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Commportal Instructions

Toolbar Help

The toolbar application is composed of the following parts.

• Notification Area Icon This component allows you to

1. configure your settings such as username and password
2. see whether you have new messages waiting 
3. synchronize your local Outlook Contacts with your CommPortal ones
4. quickly access CommPortal.

• Windows toolbar The Windows toolbar allows you to search your contact list , make telephone calls directly from your computer and configure any call services to which you are subscribed.
• Microsoft Outlook phone integration This component allows you to initiate phone calls directly from Microsoft Outlook.

Notification Area Icon

The notification area icon has 5 states:

• You have new Voicemail messages
• Connected to the server
• Connecting
• Disconnected from the server
• There is an Outlook Contacts synchronization conflict between Outlook and CommPortal

If you are disconnected and the notification icon tooltip says that login failed, bring up the notification icon menu, choose "Configure CommPortal Assistant" and ensure your directory number and password are correct. If login still fails, your password may have been changed by an administrator - check that you can still log into CommPortal.

Launching CommPortal

When connected, double click on the icon to launch CommPortal.

The Notification Icon menu

To open the notification area menu, right click on the icon. The following menu options will appear:

• Open Dashboard: this gives you one-click access to your CommPortal dashboard
• Open Messages: one-click access to your voicemails
• Synchronize Outlook now...: this only appears if you have enabled Outlook Synchronization in the configuration options
• Configure: configuration options for the application
• Check For Updates: allows you to manually check that you are using the latest version
• Help
• About CommPortal Assistant: for licensing information and to access diagnostics if you should encounter problems
• Exit
  • CommPortal credentials: enter your username and password for the service.
  • Proxy configuration: if your internet connection requires a proxy, you can enter the details here.
  • Open automatically when Windows starts: tick this box if you would like the application to start whenever you start Windows.
  • Display a popup when a new voicemail arrives: tick this box if you would like notifications whenever a new voicemail arrives
  • Check for updates automatically: tick this box if you would like the application to check for updates in the background. If an update is found you will be notified and asked if you would like it to be installed
• Select the Outlook Profile to use.
• Choose which direction you want synchronization to happen in.
  • Both directions will keep Outlook and CommPortal contacts the same, merging changes in both directions.
  • To Outlook Only will replace any existing Outlook contacts with your CommPortal contacts.
  • From Outlook Only will replace any existing CommPortal contacts with your local Outlook contacts.
• If you want synchronization to happen automatically every hour select the checkbox, otherwise synchronization can be manually started by right-clicking on the system tray icon and selecting "Synchronize Outlook now...".
• Select which Outlooks Contact folder to synchronize with. Most people only have one folder, but you can select more than one if necessary.

Changing your general settings

The settings dialog of the notification area icon allows you to change your username and password, proxy configuration and various other options.

The meaning of the settings are as follows:

You can check for updates at any time by clicking the "Check for updates" entry on the notification icon's menu

LDAP Settings

If you have access to a Microsoft Active directory or another LDAP server then the toolbar allows you to search these external contacts and add them to your contact list.

For Microsoft Active Directory, no configuration should be required. To use a different LDAP server, click on the "LDAP Settings" tab.

By default, the "Use my Active Directory" box is ticked, this means that the rest of the settings are ignored and the toolbar attempts to contact the default Microsoft Active Director.

To enter a different LDAP server, untick the box. The settings will then become enabled.

You may now enter the details of your LDAP server. The details are specific to your network. You should contact your network administrator if you need assistance.

Contact Synchronization Settings

If you use Microsoft Outlook 2003 or later you can configure CommPortal Assistant to automatically synchronize your local Outlook contacts and your CommPortal contacts.

To setup synchronization configure the following.

Outlook Contacts Synchronization

After you have set up Outlook Synchronization, on each synchronization CommPortal Assistant will perform contact synchronization in the direction(s) you set. You will be warned about any conflicts that occur and shown them, allowing you to choose which contact to keep.

Windows Toolbar

Overview

The Windows toolbar provides several useful functions described below:

• Make calls directly from your computer
• Search your contacts
• Change how your incoming calls are handled, choosing from
  • ring your phone
  • send all calls to voicemail
  • forward all calls to a number of your choice
  • use a configured set of rules
  • use a schedule.
  • ring your phone
  • forward all calls
  • find-me-follow-me
  • do not disturb.

Opening the toolbar

Opening the toolbar follows the normal Windows procedure, described below:

• Right-click on an empty area of the Windows taskbar.
• Select Toolbars from the resulting menu.
• Click on the entry for CommPortal Assistant.

Searching your contacts

• Click on the text box on the toolbar (the hint text will disappear).
• Type your search text. A list of potential matches will appear as you type.
• If you see the required contact select it with the mouse or by using the cursor keys. The contact's details are displayed in a dialog box. To call the contact, just click one of the Dial buttons or press the Enter key.
• If the toolbar cannot find any contacts then a message to that effect will be displayed. Choose the "Show more options..." entry in the list to search your external contacts.

Calling a number that is not a contact

• Click on the text box on the toolbar (the hint text will disappear).
• Type in the phone number you would like to dial, just as you would enter on your phone.
• Press the Enter key and a confirmation dialog will appear.
• Check the information in the dialog is correct and press the Dial button or press the Enter key to dial.

• Ring my phone
• Do not disturb
• Forward calls
• Find me follow me

Changing your incoming call manager settings

An icon on the toolbar indicates your current incoming call settings. Click the icon to change your settings.

The following options are available:

• Ring my phone
• Send calls to voicemail
• Forward calls
• Use a set of rules
• Use schedule mode

The current active option is displayed in bold.

Microsoft Outlook integration

The toolbar provides integration with Microsoft Outlook, which allows you to make calls to your Outlook contacts directly from your computer.

To make a call from Outlook, follow the instructions below:

• Go to the contacts view in Outlook and locate the contact to be dialed.
• Click on the contact to select it.
• Click the Dial button on the toolbar.
• Click "Start Call".
• Note: once the call has been connected, Outlook will mistakenly show the call status as "On hook". This is because once you have picked up the handset Outlook is no longer controlling the call. It can be safely ignored.