X-Lite 4 for Windows User Guide
CounterPath Corporation CounterPath Corporation Suite 300, One Bentall Centre 505 Burrard Street, Box 95 Vancouver, BC V7X 1M3 Tel: 604.320.3344 sales@counterpath.com www.counterpath.com © August 2011 CounterPath Corporation. All rights reserved. Windows and Windows Vista are registered trademarks of Microsoft Corporation in the United States and other countries.
Contents Introduction...................................................................................................................................1 Installation and Setup....................................................................................................................3 Getting Ready .........................................................................................................................3 Installing X-Lite................................................................
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1 Introduction Standard Telephone Features The CounterPath X-Lite 4 for Windows softphone has all standard telephone features, including: • • • • Call display and Message Waiting Indicator (MWI). Speakerphone and Mute. Redial, Hold. Call history – list of received, missed, and dialed calls. Enhanced Features and Functions X-Lite for Windows also supports the following features and functions: • • • • • • Video IM and presence using the SIMPLE protocol. Managed contact list.
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2 Installation and Setup 2.1 Getting Ready Account Information After choosing a VoIP service provider, you will need the following information: • • • • User name and password Authorization Name (if applicable) Domain Firewall traversal and other network information; see “Configuring X-Lite” on page 29. System Requirements Processor Minimum: Pentium 4® 2.4 GHz or equivalent Optimal: Intel Core 2 Duo or equivalent; Video Card with DirectX 9.
CounterPath Corporation Multimedia Device Requirements X-Lite requires both speakers and a microphone to make calls. Any of the following configurations are acceptable: • • • • • External speakers and microphone Built-in speakers and microphone Dual-jack multimedia headset USB multimedia headset USB phone. Video Cameras Calls made with X-Lite will work without a video camera, but a video camera is necessary to allow other parties to see your image. X-Lite will work with most USB video cameras. 2.
X-Lite 4 for Windows User Guide Setting up the Account After obtaining SIP account information from your VoIP service provider, you can set up your X-Lite account. 1. From the X-Lite menu, choose Softphone > Accounts. The Account Settings window appears. 2. In the Account tab, complete the User Details area with the information obtained from your VoIP service provider. 3. Complete the remaining tabs as specified by your service provider or to suit your setup.
CounterPath Corporation 2.4 Troubleshooting X-Lite 4 includes three tools for helping you troubleshoot problems: • • • You can verify that your microphone, speakers and camera are working and can set the volume to a comfortable level without having to actually place a phone call. You can verify that you are successfully connected to the network. While you are on a phone call, you can test the quality of the audio.
3 Using X-Lite 3.1 Starting X-Lite If X-Lite is not already running, start it as you would any other program: Use the Windows Start menu or double-click the desktop icon. X-Lite appears. Receiving an Online Status Request If availability is enabled, then at any time you may get an Online Status Request dialog. For information on this request, see “Availability” on page 24. USB Device Alert If your headset is a “HID-compliant device”, the USB Device alert may appear the first time you start X-Lite.
CounterPath Corporation 3.2 Shutting Down To shut down X-Lite, click Softphone > Exit.Note that clicking the Close button (X) on the softphone minimizes X-Lite to the system tray; it does not exit. 3.3 The Onscreen Softphone X-Lite menu. See below. Call entry field See page 11. Dialpad Resources.
X-Lite 4 for Windows User Guide The X-Lite Menu Softphone • • • Accounts. These settings control how X-Lite interacts with your VoIP service provider. See “Configuring your Account” on page 29. Preferences. These settings control the way that you work with X-Lite. See “Configuring Preferences” on page 37. Exit. To shut down X-Lite. You can also exit by pressing Ctrl+Q. View • Change how X-Lite looks. Contacts Lets you work with contacts.
CounterPath Corporation Showing and Hiding Parts of the Softphone Show/hide resources Minimize to task bar Close to system tray Open/close video window Show/hide dial pad Resize softphone You can still receive calls when X-Lite is hidden or minimized. If you exit when X-Lite is minimized; X-Lite will start next time as minimized.
X-Lite 4 for Windows User Guide 3.4 Placing a Call You can contact someone using: • • A softphone address (for example, kperera@domainA.com) A traditional phone number, if supported by your VoIP service provider. You can place one more call when another call is already in progress. Click to place the call Call entry field Auto complete suggestions Place the call. See the table below. The outgoing call opens in its own call panel, below any other existing call panels.
CounterPath Corporation How Dialing From the... Dialpad Description 1. If the dialpad is not visible, click the Show/Hide dialpad button. 2. Click the numbers on the dialpad to enter the phone number. 3. Click the Call button or press Enter. Placing another Call To place a new call (without hanging up on the current call), simply place the call in the normal way. A second call panel opens below the current call. The first call is automatically put on hold.
X-Lite 4 for Windows User Guide 3.5 Handling Incoming Calls X-Lite must be running to answer incoming calls. (If X-Lite is not running, incoming calls may be directed to voicemail; check with your VoIP service provider.) As soon as an incoming call is received, a call panel appears, showing information about the call. In addition, the Call Alert box appears, even if X-Lite is minimized.
CounterPath Corporation 3.6 Handling an Established Call Show video panel (but do not start video) Audio controls Show/hide dialpad Place another call (current call is automatically put on hold). See page 12 Start your video. Even if you did not originally place a video call, you can add video at any time (if you have a camera). 14 Click to send an IM to this person (this button appears only if the user has an IM address).
X-Lite 4 for Windows User Guide 3.7 Handling Video Calls Placing a Video Call Click the down arrow and choose Video call Call entry field How Keying From the... Dialpad or computer keyboard Description 1. Enter the number or address in the call entry field using the dialpad or the computer keyboard If entering a softphone address, you can enter the entire address (kpereira@domainA.com) or just the name (kpereira). As you type, a suggestion for completing the entry may appear.
CounterPath Corporation Show/hide video window Control your video Status of your video 3.8 Voicemail If your service includes voicemail and you have set up voicemail options (page 31), then when you have voicemail messages, a number appears beside the voicemail icon at the top of the phone. You can click the icon to automatically connect to voicemail and listen to your messages.
X-Lite 4 for Windows User Guide 3.9 Instant Messaging Sending an IM 1. You can send an IM to a contact who has a softphone address.. From the Contacts tab An active phone call Right-click on the contact and choose Send Instant Message. The contact must have a softphone address. If the person you are speaking to is a contact, cick on the call panel. The Instant Message window appears. 2. Type the message. Include emoticons and formatting, as desired. To insert a return in the message, press Ctrl+Enter.
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4 Using Resources 4.1 Contacts Tab Detach the contact list Add a Contact Search field The availability of others. See page 24. The Contacts tab displays your contacts and lets you specify multiple contact methods for them, including: • • Softphone address Home phone number, business phone number, mobile phone number You can identify one of these contacts as the primary contact method. When you double-click a contact, the action associated with that method is performed: typically either phone or IM.
CounterPath Corporation Managing Contacts and Groups Adding a Contact Click table. , or right-click a group and choose Add Contact to Group. The Contact Profile dialog appears. See the Field Description Contact Summary Display as If several display names are available, choose the one that you want to show in the contact list. Group Click to show the list of groups. Check each group this contact should belong to.
X-Lite 4 for Windows User Guide Adding a Contact using an Existing Address You can add a contact by capturing existing information. On the History tab, select an entry that is not a contact. Right-click and choose Add as Contact. The Contact Profile dialog appears. Complete the dialog as desired and press OK. If the contact method is Softphone, an online status request is sent to this person. See “Sharing Availability” on page 24.
CounterPath Corporation Contact Flyout Left-click on a contact to show the Contact flyout. This flyout shows all the contact methods set up for the contact. You can click a contact method to perform its action.
X-Lite 4 for Windows User Guide 4.2 History Tab Filter list Detach the history list Incoming call that was answered Incoming missed call Outgoing call, either attempted or established Managing the Lists of Calls You can right-click on an entry in a list to: • • • • Delete the call. Delete all entries in this list. Edit the profile if the entry is a contact. Add as contact. The Add a Contact dialog appears.
CounterPath Corporation 4.3 Availability Availability refers to the ability to see whether a person is available or not: online, on the phone, busy, and so on. You can publish your availability to contacts who have softphone address, and you can set up X-Lite to view the availability of other contacts.
X-Lite 4 for Windows User Guide Receiving an Online Status Request When someone who is not one of your contacts has you as a contact on their end, you receive an Online Status Request. The request appears to you as an Online Status Request. You must respond to the request: • • Allow the request and create a new contact using this address. This option is selected for you if you do not currently have a contact with this SIP address.
CounterPath Corporation Setting your Availability Changing your Availability Click the down arrow beside the availability indicator on X-Lite, and select the desired availability. See Table 1, below. When your availability changes, the new availability is sent to everyone who has permission to see your availability.
X-Lite 4 for Windows User Guide Table 1: Availability Indicators Indicator On the phone Meaning for your Availability Either: Meaning for Others’ Availability You can contact this person. • You have set your availability to this status. In this case, X-Lite will never automatically switch you out of this status; you must switch yourself. • You started a phone call when your status was “Available”. When your call finishes, your status reverts to “Available”.
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5 Configuring X-Lite You can configure X-Lite in several ways: • • Configure global behavior. See “Configuring Preferences” on page 37. Configure the behavior on a per-account basis. See “Configuring your Account” on page 29. 5.1 Configuring your Account Choose Softphone > Accounts. The Account Settings window appears.
CounterPath Corporation Table 2: SIP Account Properties – Account Field Account name Protocol Allow this account for Call Allow this account for IM/ Presence Description If desired, change the account name to something that is meaningful to you. For example, the name of the VoIP service provider. Read-only. Always specifies SIP. Leave this field checked. Leave this field checked. User Details User ID Domain Password Display name Typically the account number for the softphone account.
X-Lite 4 for Windows User Guide SIP Account Properties – Voicemail These settings let you set up to interact with your VoIP service provider’s voicemail service. They also let you configure X-Lite to forward calls in several situations, independent of your VoIP service provider’s voicemail service. Your service provider may provide the ability to set up for voicemail outside of X-Lite, for example, by phoning a softphone address and following the voice prompts, or by accessing a website.
CounterPath Corporation Table 3: SIP Account Properties – Voicemail Field Description Send calls to voicemail if unanswered Complete only if your VoIP service includes voicemail. To send to voicemail after the specified number of seconds. Your service provider may also provide a similar feature that is set up outside of X-Lite. If so, make sure you do not enter competing information in X-Lite and in the service provider’s user interface.
X-Lite 4 for Windows User Guide SIP Account Properties – Presence Presence allows your contacts to see your online availability and allows you to see the online availability of contacts. See “Availability” on page 24. Table 5: SIP Account Properties – Presence Field Mode Description Choose the setting specified by your VoIP service provider: • Disabled: Presence is not supported. • Peer-to-Peer. Poll time Enter the value specified by your VoIP service provider.
CounterPath Corporation SIP Account Properties – Transport Contact your VoIP service provider to identify the types of transport that are supported. Then choose a supported transport: • • • 34 Automatic: X-Lite sets up the transport based on the capabilities of the network and the X-Lite computer. Choose this option if you do not care which transport is used.
X-Lite 4 for Windows User Guide SIP Account Properties – Advanced Table 6: SIP Account Properties – Advanced Field Description Register Settings Reregister every Minimum time Maximum time The time interval between X-Lite’s attempts to reregister in order to refresh the account registration with the VoIP service provider for this account. A value of zero means not to reregister after the initial registration. This value is placed in the “Expires” header field of the REGISTER message.
CounterPath Corporation Table 6: SIP Account Properties – Advanced Field Session timer preference Description This field specifies your preference for which party should send the refresh. The preference is not a guarantee that the refresh will be performed by the specified party. The choices are: • • • • Hold Method Send SIP keep-alives Use rport Send outgoing request directly to target None: No preference. Local refreshes: Your computer sends. Remote refreshes: The other party sends.
X-Lite 4 for Windows User Guide 5.2 Configuring Preferences Choose Softphone > Preferences. The Preferences window appears. The Preferences panels let you control the way that you work with X-Lite. Preferences – Application This panel lets you set your preferences for general GUI behavior. Button Defaults You can configure green Call button (at the top of the phone) so that it makes a video call instead of an audio call.
CounterPath Corporation Preferences – Alerts & Sounds This panel lets you control the Call Alerts box and lets you assign sounds. Enable Alert displays You can control whether the Call Alert box is displayed in different situations. You can also control how you are alerted to an incoming IM: either with a small IM Alert box or with the IM window itself. Assigning Sounds You can assign specific sounds to a variety of actions or “events”. 1.
X-Lite 4 for Windows User Guide Preferences – Devices X-Lite automatically detects devices at each startup, and selects the most appropriate device for each purpose. If you do not like this selection, you can override it on this panel. If you override a selection, it will apply the next time you start X-Lite, unless the device is no longer available, in which case X-Lite will again select the device to use.
CounterPath Corporation Table 7: Preferences – Devices Field Description Headset Mode Speaker Change these fields only if you want to override the devices that X-Lite automatically selected. Microphone In both these fields, select the headset you are using. The headset is the device that is usually used for audio out (the sound you hear) and audio in (recording your voice). The only situation in which the headset is not used is when the Speaker Phone button on the dialpad is pressed.
X-Lite 4 for Windows User Guide USB Device Button Setup You can assign functions to a USB-compliant device. For example, you can set the green button so that it answers an incoming call.
CounterPath Corporation Preferences – Network Table 8: Preferences – Network Field Network Connection Speed Description Select the type of network connection for your computer. The sliders move to show the bitrate that will be used for sending and receiving. These rates are typical rates for the selected configuration. If you know that your computer and network can handle a faster sending speed, click Custom and move the slider. It is recommended that you not change the receiving speed.
X-Lite 4 for Windows User Guide Preferences – Audio Codecs This panel shows all the codecs that are included in X-Lite. You can enable or disable codecs as desired. With only one codec enabled, all calls made will use that codec. With more than one codec enabled, X-Lite automatically chooses the best codec based on the other party’s capability, the available bandwidth, and network conditions. You cannot change the properties of any codecs.
CounterPath Corporation Supported Codecs Codec Narrowband Wideband Broadvoice-32 3 Broadvoice-32 FEC 3 DVI4 3 3 DVI4 Wideband G.711aLaw * 3 G.711uLaw * 3 GSM 3 iLBC 3 L16 PCM Wideband 3 Speex 3 Speex FEC 3 Speex Wideband 3 Speex Wideband FEC 3 * Generally, at least one of these codecs must be enabled in order to place a PSTN (land line) call.
X-Lite 4 for Windows User Guide Preferences – Video Codecs Video codecs describe the format by which video streams are compressed for transmission over networks. Some codecs require less bandwidth than others, but may result in lower video quality. You can enable or disable codecs as desired. You may decide to disable a codec even though your VoIP service provider supports it. With only one codec enabled, all calls made will use that particular compression format.
CounterPath Corporation Preferences – Quality of Service The Quality of Service panel lets you request a specific transport service for signaling traffic. There are two types of services. The service to use depends on what your internet service provider supports: • • GQoS, which is available for audio and video. DSCP (also known as ToS), which is available for audio, video and signaling.
X-Lite 4 for Windows User Guide Preferences – Media Quality Audio Quality Reduce echos Turning this feature on improves sound quality. This feature is typically on. Reduce background noise Automatically attempts to remove background noise. Typically on for the speakerphone. Automatic gain control This feature is typically on. Preserve bandwidth When this feature is on, X-Lite stops sending audio when you are not talking.
CounterPath Corporation Preferences – Advanced Table 9: Preferences – Advanced Field Description DTMF You may need to change the DTMF configuration if you cannot interact with interactive voice response systems (auto attendants, voice-activated menus, and so on). RTP This timer controls how calls are disconnected when X-Lite determines that there is a problem with the call and the other party has probably disappeared (assuming that you have not yourself detected the problem and hung up manually).
A Troubleshooting Choose Help > Troubleshooting to display the Troubleshooting window. Testing Audio and Video Devices You can verify that your microphone, speakers and camera are working and can set the volume to a comfortable level without having to actually place a phone call. Testing the Network Connection You can verify that you are successfully connected to the network.
CounterPath Corporation Testing Audio Quality While you are on a phone call, you can test the quality of the audio. Note that to perform a valid test, you should be on an established call (not a call attempt). Diagnostics Only use this panel if instructed to do so by your support representative at your VoIP service provider. To start logging X-Lite activity and send a logging report to customer support: 1. Click Start Logging. The first Diagnostics Logging window appears.
X-Lite 4 for Windows User Guide 2. Select the problem you are experiencing and click Start Logging. 3. On the second Diagnostics Logging screen, click Finish. Logging will start. 4. Perform the actions you want to capture; for example, attempt to make a phone call. 5. When done, choose Help > Troubleshooting > Diagnostics again and click Send Report. Select the report and send it. 6. When the report has been sent, click Stop Logging. Click Done to close the Troubleshooting window.
CounterPath Corporation B Dial Plan You can create a dial plan to modify the the call input (what you type, select or drag onto the call entry field) to ensure that the call gets placed successfully. Modifying the input is useful when using numbers from a contact, which may include symbols such as the + symbol. Do You Need to Read this Information? You do not have to read this dial plan information if the default dial plan behavior (below) is acceptable.
X-Lite 4 for Windows User Guide • • Pattern: the pattern that will be matched. One or more patterns. Each pattern is separated by a | pipe. The pipe is optional after the last pattern. Each pattern is implicitly numbered, starting from 1. Match; Transformation: A pair that identifies the pattern number to compare with the input, and the transformation to perform on the input when a match is obtained.
CounterPath Corporation Element Origin Description . Digit map rules Repeat the last element 0 or more times. For example, xxxx. means repeat the last x 0 or more times, which means this pattern matches three or more digits (not four or more digits)! Use of this element results in a pattern with “minimum requirements”. T Digit map rules A timeout period will take place before automatic dialing starts. The T timer forces X-Lite to wait after a match is made.
X-Lite 4 for Windows User Guide Results of the Comparison X-Lite finds a match according to the following rules. Type of Match Result If User Presses Enter or Call Result if User Stops typing The input matches the pattern and the pattern does not include the T timer The transformation is performed. X-Lite attempts the call. Nothing happens even after the T timer has expired. The input matches the pattern and the pattern includes the T timer The transformation is performed. X-Lite attempts the call.
CounterPath Corporation C Location of Files C:\Documents and Settings\\Local Settings\Application Data\CounterPath Corporation\X-Lite C:\Users\\AppData\Local\CounterPath Corporation\X-Lite 56
X-Lite 4 for Windows User Guide D Glossary AEC AGC AVI Broadband Codec Dial plan DTMF HID IM IP IP address Media MWI Narrowband Presence Proxy PSTN Acoustic echo cancellation. Processing of the audio or video signal to reduce the echo effect that can arise with a speakerphone or that can arise if the sound from the speakerphone or headphone leaks into the microphone. Automatic gain control.
CounterPath Corporation RFC RTP Signaling SIMPLE protocol SIP SIP account softphone address SRTP TCP UDP URI URL USB device VAD VoIP WAV 58 Request for Comment. A document that describes an aspect of an internet technology. An RFC may be a proposed, draft or full internet standard. Real-time Transport Protocol. A protocol for delivering the media portion of a data transmission over an IP network. SRTP is another media protocol.
