Softphone

The Q-SYS Softphone is a VoIP/SIP system that directly supports digital phone systems and direct VoIP calls. To connect to an analog system, you can use an FXO Gateway that has analog POTS inputs, a network output, and can be configured to route incoming analog to the Q-SYS Softphone.
Use the Q-SYS Core Manager > Softphones page to configure registration with IP-PBX systems such as Cisco CUCM, FreeSwitch, etc. Refer to the SIP Conferencing Integration topic for guidance on configuration.
Q-SYS supports most ITU standard codecs. Refer to the Q-SYS Core Manager Telephony > Softphones topic.
The number of Softphones you can have in a design is determined by the Q-SYS Core processor model.

Maximum Softphones per Design

Core Model	Max Softphones
NV-32-H (Core Mode)	1
Core Nano	2
Core 8 Flex	2
Core 110f	4
Core 110c	1
Core 510i	64
Core 510c	4
Core 5200	64
Discontinued
Core 250i	64
Core 500i	64
Core 1100	64
Core 3100	64

Components

A single Softphone consists of the following:

Status/Control component - This component is the controlling component. It has a numeric keypad, displays the incoming call information, has various controls including Do-not-disturb, Auto Answer, Dial, Hang-up, and displays status information.
VOIP In component - This component provides and controls the audio input signal from the incoming call.
VOIP Out component - This component provides the audio output connection and controls the outgoing audio signal level.
Softphone configuration (Q-SYS Core Manager) - This is where you enter the Softphone parameters. These settings are available once a Softphone is in the Q-SYS design.

Note: Refer to the Telephony > Softphones topic in Core Manager Help to learn how to configure Softphone on the Q-SYS Core processor and to see a list of compatible VoIP providers.

Example Softphone Implementation

Below is a very simple illustration of how you can set up the Q-SYS Softphone in a design; there are a number of other ways.

To enhance your Q-SYS Softphone implementation, you can add various components from the Schematic Library. Below is another conference-room implementation, using the Q-SYS Acoustic Echo Canceler component. This particular design is available on the QSC Training website.

Properties

Property	Function	Choices
Name	The Name identifies the Softphone component in Q-SYS Designer. The name must follow standard naming conventions, restricted to the following: ASCII characters a - z, A-Z (case insensitive) Digits 0 - 9 Hyphen (cannot be at the beginning or end of the name) Underscore (acceptable with a Q-SYS implementation) You cannot use any other characters, symbols, punctuation, or blank spaces. When you have entered the Name, it displays next to the Softphone icon in the Inventory list, and on the component in the Schematic.	User input
Location	The Location is a means by which you can organize your virtual equipment to correspond to your physical equipment. The Softphone has no physical equipment, so you may want to group this with the Core running the related design. Click in the Location property, the "Default Location" highlights. Type the name of the new location. Once you have entered the new Location name, it is available on the pull-down for the Location property, in addition, the Location lists the Softphone.	User input
Tone Output	When 'Yes' is selected, the Ring, Entry, Exit, and DTMF tones are fed to a separate output channel (Tone Output) on the VOIP In component. These tones can now be routed independent of the voice audio.	Yes / No

Property

Function

Choices

Name

The Name identifies the Softphone component in Q-SYS Designer.

The name must follow standard naming conventions, restricted to the following:

ASCII characters a - z, A-Z (case insensitive)

Digits 0 - 9

Hyphen (cannot be at the beginning or end of the name)

Underscore (acceptable with a Q-SYS implementation)

You cannot use any other characters, symbols, punctuation, or blank spaces.

When you have entered the Name, it displays next to the Softphone icon in the Inventory list, and on the component in the Schematic.

User input

Location

The Location is a means by which you can organize your virtual equipment to correspond to your physical equipment. The Softphone has no physical equipment, so you may want to group this with the Core running the related design. Click in the Location property, the "Default Location" highlights. Type the name of the new location. Once you have entered the new Location name, it is available on the pull-down for the Location property, in addition, the Location lists the Softphone.

User input

Tone Output

When 'Yes' is selected, the Ring, Entry, Exit, and DTMF tones are fed to a separate output channel (Tone Output) on the VOIP In component. These tones can now be routed independent of the voice audio.

Yes / No

Controls

The Softphone can be exercised in the Emulation mode from Q-SYS Designer. This can be useful during the design phase to validate scripts or test certain logic without having to deploy the design on an actual core.

To use this feature, add a Softphone to the design and press F6 for Emulation. Open the Softphone dialer. You can place calls and also receive dummy calls.

To place a call simply enter any number using the Pin-Pad or the Dial String field and click the Connect button. The call will be connected after 5 seconds.
To receive a call click the "Simulate an Incoming Call" button that displays during Emulation. This button is present only during Emulation and when clicked, will place a call to the Softphone in which you clicked the button. All the relevant control pins will change states to reflect the call being placed or received.

Status/Control

Dialer Tab

Control	Function	Default / Range
Dial String	The number of the phone or device you are calling. This number is a text string entered by either the Keypad, keyboard, or using the Dial String Control Pin. The "," symbol can be used to insert a 1 second Soft Pause in the dial string. (For example, dial string "729 832 9502 ,,,,, 19327#"). The ";" (semi-colon) symbol can be used to insert a Hard Pause into the dial string, to be used in conjunction with the 'Continue with…' feature described below (For example,dial string "729 832 9502 ; 19327#") Note: Do not use a comma (,) directly next to a semi-colon (;) or two semi-colons directly next to each other.	N / A
Backspace key	The Backspace key deletes the last character typed, and can continue deleting one character at a time.	N / A
Clear key	The clear key (X) clears the entire Outgoing dial digits field.	N / A
Progress	Displays the CID number, the CID name (if available), and the call status of the incoming call. You can display these separately using the corresponding Control pins.	N / A
DND button (do not disturb)	Activating the DnD feature causes Q-SYS to ignore any incoming calls. If connected to an IP-PBX, that system handles the response given to the incoming caller. For example, busy signal, message, and so on.	Off / On
Disconnect button (Hang Up/Ignore)	Press this button to disconnect the call.	N / A
Connect button (Dial/Answer )	Enter the Outgoing dial string then press this button to initiate the call. If there is an incoming call, press this button to answer the call.	N / A
Off Hook LED	This LED indicates that your call is active. It lights when the call is connected, and goes off when you press the Hang Up key or the line is disconnected.	Off / On
Ringing LED	LED indicates that there is an incoming call, or there is an outgoing call waiting for the called party to answer.	Off / On
Call Control Call Connect Time	Digital readout of the time the call has been connected.	N / A
Auto Answer button	Enables and disables the Auto Answer feature. The button illuminates when the feature is active.	Off / On
after # rings	This parameter sets the number of rings before the Auto Answer feature answers the call. Note: This control acts like a knob - click and drag to change, or key in the number of rings.	N / A
Keypad	This is a standard 12-key numeric keypad used to key in the Outgoing dial digits, or send DTMF while off hook. For example, you can enter additional numbers to navigate an answering system.	N / A
Recent Calls	List of recent calls, up to 100 maximum.	N / A
Clear	Clears recent call list.	N / A
Continue with ...	The 'Continue with …' control is used to submit pre-defined DTMF digits after an active call triggers a Hard Pause to assist with navigating IVR's and Conference Bridge dial in.	N / A
Simulate Incoming Call	Simulates an incoming call in Emulation mode to assist with development of UCI's and third-party integration when Q-SYS hardware or SIP Server is not available.	N / A
Status LED	Multi-color LED giving the status of the Softphone.	N / A
Status	This is a text field displaying details of the status of the Softphone. The color of this field matches the color of the LED.	N / A

Tone Control Tab

Note: Ring Tone files – Q-SYS has a default set of ring tone .wav files in the Ring tones directory. You can access these files through the Q-SYS Core Manager > Files page.

Control	Function	Default / Range
Ring Tone
Enable	Enables the ring tone for incoming calls. This also configures the ring-back tone on outgoing calls. If the far end of the outgoing call provides a ring tone, that tone overrides this configuration.	Off / On
Gain (dB)	Sets the level of the incoming call ring tone and, for outgoing calls, this sets the level of the ring-back tone.	Default -20 Range = -100 to 0
Filename	Specifies the file to play for the incoming call's ring tone, and outgoing call's ring-back tone.	User selectable
Entry Tone
Enable	Enables the entry tone for incoming calls. The entry tone indicates that the incoming call has been Auto-answered.	Off / On
Gain (dB)	Sets the level of the incoming call entry tone.	Default = -20.0 Range = -100 to 0
Filename	Specifies the file to play for the incoming call's entry tone.	User selectable
Exit Tone
Enable	Enables the exit tone for incoming calls. The exit tone indicates that the incoming call has been disconnected (hung up).	Off / On
Gain (dB)	Sets the level of the incoming call exit tone.	Default = -20.0 Range = -100 to 0
Filename	Specifies the file to play for the incoming call's exit tone.	User selectable
Keypad Tone
Enable	Enables the playback of the DTMF digits sent from your Core as keypad tones.	Default = Off Off / On
Tone Gain	Sets the level of the keypad tones.	Default = -20.0 Range = ‑100.0 to 0
Filename	Specifies the file to play keypad tones.	User selectable
Force Local Ringback	When enabled, the selected Ring Tone file will override the audible tone sent by the remote party. For example, when dialing an international number, the remote party may send an audible tone to be played back to the caller. This may not be desirable. To keep ring tones consistent (regardless of the outgoing number dialed), enable this option. Note: This option has no effect if Ring Tone is disabled.	Off / On

Control Pins

Status Component

Pin Name	Value	String	Position	Pins Available
Call Control Auto answer	0 1	off on	0 1	Input / Output
Call Control Auto answer Rings	0 to 99	0 to 99	0.00 to 1.00	Input / Output
Call Control Backspace	Trigger			Input / Output
Call Control Clear	Trigger			Input / Output
Call Control Connect	Trigger			Input / Output
Call Control Dial String	Text Edit Field			Input / Output
Call Control Disconnect	Trigger			Input / Output
Call Control Do Not Disturb	0 1	off on	0 1	Input / Output
Call History Clear Call History	Trigger			Input / Output
Call History Recent Calls	Text Field			Output
Call Status
Caller ID Date/Time	Text Field			Output
Caller ID Name	Text Field			Output
C Caller ID Number	Text Field			Output
Connect Time	Text Field			Output
Details	Text Field			Output
Off Hook	0 1	false true	0 1	Output
Call Progress	Text Field			Output
Ring (trigger)	Trigger			Output
Ringing (state)	0 1	false true	0 1	Output
State	Text Field (inactive, active, outgoing, incoming)			Output
Tone Control (Configuration)
Configuration Entry Tone Enable	1 0	enabled disabled	1 0	Input / Output
Configuration Entry Tone Filename	Text			Input / Output
Configuration Entry Tone Gain	-100 to 0	-100dB to 0dB	0.00 to 1.00	Input / Output
Configuration Exit Tone Enable	1 0	enabled disabled	1 0	Input / Output
Configuration Exit Tone Filename	Text			Input / Output
Configuration Exit Tone Gain	-100 to 0	-100dB to 0dB	0.00 to 1.00	Input / Output
Configuration Force local Ring Tone Enable	1 0	enabled disabled	1 0	Input / Output
Configuration Local DTMF Echo Enable	1 0	enabled disabled	1 0	Input / Output
Configuration Local DTMF Echo Gain	-63 to 0	-163dB to 0dB	0.00 to 1.00
Configuration Ringing Tone Enable	1 0	enabled disabled	1 0	Input / Output
Configuration Ringing Tone Filename	Text			Input / Output
Configuration Ringing Tone Gain	-100 to 0	-100dB to 0dB	0.00 to 1.00	Input / Output
DTMF Rx	Text Edit Field			Output
DTMF Tx	Text Field			Input / Output
Pin Pad characters (One control pin for each character.)	Trigger button input causes the triggered character to display in the Dial String field.			Input / Output
Simulate Incoming call from 1234	Trigger			Input / Output

In Component

Pin Name	Value	String	Position	Pins Available
Input Gain	-100 to 20	-100 dB to 20 dB	0.000 to 1.00	Input / Output
Input Invert	0 1	normal invert	0 1	Input / Output
Input Mute	0 1	unmute mute	0 1	Input / Output
Input Peak Level	-100 to 20	-100 dB to 20 dB	0.000 to 1.00	Input / Output

Out Component

Pin Name	Value	String	Position	Pins Available
Clip	0 1	false true	0 1	Input / Output
Clip Hold	0 1	false true	0 1	Input / Output
Output Gain	-100 to 20	-100 dB to 20 dB	0.000 to 1.00	Input / Output
Output Invert	0 1	normal invert	0 1	Input / Output
Output Mute	0 1	unmute mute	0 1	Input / Output
Output Peak Level	-100 to 20	-100 dB to 20 dB	0.000 to 1.00	Input / Output

Acronyms and Abbreviations

Acronym / Abbreviation	Explanation
CID	Caller ID
DTMF	Dual Tone Multi-Frequency (for digital systems, this is numbers, not tones)
FXO	Foreign eXchange Office
PBX	Private Branch exchange
POTS	Plain Old Telephone Service (Analog)
PSTN	Public Switched Telephone Network
SIP	Session Initiation Protocol
VoIP	Voice over Internet Protocol
VoIP‐PBX	Digital version of the Private Branch exchange (Other abbreviations include IP-PBX, and IPBX.)