Cisco Jabber is the software side of the district phone system. It runs on your district computer and, optionally, on your cell phone. Depending on how your account is set up, Jabber can be your actual telephone, a chat client, a presence indicator, or a remote control for your desk phone — sometimes all four at once.
What Jabber gives you
| Feature | Description | Who has it |
|---|---|---|
| Soft Phone | Make and receive calls on your computer. | Employees whose account has been provisioned for a software-based phone |
| Instant Messaging | Chat with others including group chat. | Everyone with Jabber on a district computer, including desk phone users |
| Presence | See whether a colleague is available. | Everyone with Jabber on a district computer |
| One-to-one Video | Video call with others. | Everyone with Jabber on a district computer |
| Dial | Place a call from your computer, talk on your desk phone | Desk phone users |
| Mobile App | Use your district number on your cell phone. | Employees with an assigned district number, by request |
The two Jabber clients
Jabber desktop application
Runs on district Windows and Apple computers. When configured as a soft phone it supports more than one telephone number, which is what allows staff who work an ACD (Automated Call Distribution) queue to use both their personal number and their ACD number from one application. It supports call waiting and multi-party conferencing.
What it does not have, compared to a desk phone: speed dial numbers and the Busy Lamp Field. Use the Jabber contacts list in place of speed dials.
See Setting Up and Making Calls with Jabber on Your Computer.
Jabber mobile app
A free app for iOS and Android. It lets full-time employees with an assigned district phone number make and receive calls on their cell phone using that district number — the caller sees an FHDA number, not your personal one. This feature exists because faculty asked to be able to contact students from their cell phone without revealing their personal number.
The mobile app supports one phone number only. It does not work on Windows phones. Cell minutes and data charges apply.
See Setting Up and Using Jabber on Your Cell Phone.
What Jabber is best used for
- Working from more than one place. Your district number follows your laptop. The desktop soft phone works anywhere you have an internet connection — no VPN required for calling.
- Quick questions that don't need a phone call. Jabber chat is faster than email for a one-line question, and presence tells you whether the person is actually at their desk.
- Reaching students or the public from a cell phone without giving out your personal number, using the mobile app.
- Staff who are hard of hearing. Instant messaging is available to everyone on a district computer regardless of phone type.
- Forwarding your desk phone remotely. You can forward your desk phone from within Jabber without connecting to the VPN.
Where Jabber falls short
- No speed dial buttons and no Busy Lamp Field.
- Call quality over the district Wi-Fi can drop, because the wireless network prioritizes instructional data over voice. A wired connection is more reliable.
- Computer speakers and microphone work, but a USB headset or handset gives noticeably better audio.
- Mobile app behavior varies by phone model, carrier and Android version, and ETS support for personally owned devices is limited.
Getting Jabber
Jabber has to be provisioned on the phone system before you install it. Installing the software first and trying to use it before your account is ready causes problems that often require uninstalling and reinstalling the app. For that reason, ETS provides the download link inside your work request once provisioning is complete.
To get started, submit an ETS Request for Help at helpdesk.fhda.edu and include your CWID and your assigned desk phone number — the number associated with your name on the phone, not a department main line or shared line.
Note: The desktop soft phone and the mobile app are two separate requests. Check with your manager about which one was requested for you.
Informacast Desktop Notifier
The district uses Informacast to broadcast emergency messages through the speakers on desk and wall phones, overriding volume and Do Not Disturb settings. Soft phone users don't have a desk phone speaker, so the Informacast Desktop Notifier is installed alongside Jabber. When an emergency broadcast goes out, computers connected to the hardwired network show an on-screen message with an audible alert.
If you see a Desktop Notifier message saying it cannot connect, see Troubleshooting Jabber.