Polycom V500 User manual

Getting Started Guide
for the V500 System
July 2005 Edition
3725-21742-004/A

GETTING STARTED GUIDE FOR THE V500 SYSTEM
WWW.POLYCOM.COM/VIDEODOCUMENTATION
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Trademark Information
Polycom® and the Polycom logo design are registered trademarks of Polycom, Inc., and
People+Content™, V500™, and VSX™ are trademarks of Polycom, Inc. in the United States and various
other countries. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.
Patent Information
The accompanying product is protected by one or more U.S. and foreign patents and/or patents
pending held by Polycom, Inc.
© 2005 Polycom, Inc. All rights reserved.
Polycom Inc.
4750 Willow Road
Pleasanton, CA 94588-2708
USA
No part of this document may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any
means, electronic or mechanical, for any purpose, without the express written
permission of Polycom, Inc. Under the law, reproducing includes translating into
another language or format.
As between the parties, Polycom, Inc. retains title to, and ownership of, all
proprietary rights with respect to the software contained within its products. The
software is protected by United States copyright laws and international treaty
provision. Therefore, you must treat the software like any other copyrighted material
(e.g. a book or sound recording).
Every effort has been made to ensure that the information in this manual is accurate.
Polycom, Inc. is not responsible for printing or clerical errors. Information in this
document is subject to change without notice.

© Polycom, Inc. iii
Contents
System Basics..........................................................................................1
Using the Remote Control.......................................................................................................... 1
Getting More Information .......................................................................................................... 3
Calling and Answering .............................................................................3
Answering a Video Call.............................................................................................................. 3
Placing a Video Call .................................................................................................................. 3
Ending a Video Call................................................................................................................... 5
Types of Video Calls You Can Make............................................................................................. 6
Placing and Ending an Audio-only Call ......................................................................................... 7
Controlling What You See ........................................................................7
Adjusting a Camera.................................................................................................................. 7
Switching Between Full Screen Video and the Home Screen............................................................ 8
Showing, Moving, and Turning Off the PIP ................................................................................... 9
Controlling What You Hear ......................................................................9
Adjusting Volume..................................................................................................................... 9
Muting the Microphone.............................................................................................................10
Showing and Receiving Content.............................................................10
Showing Content from a Laptop or PC ........................................................................................10
Receiving Content ...................................................................................................................11
Working with Directory Entries..............................................................11
Searching the Directory............................................................................................................12
Adding, Editing, and Deleting Directory Entries............................................................................12
Grouping Directory Entries........................................................................................................14
Participating in Calls with Multiple Sites................................................15
Supplying a Password for External MCU Calls...............................................................................15
Using Chair Control for Multipoint Calls.......................................................................................15
Changing the Way Calls Are Answered ..................................................17
Temporarily Refusing Calls .......................................................................................................17
Answering Calls Automatically...................................................................................................17
Muting Automatically Answered Calls .........................................................................................18

GETTING STARTED GUIDE FOR THE V500 SYSTEM
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Scheduling Calls ....................................................................................18
Customizing Your Workspace ................................................................19
Specifying When to Display the PIP............................................................................................19
Displaying the Far Site’s Name When the Call Connects ................................................................20
Hearing Audio Confirmation When You Dial .................................................................................20
Adjusting for Room Lighting......................................................................................................21
Setting Camera Brightness .......................................................................................................21
Changing the System Color Scheme...........................................................................................22
Enabling Dual Monitor Emulation ...............................................................................................22
Video Conferencing Tips ........................................................................23
Tips for Great Video.................................................................................................................23
Tips for Great Audio.................................................................................................................23

©POLYCOM,INC.1
Getting Started Guide
for the V500 System
When you connect a Polycom®V500™ system to your TV monitor and place
a call, you’ll be able to have conversations and meet with people all over the
world, without any travel required.
It’s easy to place video calls with the V500 system. You also have the
flexibility to create your own directory of numbers, change the way calls are
answered, and customize what you see on the screen.
Before you place your first call with your V500 system, use this guide to get
some basic “how-to” information. This guide includes overview information
that you may find helpful when you’re just starting to learn about video
conferencing or when you have experience, but you need a quick refresher.
V500 systems can be customized to show only certain options. Therefore, there may be
options covered in this guide that you cannot access on your system. To find out more
about these options, please talk to the administrator of your system or refer to the
Administrator’s Guide for the V500 System.
System Basics
Using the Remote Control
You use the remote control to place calls, adjust the volume, navigate screens,
and select options.
If you need to enter text, you can press number buttons, using the text-entry
method commonly used with cell phones. For example, to enter a “b”, press
the number 2 button twice. Alternatively, you can press Keyboard and
use the on-screen keyboard to enter text.
This guide refers to the V500 system remote control, shown on the following page. The
VSX™Series remote control is also available. The VSX Series remote control enables you
to perform some advanced functions, such as far-site camera control. For more
information about purchasing the VSX Series remote control, see your Polycom
distributor.

GETTING STARTED GUIDE FOR THE V500 SYSTEM
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V500 System Remote Control
Place or answer a call End a call
Navigate through menus
Return to the Place a Call
(home) screen Confirm your current selection; perform functions on highlighted items
Increase or decrease the sound you
hear from the far site Return to the previous screen
Mute the sound you’re sending
to the far site
Show, move, or hide the Picture-
in-Picture (PIP)
See the video in the full screen;
swap the video between the PIP
and the main screen
Enter a dot in an address
Display the onscreen keyboard so
you can enter text Delete letters or numbers
Enter letters or numbers
Access the online help; see the
current system status while in a call

CALLING AND ANSWERING
© Polycom, Inc. 3
Getting More Information
If you need additional information about using the V500 system, try these
resources:
To view help while you’re using the system, press Help on the remote
control.
For network questions, contact your network service provider.
For system questions, contact Polycom Technical Support at
www.polycom.com/support.
Calling and Answering
Answering a Video Call
The V500 system can answer incoming calls in one of these ways:
The system prompts you to answer the calls manually.
The system answers incoming calls automatically.
When a call comes in, you hear a ringing sound, and you may see a message
that includes the number of the person calling. If the person is listed in the
directory, you’ll also see the person’s name.
To answer the call manually:
>>Select Answer or press Call on the remote control.
If your system is set up to automatically answer calls, the call connects
automatically.
If you see Near on your screen, your microphone is muted. To unmute your
microphone, press Mute on the remote control.
Placing a Video Call
You can use your system to place a video call in any of these ways:
Entering a name or number
Choosing a site from:
The Recent Calls list
The Contacts or Speed Dial list
The Directory

GETTING STARTED GUIDE FOR THE V500 SYSTEM
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Calling by Entering a Name or Number
To place a call by entering a name or number:
1. In the dialing field, enter the dialing information. Depending on the
capabilities of your system and the system you are calling, the dialing
information will look like one of these examples:
10.11.12.13 (IP address)
2555 (extension)
stereo.polycom.com (DNS name)
Ascot Conference Room (system name)
19784444321 (ISDN number)
The system automatically determines the type of call to make based on
the information you enter.
2. Enter any additional information needed for the call. The available
settings depend on the type of call and your system’s configuration.
Not all calls require these settings:
Call Quality – Specify the bandwidth or call type for this call.
For most calls, choose Auto to let the system determine the
best quality for the call.
Second ISDN number – Use two numbers only when the
person you are calling instructs you to do so.
Gateway extension – If you need to dial an extension, enter
the extension in the second entry field. If your system is not
configured with a second entry field, you can enter the
extension when the gateway prompts you.
3. Press Call to place the call.
Call progress indicators appear on the screen to show that the call is in
progress. When the indicators turn green, the call is connected.
Calling from the Recent Calls List
You may be able to choose a number to call from a list of the sites you have
called recently. The Recent Calls screen provides details of all incoming and
outgoing calls, including the time of the calls.
To place a call from the Recent Calls screen:
1. Select Recent Calls from the Place a Call screen.
2. Scroll to the entry you want to call.
3. Press Call to place the call.
To see more details about a call listed on the Recent Calls screen, highlight the call and
press Help on the remote control.

CALLING AND ANSWERING
© Polycom, Inc. 5
Calling from the Contacts or Speed Dial List
You may be able to quickly access calling information for specific sites using
the Speed Dial or Contacts list on the Place a Call screen.
To place a call using the Speed Dial or Contacts list:
1. Select Speed Dial or Contacts from the Place a Call screen.
2. Scroll to the entry you want to call.
3. Press Call to place the call.
Calling from the Directory
The directory is a list of names and numbers that’s stored locally on the V500
system.
If the system is registered with a global directory, the directory also includes
entries from the global directory. Global entries are marked with . For both
types of entries, the name appears with its corresponding number, IP address,
or both.
To place a call from the directory:
1. Select Directory from the Place a Call screen.
2. Find the entry to call.
3. Press Call to place the call.
For more information about using the directory, see Working with Directory Entries on
page 11.
Depending on your system configuration, when you make a call using an entry with both
ISDN and IP dialing information, the system may prompt you to choose which way to
place the call.
Ending a Video Call
To hang up from a call:
>>Press Hang Up on the remote control.

GETTING STARTED GUIDE FOR THE V500 SYSTEM
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Types of Video Calls You Can Make
Depending on your system configuration, you may be able to make calls using
ISDN, IP, or SIP.
The following table lists some possible call combinations.
From… You can call… By dialing…
ISDN Phone numberISDN
IP Phone number of the far-site gateway and
the extension (E.164 address) of the far
site.
Enter the extension after the gateway
number or wait until the gateway prompts
you for the extension.
Same LAN Alias, E.164 address, or IP address
Different LAN Access code of the near-site gateway, the
selected speed code, the ISDN number of
the far-site gateway, and the extension
(E.164 address) of the far site.
Enter the extension after the gateway
number or wait until the gateway prompts
you for the extension.
LAN
ISDN Access code of the near-site gateway, the
selected speed code, and the ISDN number
of the far site.
When you call an IP system through a gateway that requires an extension (E.164
address), enter the extension in the dialing field whenever possible. Check with your
network service provider for the extension delimiter you will need to enter into the
dialing field. For example, some networks use ## to separate the extension from the IP
address.
When you include the extension, you will be given the option of saving both the number
and the extension in the directory when the call ends. If you enter the extension after
the gateway connects, then you can save only the gateway number when the call ends.