Good morning,

I have recently installed Office Profressional 2010 on Windows 7 (32 bit), on my laptop. My laptop has an ethernet card, connected to a BT homehub router.

I am interested in setting up the dialing feature of MS Outlook, but I have never used dialing before. I cannot find any information on the official MS pages either.

Would I need to buy a USB modem and install it in order to use the MS Outlook 2010 calling feature, or should it work through my ethernet hub. I have tried making a call, but an internal error message is given, with no useful description.

This seems like a very useful feature and I would like to learn how to use it. Thank you.

Hi,

If you have a modem connected to a voice telephone line, you can use Microsoft Outlook to dial any phone number you specify.

Before Outlook can make phone calls for you, you must set up your computer and a modem for automatic phone dialing. Then Outlook can dial phone numbers you specify, including phone numbers for contacts in the Outlook contacts list.

If you make frequent calls to particular phone numbers, you can create a speed dial list of those phone numbers and quickly make calls from the list. Or you can select a phone number from a list of numbers you recently dialed.

If you use your computer at different locations, you can set up dialing parameters for alternate locations. You can set up calling card use, specify how phone numbers are dialed from the current area code, and specify what number is to be dialed to reach an outside line for local or long distance calls from within a company or hotel. For each location entry, you can turn off call waiting and can select tone or pulse dialing.

If you want to automatically time a call and type notes in Outlook while you talk, you can set an option before you start the call to create a journal entry for the call in Journal. For example, you may want to use this option if you bill clients for your time spent on phone conversations.

Make a telephone call
Call a person in the contacts list

• In Contacts, click the contact you want to call.
• On the Actions menu, point to Call Contact, and then click the phone number you want to dial.
• Click Start Call.
• Pick up the phone handset, and then begin your conversation.
• Click End Call, and then hang up the phone.

Call someone not in the contacts list

• In Contacts, on the Actions menu, point to Call Contact, and then click New Call.
• To have Microsoft Outlook look for a number in the contacts list, enter a name in the Contact box.

If the name is in the Outlook contacts list and you've previously entered a phone number for it, click the phone number in the Number box.

If the name is not in the Outlook contact list or does not have a phone number already, enter the phone number in dialable format or in international format in the Number box.

• Click Start Call.
• Pick up the phone handset, and then begin your conversation.
• Click End Call, and then hang up the phone.
• Redial a recently called number

In Contacts, on the Actions menu, point to Call Contact, point to Redial, and then click the number you want to call.

• Click Start Call.
• Pick up the phone handset, and then begin your conversation.
• Click End Call, and then hang up the phone.

Notes:
To keep a record of the call in Journal, select the Create new journal entry when starting new call check box prior to clicking Start Call. A journal entry opens with the timer running. You can type notes in the body of the journal entry while you talk. When you are finished with the call, click Pause Timer to stop the clock, and then click Save and Close.

If you omit the country code and area code from a phone number, the automatic phone dialer uses settings from the Dialing Options dialog box (on the Actions menu, point to Call Contact, click New Call, and then click Dialing Options).

If you include letters in the phone number, they are not recognized by the automatic phone dialer.

Hope that helps.

• Marked as answer by Jennifer Zhan Thursday, December 09, 2010 6:16 AM

Thank you for the reply.

How do I set up the computer and a modem for automatic phone dialing (Win 7) so I can do this with Outlook2010?

but how does one connect a "...modem...to a voice telephone line"???

By what I have been to yes.

So I just bought a Hiro Fax Voice 56K modem for lap top.

I am now trying to figure out how to get Outlook 2010 to now use it.

I hope this helps

Bob

That's the way it always worked in Outlook 2007, in 2010 I click on more call and the phone number and nothing happens?? I have the same modem connected to the same line as before. I even reinstalled the modem driver and software, no change.

Hi Jennifer,

If I have an existing physical phone line, can you suggest what sort of modem will make this call integration with Outlook? Do you know any good ones?

Is this "modem for automatic phone dialling" different from the modem that we use to connect to the internet?

-D

• Proposed as answer by RalphieBird Friday, October 12, 2012 7:15 PM

Hi,

I find  a way to use it but needs some configuration and some technical help.

Of course the configuration will vary for each case, and it is for MS Outlook 2010, 32 bits.

1. Control Panel

2. Phone and modem and set up the parameters on the three tabs (dialing rules, modems and advanced)

3. While in modems choose properties and then choose change settings. The same screen will appear but now it is opened for change.

3.1 go to modem tab. The maximum speed is a critical one, so check with a technician the proper value.

3.2 go to diagnostics tab and run the diagnosis (query modem). check if success.

3.3 go to advanced tab and set the country. In the same tab choose Change default preferences. Set up the Data connection preferences, and here again a technician will be helpful. I discover the right values by trial and error. ok

Hope that works.