Microsoft Office

Communicator 2007
Frequently Asked
Questions
Published: July, 2007
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Contact Management
• How do I add outside contacts to my Contact List?

• How do I add public instant messaging contacts to my Contact List?

• How do I add federated contacts to my Contact List?

• How do I add phone numbers for the federated contacts that are in my Contact List?

• How do I add an outside contact that is not federated or a public IM contact to my Contact
List?

• How do I add “phone-only” contacts to my Contact List?

• Why can’t I add a contact from my Recent Contacts to my Contact List?

• What communication modes are supported with public instant messaging contacts?

• What functionality is provided for communicating with federated contacts?

• How do I know which companies are federated with mine?

• Do I have to use the Add Contacts menu to add contacts to my Contact List?

• Why do I see the Exchange Connection error in Communicator?

• How do I resize columns in the Contact List?

• How are contacts sorted in the Contact List? Can they be re-sorted?

• What happened to the menus that were available in Office Communicator 2005?

• Can I make a phone call without adding someone to my Contact List?

Presence
• What are access levels and how can I use them?

• What do the Inactive or Busy (Inactive) presence buttons mean?

• Why can’t I set Appear Offline in Communicator 2007?

• Why doesn’t my Out of Office note show up in Communicator after it set it?

• How does presence affect incoming calls when I am on the phone?

• How is Location set and how does it work if I have Communicator running on multiple
devices?
Phone Calls
• What is the difference between Remote Call Control and Unified Communications?

• How do I know if Communicator is enabled for Remote Call Control or Unified

Communications?

• Where is the Communicator dial pad?

• I still don’t see the dial pad. Where is it?

• What is a Communicator call and why would I want to choose it?

• What can make a Communicator call to an outside contact fail?

• What phone numbers are valid for calling contacts?

• Can I call numbers such as 1-800-TAXI with Communicator?

• Why can I enter alphabetic characters in the Search box but not in the New Number or Edit
Phone Number dialog boxes?

• What happened to Location-based forwarding? Is it no longer available in Communicator?

Video Calls
• Are video calls with non-Communicator users supported?

Conferencing
• What’s the difference between “Share Information Using Live Meeting” and “Meet Now
using Live Meeting Service”?

• Why doesn’t the Live Meeting icon always show up in the Conversation window?

• How do I configure my Live Meeting account?

Contact Management
How do I add outside contacts to my Contact List?
A contact outside the company (not listed in the company directory) can be:

• A public instant messenger contact. Office Communicator enables you to communicate

with instant messaging clients from AOL, Yahoo, MSN, and the Windows Live™ network
of Internet services. See How do I add public instant messaging contacts to my Contact
List?

• A federated contact. A federated contact is a member of a company that has a server

running Office Communications Server that is federated (connected) with your company’s
server running Office Communications Server. See How do I add federated contacts to my
Contact List?

• An outside contact that is not federated or a public IM contact. Outside contacts

include friends, family members, and people you work with that are outside your company.
See How do I add an outside contact that is not federated or a public IM contact to my
Contact List?

How do I add public instant messaging contacts to my Contact List?

Office Communicator is configured to support public instant messaging (IM) connectivity, so 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 (Voice over IP, or
VoIP calls), video calls, and audio/video conferencing, however, are not supported modes of
communication with public instant messaging contacts.

The best practice for adding a public instant messaging contact is to use the Outlook Contacts folder
to add their home, mobile, and other phone numbers. This enables you to call the contact using
Communicator’s click-to-call feature.

1. In Office Outlook, open the Contacts folder, and then click New.

2. In the Full Name box, enter a name for the contact. Entering information in the Company,
Job title, and File as boxes is optional.

3. Under Internet, enter an e-mail address for the contact, and then fill in the following
boxes:

• Display as The name that you want to appear in the Communicator Contact List.

• IM address The IM address of the contact. If this field is not filled in, you cannot
add the contact to the Communicator Contact List. (If the contact does not have an IM
address or if you do not know their IM address, enter a fictitious address as a
placeholder, such as [email protected], and then replace it later with the correct
address.)
 4. Enter phone numbers for the contact using the E.164 format of country code, area code,
and local number with no hyphens. For example, a U.S. number might look like:
14255555555, where 1 is the country code, 425 is the area code, and 5555555 is the local
number.

5. Save the contact.

6. Open Office Communicator, and in the Search box, type the name you entered
into the Display as field in Outlook. The contact name will appear in the Search Results
box, as shown below.

7. Drag the contact from the Search Results box 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, or mobile phone
numbers.

For more information about adding public IM contacts to your Contact List, see Microsoft Office
Communicator 2007 online Help.

How do I add federated contacts to my Contact List?

Office Communicator and Office Communications Server 2007 support the ability to federate
(connect) with other organizations, enabling you to add contacts from those organizations to your
Contact List. 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, you can
use those modes of communication for communicating with the federated contact.

1. In the Communicator Search box, type the e-mail address or IM address of the contact.

2. Drag the contact name from the Search Results box into the Contact List. Federated
contacts in your Contact List display the federated icon to the right of the contact’s
name.

For more information about adding federated contacts outside your company to your Contact List, see
Microsoft Office Communicator 2007 online Help.

How do I add phone numbers for federated contacts that are in my

Contact List?
To add a phone number for a federated contact, request that the contact elevate your access level to
Team or Personal.

Alternatively, you can delete the contact from your Contact List and then add them through your
Outlook Contacts folder.

1. Open Communicator, right-click the contact’s name, and then click Remove from
Contact List.
 2. In Office Outlook, open the Contacts folder, and then click New.

3. In the Full Name box, enter a name for the contact. Entering information in the Company,
Job title, and File as boxes is optional.

4. Under Internet, enter an e-mail address for the contact, and then fill in the following
boxes:

• Display as The name that you want to appear in the Communicator Contact List.

• IM address The IM address of the contact. If this field is not filled in, you cannot
add the contact to the Communicator Contact List. (If the contact does not have an IM
address or if you do not know their IM address, enter a fictitious address as a
placeholder, such as [email protected], and then replace it later with the correct
address.)

5. Enter phone numbers for the contact using the E.164 format of country code, area code,
and local number with no hyphens. For example, a U.S. number might look like:
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 in the Search box, type the name you entered
into the Display as field in Outlook. The contact name will appear in the Search Results
box, as shown below.

8. Drag the contact from the Search Results box 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, or mobile phone
numbers.

For more information about adding federated contacts to your Contact List, see Microsoft Office
Communicator 2007 online Help.

How do I add an outside contact that is not federated or a public IM

contact to my Contact List?
To add a contact outside the company that is not federated or a public IM contact to your Contact List,
use the Outlook Contacts folder to add their home, mobile, and other phone numbers. This enables
you to call the contact using Communicator’s click-to-call feature. With outside contacts that are
neither federated nor public IM contacts, you can call the contact’s phone numbers, but you cannot
communicate through instant messaging, place Communicator calls or video calls, or conduct
Communicator audio/video conferences.

1. In Outlook, open the Contacts folder, and then click New.

 2. In the Full Name box, enter a name for the contact. Entering information in the Company,
Job title, and File as boxes is optional.

3. Under Internet, enter an e-mail address for the contact, and then fill in the following
boxes:

• Display as The name that you want to appear in the Contact List.

• IM address The IM address of the contact. If this field is not filled in, you cannot
add the contact to the Contact List. (If the contact does not have an IM address or you
do not know their IM address, enter a fictitious address as a placeholder, such as
[email protected], and then replace it later with the correct address.)

4. Enter phone numbers for the contact using the E.164 format of country code, area code,
and local number with no hyphens. For example, a U.S. number might look like:
14255555555, where 1 is the country code, 425 is the area code, and 5555555 is the local
number.

5. Save the contact.

6. Open Office Communicator and, in the Search box, type the name you entered into the
Display as field in Outlook. The contact name will appear in the Search Results box, as
shown below.

7. Drag the contact from the Search Results box 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, or mobile phone
numbers.

For more information about adding public IM contacts to your Contact List, see Microsoft Office
Communicator 2007 online Help.

How do I add “phone-only” contacts to my Contact List?

Office Communicator does not provide a way to directly add a “phone-only” contact to your Contact
List. Use the instruction provided in How do I add an outside contact that is not federated or a public
IM contact to my Contact List?

Why can’t I add a contact from my Recent Contacts to my Contact

List?
The contact may be a “phone-only” contact that is not in your company directory. Either you called the
contact or the contact called you. Communicator does not allow you to directly add a contact that is not
included in your corporate directory. To add the contact, use the instructions provided in How do I add
an outside contact that is not federated or a public IM contact to my Contact List?
What communication modes are supported with public instant
messaging contacts?
With Communicator, you can send and receive instant messages from messenger clients from AOL,
Yahoo, MSN, and the Windows Live™ network of Internet services. Communication with public IM
contacts is limited to instant messaging. File transfer, Communicator calls, video calls, and
audio/video conferencing are not supported with public IM contacts.

What functionality is provided for communicating with federated

contacts?
With Communicator, you can communicate with federated contacts using the communication modes
that are supported by both companies. For example, if your company and the federated contact’s
company support audio/video conferencing, you can conduct audio/video conferences with the contact.
If both companies support full audio and video capabilities, you can place and receive Communicator
calls and video calls to and from the contact.

How do I know which companies are federated with my company?

Check with your system administrator to determine if a person’s company is federated with your
company.

Do I have to use the Add Contacts menu to add contacts to my

Contact List?
No. For contacts within your corporate network, you can simply type the person’s name or e-mail
address in the Search box, and then drag the contact from the Search Results pane into a group in the
Contact List. By default, Office Communicator will search your corporate directory and your personal
Outlook Contacts folder.

Why do I see the Exchange Connection error in Communicator?

The “Exchange Connection” error in Office Communicator appears when Communicator cannot
contact Microsoft Exchange to get calendar information, such as when a contact is free. There may be
problems with the Exchange Server to which you are connected. When you see the “Exchange
Connection” error, try to schedule a meeting through Outlook and see if free-busy information is
available for contacts. Contact your system administrator if you see a discrepancy between the free-
busy information in Outlook and Communicator.

How do I resize columns in the Contact List?

You cannot specifically adjust individual column widths in the Contact List, but you can resize the
width of the Communicator window as desired and the columns will adjust accordingly.

How are contacts sorted in the Contact List? Can they be re-sorted?
By default, Communicator sorts contacts in each group in the Contact List first by availability and then
alphabetically. Available contacts (those who can be contacted) have either the Available or Busy
presence status. The Recent Contacts group is an exception, and sorts contacts top-to-bottom,
according to those contacts with whom you most recently communicated.
 To change the way contacts are sorted in the Contact List, select the Change View button in the
Communicator window, and then select Sort Contacts by Availability. This option moves contacts
with Away, Unavailable, and Unknown status into groups, leaves contacts with Busy or Available
status in their groups, and then sorts the contacts alphabetically.

What happened to the menus that were available in Office

Communicator 2005?
The menus have been replaced with a user interface that makes virtually all Communicator tasks easily
accessible. With Office Communicator 2007, frequently performed tasks, such as starting an instant
message or placing a phone call can be accomplished from the Contact List by right-clicking a contact
and selecting a menu option. You can also select the Menu button in the Communicator window to
view additional menu items.

Can I make a phone call without adding someone to my Contact

List?
Yes. You can type a person’s telephone number in the Search box and then double-click the name in
the Search Results box to place the phone call. You can also search for the person by name, and then
click ENTER to place the call.

Presence
What are access levels and how can I use them?
Access levels allow you to control who can see your presence information, and how much of it they
can see. For example, with access levels, you can assign your closest co-workers to the Team level, so
they can see your mobile phone number, while other contacts in the Company, Public, or Blocked
levels cannot. For more information about assigning access levels, see the Control Access to Your
Presence Information topic in Microsoft Office Communicator 2007 online Help.

What do the Inactive or Busy (Inactive) presence buttons mean?

Inactive means the contact is online, but has not interacted with his computer or phone device
within the past five minutes (by default). The contact’s status is transitioning from Available to Away.
To change the time value, click the Menu button, click Tools, click Options, set the value under Show
me as Inactive when my computer has been idle for this many minutes, and then click OK.
 Busy (Inactive) means the contact is in a meeting or has set her status to busy, but has not
interacted with her computer within the past 15 minutes (by default). The contact’s status is
transitioning from Busy to Away. To change the time value, click the Menu button, click Tools, click
Options, set the value under Show me as Away when my status has been Inactive for this many
minutes, and then click OK.

Why can’t I set Appear Offline in Communicator 2007?

Some companies remove the Appear Offline state because it can hamper presence predictability. For
example, if a significant number of users set themselves to this mode, the value of presence in
Communicator would be greatly reduced. However, by changing the level of access for individuals,
you can control what people see. For example, if you do not want to be disturbed by the majority of
people, you can set yourself to Do Not Disturb, and then grant certain people permission to interrupt
you even in this state by assigning them to the Team access level.

Why doesn’t my Out of Office note show up in Communicator after I

set it?
Calendar information (free/busy, meeting subject, and time) and the out of office (OOF) note can take
as long as 30 minutes to propagate through the Presence system. In addition, you must be running the
Communicator client on a device that can connect to Exchange in order for this information to
propagate.

How does presence affect incoming calls when I am on the phone?

The following table shows incoming call behavior for various presence states.

If your Your state is: An incoming call:

presence is:
Available Rings on all devices that are running Communicator,
and a call alert
appears on your computer. If the call is not
answered, it goes to
Voice Mail by default.
Inactive Rings on all devices that are running Communicator,
and a call alert
appears on your computer. If the call is not
answered, it goes to
Voice Mail by default.
Busy Rings on all devices that are running Communicator,
(Inactive) and a call alert
appears on your computer. If the call is not
answered, it goes to
Voice Mail by default.
Busy (In a Rings on all devices that are running Communicator,
Meeting and a call alert
or in a Call) appears on your computers. If the call is not
answered, it goes to
Voice Mail by default. If you accept an incoming call
while you are
on the phone with another contact, the current call
is put on hold. You
 can click the resume button to return to the original
call.
Do Not Goes to Voice Mail. However, calls from contacts at
Disturb the Team access
level ring all devices that are running
Communicator, and a call alert
appears on your computer.
Away Rings on all devices that are running Communicator
and a call alert
appears on your computer. If not answered, the call
goes to Voice
Mail.
Offline By default, all incoming calls go to Voice Mail.

How is Location set and how does it work if I have Communicator

running on multiple devices?
Location must be set manually for each device that is running Communicator. To set your Location,
click your Presence button, click Current Location, and then select a Location or select Create a
Custom Location. Contacts with a Team or Personal access level will see the location from the most
recently active device that is running Office Communicator.

Phone Calls
What is the difference between Remote Call Control and Unified
Communications?
Office Communicator is typically configured for either Remote Call Control (RCC) or Unified
Communications (UC). With RCC, Communicator is integrated with your company’s PBX phone
system and, while you use Communicator to place and receive calls, forward calls, and control calls,
the audio still flows through your traditional desktop phone.

With UC, also known as Enterprise Voice, the traditional PBX phone is replaced with Office
Communicator and an IP phone or USB audio device connected to your computer. UC audio flows
through your computer or through a USB device attached to your computer. UC offers advanced
telephony features, including:

Place calls from inside or outside the firewall. Users can participate in IP voice sessions that
traverse network address translators (NATs) and firewalls. Users working from home or remotely can
call the enterprise from anywhere an Internet connection is available, without incurring long-distance
charges or resorting to a virtual private network (VPN).

Call-forwarding rules. Communicator 2007 offers robust call forwarding settings that can be easily
configured. Users can set calls to be forwarded to another user, number, or device; simultaneously ring
an additional number; or redirect unanswered calls to another number, contact, or Voice Mail.

Add subject and importance to a call. Users can add a conversation subject and an importance flag
to an outbound Communicator call, enabling the recipient to quickly determine the reason for the call,
as well as its urgency.

How do I know if Communicator is enabled for Remote Call Control

or Unified Communications?
To determine if you are RCC-enabled or UC-enabled, click the phone button for a contact. If you see a
Preferred Calling Device option, as shown below, you are RCC-enabled. If you do not see a Preferred
Calling Device option, you are probably UC-enabled.

However, if you do not see the Preferred Calling Device option and are not UC-enabled, you may be
configured for a Standard Client Access License (CAL). See your system administrator for details.
Where is the Communicator dial pad?
With Voice Mail systems or conference calls, you are often asked to either enter a PIN or make a
selection by entering a number. To enter a PIN or respond to automated voice systems, you need to
either enter numbers from your phone dial pad or the Communicator dial pad. If you are UC-enabled,
the dial pad is available to you during and after the connection. While a call is being connected, the
dial pad is available in the Call Control area of the Conversation window, as shown in the following
illustration.

After the call is connected, the dial pad is available in the Call Control area, as shown in the following
illustration.

I still don’t see the dial pad. Where is it?

You may not have an on-screen dial pad if you are using the Standard Communicator install, or if you
are using Communicator to control a standard (PBX) phone. In such deployments, the presence of a
dial pad depends on your Remote Call Control (RCC) gateway implementation. For more information,
see your system administrator. If you do not have an on-screen dial pad, you must enter numbers (such
as PINs and voice menu selections) directly on your physical telephone.
What is a Communicator call and why would I want to choose it?
A Communicator call is a Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) call to a contact’s devices that are
running Office Communicator.

• A Communicator call placed to a UC-enabled contact rings all of that contact’s

Communicator-enabled devices, such as desktop computer, laptop computer, cell phone,
and IP phone. UC-enabled users can place Communicator calls to federated contacts to
bypass the PSTN network and make VoIP-only calls.

• A Communicator call placed to an RCC-enabled contact rings all of that contact’s

Communicator-enabled devices, except the phone that is integrated with the PBX system.
A Communicator call can be used by an RCC-enabled user to bypass the PBX phone
system and place a call directly to a Communicator contact.

What can make a Communicator call to an outside contact fail?

Communicator is a secure, corporate communications solution. Communicator calls are VoIP calls that
require the recipient to have the capability of accepting the call. Making a Communicator call to an
outside contact—whether a public IM contact or an outside “phone-only” contact, such as a friend,
family, or co-worker—is not supported. For an outside contact that is not federated, call the contact
using the traditional PSTN/PBX or mobile phone number.

What phone numbers are valid for calling contacts?

Communicator follows the E.164 standard for phone numbers. E.164 is an international numbering
plan for public phone systems, in which each assigned number contains a country code, an area code,
and a subscriber number.

An E.164 number can contain as many as 15 digits. Examples include:

+14255550101

1 = Country code for United States

425 = Area code for Redmond, Washington

5550101 = Subscriber’s local number

+442075551234

44 = Country code for United Kingdom

207 = Area code for London

5551234 = Subscriber’s local number

You can enter phone numbers in several places in Communicator and Outlook. As a rule, you should
use the E.164 standard and include the + before the number. As a best practice, use only the + and
numeric characters when entering phone numbers, because the defined normalization rules will format
the number for you. Acceptable phone number formats are controlled by normalization rules defined
on the Office Communications Server. If Communicator will not accept a phone number, contact your
system administrator.
 Can I call numbers such as 1-800-TAXI with Communicator?
Yes. You can enter 1-800 numbers and numbers with alphabetic characters into the Search box, as
shown in the following illustration. Phone numbers entered in the Search box are normalized and the
alphabetic characters are converted to numbers to place the call.

Why can I enter alphabetic characters in the Search box but not in
the New Number or Edit Phone Number dialog boxes?
Normalization rules, defined in Office Communications Server, are applied differently to phone
numbers entered into the fields in the Edit Phone Number or New Number dialog boxes.
Alphanumeric characters are not supported in the Edit Phone Number and New Number dialog
boxes.

What happened to location-based forwarding? Is it no longer

available in Communicator?
PBX systems today are increasingly providing “twinning” where they provide a VoIP call, as well as
an RCC call, which allows you to answer the call on your computer directly (using attached USB
devices, telephony devices and headsets) or from your PBX phone.

In addition, with Communicator 2007, you can answer calls directly from your laptop, regardless of
your location, provided you are signed in to Communicator. You can also make outgoing calls from
your laptop using your corporate network.

Video Calls
Are video calls with non-Communicator users supported?
Video calls to outside users are only supported for federated users. Video calls to users outside the
corporate directory, for example friends and family, or to Public IM contacts, such Windows Live,
MSN, or Yahoo! Messenger contacts, are not supported.

Conferencing
What is the difference between “Share Information Using Live
Meeting” and “Meet Now using Live Meeting Service”?
Share Information Using Live Meeting starts Live Meeting and connects selected contacts in the
Contact List to Office Communications Server. If contacts are already in a Communicator conference,
they are connected to the same server running Office Communications Server that is being used by the
existing conference. Meet Now using Live Meeting Service uses the sender’s “Meet Now” meeting
on his or her Live Meeting service account.

You typically use Share Information Using Live Meeting if all of your conference participants are
internal, such as peer employees and federated partners. Common scenarios include conference
meetings with team members and strategy meetings with partners. You use Meet Now Using Live
Meeting Service if your conference includes external users, such as clients and personal contacts.
Commons scenarios include sales calls and customer training sessions.

Why doesn’t the Live Meeting icon always show up in the

Conversation window?
Studies show that when people are participating in a one-to-one phone call or IM, they prefer to take
notes on their own. Therefore, the Live Meeting icon is only shown when more than two people are in
the conversation. If you want to activate Live Meeting for a two-person conference, right-click a name
in the Contact List, and then click Share Information using Live Meeting.

How do I configure my Live Meeting account?

1. Launch the Live Meeting client, click the Menu button in the Live Meeting Title bar,
and then select Open User Accounts. (The first time you run Live Meeting, the User
Accounts dialog box appears automatically.)

2. Enter your Live Meeting login information or portal URL.

3. Click Test Connection to verify.