Free World Dialup's charter is to provide a means for anyone to make real, free calls over an Internet broadband connection, next door or in another country.  Up until now, the end-user FWD experience has been determined by softphone and hardphone vendors, leaving FWD to concentrate on advancing network-based services on the network.  With the release of pulver.Communicator, though, Pulver.com is setting the standard for the end-user FWD experience.

It has never been easier to make Voice-over-Internet-Protocol phone calls than it is now, using pulver.Communicator.  With a single click you can establish a person-to-person call with any online contact on your Buddy list, whether that contact is a Free World Dialup subscriber, a subscriber to a SIP-enabled service that has a partnering agreement with FWD, or a Skype contact.  And with pulver.Communicator you can also directly dial any online FWD subscriber, as well as any party using a VoIP service with which FWD has a partnering agreement. 

Click-n-Call
     Communicator Help main menu «

By default, double-clicking on a Buddy List contact results in the opening of an Instant Messaging window.  With a single adjustment to the application, however, pulver.Communicator users can make phone calls to online VoIP contacts with a simple double-click action.  To set Communicator for click-n-call functionality refer to Setting Options: Toggle Settings.

1. Once pulver.Communicator is configured for Click-n-Call, double-click the Buddy List entry for the VoIP buddy you want to call.

        

The call will commence and the call window will display.

Note:  Calls placed to Skype contacts are routed through and controlled via the Skype application, and thus the pulver.Communicator call window will not display.

2. Speak to your Buddy.  Use the provided call controls to adjust the volume of the speakers and microphone, to enter numeric keypad information, or to place the call on Hold (refer to Adjusting Call Controls for detailed instruction on the use of pulver.Communicator's call controls).

3. Click the End Call button to cut the voice connection.

Direct Dialing
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Pulver.Communicator users can use the application's direct dialing feature to make phone calls to parties who are not configured to their Buddy List.

1. Click the Direct Dialing field at the top of the main pulver.Communicator window, just below the Toolbar.

   

The field will clear and the cursor will blink in the field, which is now prepared for input.

2. Enter an FWD phone number (or a phone number, with the appropriate prefix code, for any of the SIP service providers with which FWD has a partnering agreement) in the Direct Dialing field. 

3. Click the Initiate Call button to the right of the Direct Dialing field, or simply press Return. 

The call will commence and the call window will display.

Note:  Calls placed to Skype contacts are routed through and controlled via the Skype application, and thus the pulver.Communicator call window will not display.

4. Speak to your Buddy.  Use the provided call controls to adjust the volume of the speakers and microphone, to enter numeric keypad information, or to place the call on Hold (refer to Adjusting Call Controls for detailed instruction on the use of pulver.Communicator's call controls).

5. Click the End Call button to cut the voice connection.

Using the Call Command
     Communicator Help main menu «

1. Highlight the display name for the Buddy you want to call, then invoke the Tools|Call command or the Call command from the right-click menu.

         

The call will commence and the call window will display.

Note:  Calls placed to Skype contacts are routed through and controlled via the Skype application, and thus the pulver.Communicator call window will not display.

2. Speak to your Buddy.  Use the provided call controls to adjust the volume of the speakers and microphone, to enter numeric keypad information, or to place the call on Hold (refer to Adjusting Call Controls for detailed instruction on the use of pulver.Communicator's call controls).

3. Click the End Call button to cut the voice connection.

Adjusting Call Controls
     Communicator Help main menu «

Whenever a telephone call is placed via pulver.Communicator a call window opens, offering a set of controls to the user.  These call controls help the user to fine-tune the volume levels for their microphone and speakers, supply muting capability for sound input and output, allow for the entry of dialpad tone information, and provide telephony's ubiquitous Hold feature.

• To place your Buddy on hold, simply click the Hold button one time.  The button will change to a Hold Release button.  To take your Buddy off of hold, just click the Hold Release button and the button will revert back to its original form.

• Click the DialPad control if you need dialpad functionality.  A pop-up will display, offering a fully-functional, clickable, graphic dialpad.

• Adjust the volume for your speakers and microphone using the provided control slides.  The bar to the immediate right of the control slides illuminates from the bottom-up, indicating the volume levels input to the respective device.

• Tick the Speaker Mute checkbox to suspend incoming sound, and the Microphone Mute checkbox to prevent outgoing sound.

Using Call-Me Links
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Users of pulver.Communicator can easily establish an IP voice connection with Buddy List contacts who do not yet have an FWD account (or any account with any partnering VoIP service provider) through the application's Call-Me Links feature.  Any Buddy who receives a Call-Me Link can click that link to open FWDTalk, a web-based softphone application that can be used to call any valid FWD phone number.  The instance of FWDTalk that opens for the recipient of a Call-Me Link is configured specifically to dial back to the sending FWD phone number with a single click on the Place Call button.

To send a Call-Me Link to a Buddy, highlight the Buddy's display name and invoke the Send Call-me link command from the right-click menu.

A URL link -- the Call-Me Link -- will be sent to the selected Buddy via IM.

Calls received via FWDTalk from Buddys to whom you have sent Call-Me Links are received and handled in the same manner as calls received directly via FWD or any other partnering VoIP service provider (refer to Adjusting Call Controls).

Calls with Video
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Communicator users can broadcast webcam video to their SIP-enabled Buddy List contacts.  For complete information on leveraging this feature, refer to Making Calls with Video.