Making ad hoc calls

This guide provides help on making ad hoc calls. Here you find information on what you can do using a VTC system or the Pexip apps.

Using a VTC system to call a contact in your organization

After registering your VTC system, you can call people and VTC systems on the Pexip Service. As most endpoints have a directory available, simply find the contact you want to call in your VTC system's directory and follow the steps outlined by the device manufacturer for making calls.

The directory (phonebook) entries are sorted alphabetically by name within the following groups:

  • Team VMRs
  • Endpoints (with a shared usage model)
  • Personal endpoints and resources (direct contact and personal VMR)

Making video address searching easier for VTC system users

If your VTC system supports folders you can ask your Company Administrator about using Pexip's folder-based corporate directory feature. This lets an organization structure their directory according to their own design so that hardware endpoint users can more easily find people, VMRs and other registered VTC endpoints.

Using your VTC system to dial out to PSTN

If your organization has a Bring your own carrier (BYOC) license you can use your Pexip-registered video endpoint to dial out to PSTN numbers such as landline phones, mobile phones and audio bridges. So you don't need to use a separate landline phone for these calls. (Please note, BYOC is not currently available for dialing out from a Trusted device or the Pexip apps.)

How it works

When you place a call, Pexip delivers the call to the telephony carrier chosen by your organization, and the carrier handles the call the rest of the way.

BYOC can reach PSTN numbers worldwide, but the destinations you can call using BYOC depends on the agreements your organization has put in place with the chosen carrier. You may be able to dial out to national PSTN numbers only, or to international ones too.

Making a call using BYOC

Making a call using BYOC is simple, you just enter a dial string into your video endpoint's interface, but the exact dial string depends on how your organization has set things up. For more information, contact your organization’s company administrator.

Caller IDs and missed calls

The caller ID is part of the BYOC configuration on the Pexip Service, and recipients of your calls may see it on their device’s caller display. However, all the caller ID means is that they have received a call from your organization, they can’t use this number to call back to your specific video endpoint. So if the recipient misses your call, you just need to call them back a little later.

Dialing from PSTN into a specific video endpoint

It’s possible that as part of BYOC your organization has set up dialing from PSTN to specific video endpoints. If this is the case, the number to use to dial your endpoint will be different to the caller ID you use when making calls out to PSTN. Please contact your company administrator for more information.

Using the Pexip apps

The Pexip apps let you meet one person or many people straight away without needing to create a meeting invitation.

You can call a single person or video endpoint directly, just by selecting a single contact from the contacts directory or by calling any external video address that uses standards-based SIP/H.323 protocols.

You can also call multiple participants simultaneously into an ad hoc meeting in your VMR. The Invite someone by dialing feature lets you make a list of the participants you want to call (internal or external) and dial them simultaneously. All the participants are called and they choose whether to answer the call.

You can do all of this via the desktop or web apps and the mobile apps.

When you want to invite multiple participants to an ad hoc meeting in your VMR, you can use the Invite someone by dialing feature in the Pexip apps.

The screenshots below are taken from the desktop app, but the web app experience is very similar.

What HowHere's what you can do and how
Invite someone by dialing

Invite someone by dialing

You can invite internal and external people and VTC systems to an ad hoc meeting directly from the app. Simply add all the internal and external participants before dialing.

  1. Join your own VMR first so that you are there to greet participants who accept your invitation.
  2. To invite others, select and the Invite by dialing tab is shown by default.
  3. For each internal contact or VTC system, start typing their name at the prompt and select the icon next to the matching entry.
  4. For each external participant enter a valid format of video address and select the icon. You can select the icon to save this address for the future.

  5. Select to immediately call invitees for a meeting in your VMR.

    That's it, just wait for your invitees to accept your call. Note that when you invite a participant to an ad hoc meeting, they don't need to enter a PIN.

If you only want to call one person or one video endpoint (internal or external), you can just call them directly.
What HowHere's what you can do and how
Call a person or VTC system inside your organization

Call a person or VTC system inside your organization

  1. To find a colleague or VTC system in the company directory select one of these icons on the top toolbar and then go to the Search box and start typing their name. (No need to hit enter, if you do this resets the search.)

  2. For a person you see two matching entries, you want the one with the person icon next to it (a green dot means the person is logged in). Select the contact and this opens a page that confirms the video address in the top-left corner of the main pane.

  3. You can check everything is working before calling. If required, go to Settings to see which devices are in use. When using the Pexip desktop app, if energy saving mode has been enabled you would first need to select Prepare to call.

    Everything is working fine if:

    • You see your own image in the video window.
    • The green bar in the bottom right corner rises and falls with the sound detected by the microphone.
    • You can hear sound through your speakers. Select to test them.
  4. Select to join with video, or select to join without providing or receiving a video feed. Next you hear a ring tone and the person at the other end can choose whether to accept the call. (If a Pexip app user misses your call they receive a notification.)
  5. Find out more about in-call controls, including how to share your screen.
Call an external video address

Call an external video address

  1. Go to the Search box and type in a valid video address for the VTC system or person you would like to call. After you have entered a video address in a valid format, you see an entry appear below.
  2. Select the new entry you have created and the video address is confirmed in the top-left corner of the main pane.
  3. Select Prepare to call and check everything's working before placing the call.
  4. Find out more about in-call controls, including how to share your screen.

The Star feature lets you save the external video address for future use.

You can call multiple people to an ad hoc meeting in your VMR by dialing them directly.
  1. First, join your VMR yourself ready to greet your guests. Go to , select your own VMR, and then select how you want to join.
  2. Select the icon in the top right corner.

  3. Select the icon and then add all the contacts you want to dial, or enter one or more video addresses at the top.

  4. Next, select Call and the selected people and video addresses receive a call to join the meeting. They can accept or decline the call, as normal.

You can call a colleague or a video endpoint directly without using your VMR.

You can call people inside your organization using the Contacts directory and you can call external addresses too. (The guidance below is based on Android, but the experience on iOS is similar.)

To find the colleague you want to call, either select Contacts (from the bottom menu) and browse the directory or enter a search string in the Search bar at the top.

Note that the search results include rooms which are tagged with a symbol, as well as contacts which are tagged with a dot. A green dot means the contact is logged in and can accept a call. Select their name and choose whether to call with video or audio.

If you want to call someone who’s not in your directory, just type their video address in the search bar, select the new item that appears after the full address has been entered, and then choose whether to call with video or audio.