In the Contact List, click the Call button to the right of the contact you want to
call.
Communicator users can publish additional phone numbers,
such as their mobile or home phone numbers and give you Team or Personal access level
so you can view the numbers and use them for “click-to-call.” To call an additional
phone number, you click the arrow next to the Call button, as shown below in Figure 13.2.
Figure 13.2. Call options for a contact
|
|
To view call options for a contact
5.
In the Contact List, click the arrow to the right of the Call button associated with the
contact.
6.
In the Call options menu, click the name or number you want to call or
click New Number
and then enter the number you want to call.
What is a Communicator Call?
Office Communicator 2007 provides a Communicator Call option, as shown in the preceding Figure 13.2, as
a way of placing a call to a contact. When you place a Communicator Call, the call is a VoIP call that is directed to all
of the contact’s devices that are configured for Office Communicator 2007.
Depending upon the devices on which the contact has Office Communicator
configured, the call can ring either the contact’s computer or her telephony
devices that are configured for Office Communicator, or both.
In addition to one-click calling and using Call options, you
can type the number you want to call in the Search box in the Office
Communicator window, as shown below in
Figure 13.3.
 |
Figure 13.3. Phone number entered in the Search box
|
|
To type a new number and call it
1.
In
the Office Communicator window, enter the number you want to call in the Search box. Use the International Phone
number format. Enter the country code, followed by the local phone number. For
example, for a United States
number: 15555555555. For example, (011)
in the United States and
(00) in Europe. You can also use alphabetical
characters for 1-800 numbers. For example, you can type: 1-800-EXAMPLE.
2.
In the Search
Results pane, click the Call
button to the right of the phone number you entered. You can also press the
ENTER key to place the call.
When you receive a phone call from another Communicator
contact, a Call alert appears in the bottom-right corner of your computer
screen. From the alert, you can accept the call, ignore the call, or redirect
the call to another number, as shown below in Figure 13.4.
Figure
13.4. Audio call invitation alert
|
|
To answer a phone call
·
Click the left pane of the Call invitation alert.
|
|
To ignore a call
·
Click the Ignore Call button in the Call invitation alert.
|
|
To redirect a call
·
Click the Redirect call to another phone or instant message button, and then select an option
from the menu. You can redirect a call to any of the phone numbers that you
have published, including your mobile, home, or other phone number. If you
choose to redirect a call to an instant message, the call is ignored and the Conversation window opens so that you can send
the contact an instant message.
When you answer a phone call from a Communicator contact,
the Conversation window opens. The Conversation window offers a variety of
call controls that you can use to transfer a call, put a call on hold, or
adjust your speaker or microphone volume.
Table 13.4 below shows the call controls and gives a brief
description of what each one does.
Table 13.4. Call controls
|
Control
|
Function
|
 |
End Call.
|
 |
Put call on hold.
|
 |
Mute your line during a conference call
|
 |
Transfer call to:
another person
another one of your devices (such as your cell phone).
|
 |
Display the dial pad. The dial pad is used to enter
input to access voice mail and to enter pass code for conferences.
|
 |
Toggle audio from a call between the USB telephony
device and other speakers. This control only appears if you have a USB
telephony device attached to your PC and you have configured your audio
device to play call audio on a separate device from your USB telephony
device.
|
 |
Mute speakers. Click the Menu button to adjust the
audio volume.
|
 |
Mute microphone
|
 |
Audio level indicator.
|
 |
Time elapsed.
|
You can use Office Communicator to communicate with your
contacts using audio and video. For example, if you have a webcam connected to
your computer, you can place a video call to a contact. When the contact
answers the call, she can see your video feed, even if she does not have a webcam.
If the contact has a webcam connected to his or here computer, then you can see
the video feed for that person in your Conversation
window.
|
Note
You can only make video calls to Communicator contacts
within your company and to federated contacts outside of your company.
Communicator calls to public IM contacts or non-federated contacts outside
your company are not supported.
|
In this chapter, we show you how to place and receive a
video call.
You can add video to an existing instant messaging session
or phone call, or you can start a video call from the Office Communicator window.
|
|
To start a video call from the Contact List
·
In the Contact List, right-click a contact, and then click Start a Video Call, as shown below in
Figure 14.1. After the video call is accepted, the Conversation
window expands to display the video.
 |
Figure 14.1. A video call started in the Contact List
To receive an audio/video call, you need speakers and a
microphone, or a headset, or a USB audio device. You are not required, however,
to have a webcam to accept a video call. If you do not have a webcam, you will
see the caller’s video feed, but the caller will see a video icon placeholder
for your video feed.
|
|
To receive an audio/video call
·
Click the left pane of the Video Call invitation alert, as shown below in
Figure 14.2.
Figure 14.2. The Video Call invitation
alert
When you
accept a Video Call invitation, the Communicator Conversation window opens and shows the
caller’s video stream, as shown below in Figure 14.3.
Figure 14.3. The
Conversation window with the video stream
Office Communicator 2007 provides call handling options that
enable you to forward calls to another phone number or contact, to ring an
additional number at the same time your default device rings, and to redirect
unanswered calls to another number, contact, or voice mail.
In this chapter we will show you how to:
·
Forward incoming calls to another number,
contact, or voice mail.
·
Set forwarding settings to simultaneously ring
an additional number at the same time your default phone device rings. *
·
Redirect unanswered calls to another number,
voice mail, or contact. *
·
Cancel call-forwarding settings.
* These features require that Enterprise Voice capabilities
are enabled for Communicator.
Office Communicator 2007 provides call handling options that
you can set to forward your incoming calls to your voice mail, to an alternate
phone number, such as your mobile phone or home phone number, or to another
contact, as shown below in Figure 15.1.
Figure 15.1. Call
forwarding options are set to forward calls to another number
|
|
To forward a call to your voice
mail, another person, or phone number
·
In the Office Communicator
window, click the Call Forwarding button
, point to Forward Calls To, and then do one of the following:
, point to Forward Calls To, and then do one of the following:
·
Click Voice
mail to automatically forward all incoming calls to your voice mail.
·
Click a phone number to automatically forward
calls to that number.
·
Click New
Number to enter a new number to which to forward the call. You can refer to
the Online Help for examples of how to enter phone numbers.
·
Click Contact,
and then select a contact.
|
|
To ring another number at the same time your device
rings
·
In the Office Communicator
window, click the Call Forwarding button , point to Ring an Additional Number, and then do one of the following:
, point to Ring an Additional Number, and then do one of the following:
·
Click a phone number to automatically forward
calls to that number.
·
Click New
Number to enter a new number to which to forward the call. You can refer to
the Online Help for examples of how to enter phone numbers.
You can set or cancel call-handling rules at any time.
|
|
To cancel call handling rules
·
In the Office
Communicator window, click the Call
Control button , and then click Do Not Forward Calls.
, and then click Do Not Forward Calls.
You can use Office Communicator 2007 to retrieve your voice
mail and to change your voice mail greeting. Keep in mind, however, that with
Communicator Enterprise Voice, missed calls and voice mail will continue to
arrive in your Outlook Inbox.
|
|
To check voice mail, or record or
change your voice mail greeting
1.
In the Office
Communicator window, click the Call
Control button , and then click Call Voice Mail.
, and then click Call Voice Mail.
2.
When prompted, use the Dial Pad 
in the
Conversation window to enter your
PIN number. Your PIN number is provided by your system administrator and is
typically sent to you in an e-mail.
in the
Conversation window to enter your
PIN number. Your PIN number is provided by your system administrator and is
typically sent to you in an e-mail.
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