Troubleshooting PSTN telephony

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Applies To: Windows Server 2003, Windows Server 2003 R2, Windows Server 2003 with SP1, Windows Server 2003 with SP2, Windows Server 2008, Windows Server 2008 R2, Windows Server 8 Beta

Troubleshooting PSTN telephony

What problem are you having?

  • One or more client computers cannot see the telephony server.

  • Client computers cannot see lines on the telephony server.

  • A client user cannot see lines or phones on the telephony server even though the server is set up correctly and the lines or phones have been assigned to the user.

  • A program fails to start after a user canceled out of the telephony location information dialog box.

  • A client user cannot see a new line on the telephony server, even though the server administrator has assigned the user to the line.

  • A telephony program dials a long distance number incorrectly.

One or more client computers cannot see the telephony server.

Cause:  The server cannot be reached on the network because it is not set up correctly.

Solution:  Ensure the following:

  • The client computers can successfully log on to a domain.

  • The client computers can successfully see the server with the ping command.

  • That the telephony server has been configured correctly.

See also:   Permit users to log on locally to a domain controller; Diagnose Connections; Routing Tools and Utilities; Manage Telephony Servers.

Client computers cannot see lines on the telephony server.

Cause:  The telephony server has not been set up correctly, or users have not been authorized to access lines on the server.

Solution:  When a TAPI-based program accesses lines on the telephony server, the user who is running the program process is first authenticated. For the user to see the lines, they must have been assigned to the user. Ensure that the server has been set up correctly and that the user is assigned lines on the server.

See also:   Manage Telephony Servers; Assign a telephony user to a line or phone.

A client user cannot see lines or phones on the telephony server even though the server is set up correctly and the lines or phones have been assigned to the user.

Cause:  The client computer has not been enabled to use the telephony server.

Solution:  Use tcmsetup on the client computer to specify the telephony server.

See also:  Specify telephony servers on a client computer; Tcmsetup.

A program fails to start after a user canceled out of the telephony location information dialog box.

Cause:  The program requires TAPI to translate addresses, but address translation requires current telephony location information, which has not been specified.

Solution:  When the location information dialog box is displayed, the user should enter the country/region, local area code, external line access settings, and select tone or pulse dialing. The user can instead create a location for telephony.

See also:  Dialing rules overview; Create a new location.

A client user cannot see a new line on the telephony server, even though the server administrator has assigned the user to the line.

Cause:  When you assign a currently running client user to a line on the telephony server, the new settings will not be available until the user restarts the Telephony service on the client computer.

Solution:  Stop all client TAPI-based programs on the client so that the Telephony service will shut down. When the client programs restart, they will be able to see the newly allocated lines. If you cannot get TAPI to shut down, restart the client computer.

See also:   Manage Telephony Clients and Users; Start, stop, pause, resume, or restart a service.

A telephony program dials a long distance number incorrectly.

Cause:  The program is not sending the correct number to TAPI.

Solution:  Check that the number is entered correctly. If the long distance dialing rules for the country/region code are not being implemented, try entering the phone number in canonical address format:

**+Country/RegionCode(AreaCode)**SubscriberNumber

This is a universal address format for telephone numbers, and it is recognized by TAPI. The format distinguishes the country/region code, area code, and number, so TAPI will dial according to the dialing rules for the country or region.

See also:   Canonical address format for phone numbers.