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Setting Up and Making Calls with Jabber on Your Computer

This article covers using the Cisco Jabber desktop application as your telephone — signing in, making and answering calls, using contacts, and reaching your voicemail. For chat, presence and video, see Jabber Instant Messaging, Chat and Presence.

Before you install

Your account must be provisioned on the phone system before Jabber will work as a phone. Installing the app and attempting calls before provisioning is complete frequently leaves the client in a state that requires an uninstall and reinstall. ETS therefore supplies the download link inside your work request once your account is ready.

To request a soft phone, submit an ETS Request for Help at helpdesk.fhda.edu with:

  • Your CWID
  • Your assigned desk phone number — the number tied to your name, not a department main line or shared line

If you are in an interim position, a TEA, or a student worker, the phone number is most likely not associated with your CWID. You will recognize this because your name does not appear on the phone and voicemails do not arrive in your FHDA email. Your manager must submit the request to change this.

First-time sign in

  1. Launch the Cisco Jabber application. The login screen appears.
  2. In the User ID field, type your CWID followed by @fhda.edu — for example [email protected]. Accept any certificate prompts.
  3. Type your MyPortal password in the Password field.
  4. Optionally check Automatic sign-in so Jabber signs you in when it launches.
  5. Click Sign In.

For every sign-in after the first, type only your CWID — no @fhda.edu.

Signing out and quitting

Whether you sign out or quit the application, you will be asked to sign in again the next time you launch it — unless you selected Automatic sign-in, in which case you just click Sign In.

Tell Jabber to use your computer for calls

Jabber can either place calls through your computer (soft phone mode) or control your desk phone. To use it as your phone:

  1. Look at the lower left of the Jabber window for the icon showing a computer screen with a telephone handset. This is the Phone Controls menu.
  2. Click the arrow next to it.
  3. Select Use my computer for calls so a check mark appears.

Selecting Use my phone for calls instead sends calls to your desk phone, with Jabber acting as the dialer.

Making a call

By number

  1. Click into the Search or call box at the top of the window.
  2. Type the number. Dial 4 digits for an internal extension. For an outside 10-digit number, type 91 before the number.
  3. Click the green handset icon.

By name

  1. Type a partial or full name in the Search or call box and press Enter.
  2. Click the green handset icon next to the person you want.

Controls during a call

  • Red handset — end the call.
  • Microphone with a line through it — mute. Calls start unmuted.
  • Video camera — start or stop your video.
  • Volume control — raise or lower call volume.
  • Keypad — enter digits during a call, for example a Zoom meeting ID or a phone menu selection.
  • Three dots — transfer the call or place it on hold.

Answering a call

When a call comes in you'll hear your chosen ringtone through your computer speakers, or through your USB headset if one is connected and switched on. An incoming call window appears somewhere on your screen.

  • Click Answer to take the call.
  • Click Decline to send it immediately to voicemail.

Contacts

Add a contact

  1. Type a partial or full name into the Search or call box and press Enter.
  2. Click the plus (+) sign next to the person. If no plus sign appears, they are already in your contacts.
  3. In the New Contact window you can change the display name and choose a contact group. Click New Group… to create a group.
  4. Click Add.

Call someone in your contacts

  1. Click the Contacts icon on the left.
  2. Click the arrow next to a group to expand it.
  3. Hover over the person. If they are available (green dot) a small window appears letting you choose a call or a chat. Otherwise use the icons to the right of their name.

The colored dot next to each name is their presence status. A green dot means they are signed into Jabber and available. A greyed-out dot means Jabber is not running on their computer. If they don't have a Jabber soft phone, your call rings on their desk phone instead.

Note: Contacts you create in the Cisco Self Care Portal do not appear in Jabber, and Jabber contacts do not appear on your desk phone's personal directory. The two lists are separate.

Recent calls

Click the Recents icon on the left to see your recent call log.

Voicemail

  1. Click the voicemail icon on the left.
  2. Your messages appear in the list. Click the arrow at the right of a message to play it. Make sure your computer volume is up.

If no messages appear and you see an error at the bottom of the window, click Call Voicemail to dial into your mailbox and listen that way. See Troubleshooting Jabber for the full sequence to fix this.

Forwarding your calls from Jabber

  1. Open the Phone Controls drop-down at the lower left.
  2. Select Forward Calls To and specify the number, or choose from the list.

This works without the VPN, which makes it a convenient way to forward your district phone when you're away.

Audio devices and headsets

You can use your computer's built-in speaker and microphone, but audio quality is noticeably better with a USB headset or handset.

  • Windows: from a chat window, select the Open Audio Options icon, choose your speakers and microphone, test the sound, then select Apply and OK.
  • Mac: select Jabber → Preferences → Audio/Video, choose your devices, test the sound, then close the window to apply.

Departments purchase their own headsets. See Phone Options for recommendations and the purchase approval threshold.

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