Troubleshooting

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"IRIS Phone network support initialization has failed!" error message.

"IRIS Phone has encountered that your Windows system has become unstable. Please restart Windows and try again!"

"Internal error! Please reinstall IRIS Phone!"

If you cannot find here the problem you have experienced, you can get help by sending a request to our Technical Support staff. Press   to open the IRIS Phone feedback form or go to http://irisphone.com/feedback.htm.

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IRIS Phone cannot connect to the White Pages server.

Missing users in the White Pages.

You can’t see your name in the White Pages.

If you cannot find here the problem you have experienced, you can get help by sending a request to our Technical Support staff. Press   to open the IRIS Phone feedback form or go to http://irisphone.com/feedback.htm.

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You cannot establish a connection with a user who is online.

You can place but not receive calls.

You can receive but not place calls.

"Unable to call [username] because of a network problem [...]." error message.

If you cannot find here the problem you have experienced, you can get help by sending a request to our Technical Support staff. Press   to open the IRIS Phone feedback form or go to http://irisphone.com/feedback.htm.

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You hear your own words feeding back through your speakers.

The remote party cannot hear you.

You cannot hear the remote party.

There is noise, the sound is choppy or unclear during conversation

If you cannot find here the problem you have experienced, you can get help by sending a request to our Technical Support staff. Press   to open the IRIS Phone feedback form or go to http://irisphone.com/feedback.htm.

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You cannot see your local video view.

You cannot see remote video.

The remote party cannot see you.

"IRIS Phone does not support this video format." error message.

"IRIS Phone does not support this video format size." error message.

"The video format that you have selected is compressed..." error message.

If you cannot find here the problem you have experienced, you can get help by sending a request to our Technical Support staff. Press   to open the IRIS Phone feedback form or go to http://irisphone.com/feedback.htm.

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"Failed to send mail to [username]. Do you wish to try again?" message.

If you cannot find here the problem you have experienced, you can get help by sending a request to our Technical Support staff. Press   to open the IRIS Phone feedback form or go to http://irisphone.com/feedback.htm.

"IRIS Phone network support initialization has failed!" error message.

General failure occurred while IRIS Phone tried to initialize the network protocol.

• If you are using CompuServe's Internet Dialer, AOL's Internet Dialer, SpryNet Dialer, Internet In A Box, or Netcom's NetCruiser, choose one of the following approaches:
  1. Before starting IRIS Phone, download Eric's WSOCK32.DLL for Win95 from http://users.aol.com/friedv/wsock32.htm. This application serves as an interface to your 16-bit Winsock.dll. Follow the installation instructions and, after running WSOCK32.DLL, start IRIS Phone.
  2. Replace your Internet connection software with MS Windows 95 Internet Dialer. For more details, visit your Internet provider: SpryNet, NetCom, CompuServe, AOL.
• If the problem persists, send an e-mail to: support@irisphone.com with information about your Windows version, the Internet connection software you are using and information about all WINSOCK.DLL and WSOCK32.DLL files on your HDD. You can collect this information by executing the following command from DOS Prompt:
  
  dir c:\winsock.dll /s > c:\to_iris.txt
  dir c:\wsock32.dll /s >> c:\to_iris.txt
  
  and then e-mail us the file "c:\to_iris.txt".

If none of the above would help, press to open the IRIS Phone feedback form or go to http://irisphone.com/feedback.htm.

"IRIS Phone has encountered that your Windows system has become unstable. Please restart Windows and try again!" error message.

IRIS Phone has detected that your system is currently short of resources. Save your work, restart Windows and try again. 

If none of the above would help, press to open the IRIS Phone feedback form or go to http://irisphone.com/feedback.htm.

"Internal error! Please reinstall IRIS Phone!" error message.

This message usually occurs when IRIS Phone cannot run a file that it needs in order to operate properly. The file may be corrupted or missing. Reinstall your IRIS Phone and try again.

If none of the above would help, press to open the IRIS Phone feedback form or go to http://irisphone.com/feedback.htm.

IRIS Phone cannot connect to the White Pages server.

1. Check your Internet connection.
2. Sometimes IRIS Phone White Pages server is very heavily loaded. Try to connect again later.
3. Maybe you are protected by a firewall. Consult your system administrator or ISP to enable UDP/TCP ports 4969 and 4970 for both IN and OUT. If the firewall runs in IP address translation mode, you won’t be able to connect to the White Pages.
4. If you are using dial-up connection and, for some reason, the connection hangs up, and you have to restore it again, you need to shut down IRIS Phone and then start it again in order to access the White Pages.
5. Your IRIS Phone 15-day trial period has expired. Press the button below to open the Order Activation Key form. Complete the form and press the Submit button. All the specified information will be transferred securely over the Internet to our sales department. 

If none of the above would help, press to open the IRIS Phone feedback form or go to http://irisphone.com/feedback.htm.

Missing users in the White Pages.

1. If there are no users in the White Pages at all, most probably it is not accessible. Look at the server connection indicator. If it indicates no connnection to server, look at "IRIS Phone cannot connect to the White Pages server" section.
2. If you see some users in the White Pages, wait for some time to retrieve the others. If the indicator prompts that there is no connection to server, this means that your connection is broken - try again later.

If none of the above would help, press to open the IRIS Phone feedback form or go to http://irisphone.com/feedback.htm.

You can’t see your name in the White Pages.

That is absolutely reasonable. You cannot retrieve your name from the White Pages. That is because you would not be able to call yourself. Though, your name, personal information and picture (if you have specified one) are available and visible for the rest of the IRIS Phone users.

If none of the above would help, press to open the IRIS Phone feedback form or go to http://irisphone.com/feedback.htm.

You cannot establish a connection with a user who is online.

There can be several reasons for that issue:

1. You (or the other party) are protected by a firewall. Consult your system administrator or ISP to enable UDP/TCP ports 4969 and 4970 for both IN and OUT. If the firewall runs in IP address translation mode, you won’t be able to call and receive calls at all. Alternatively, you can install a modem on your computer and use a dial-up connection to the Internet instead of your corporate LAN Internet connection.
2. If the remote party hangs up his/her Internet connection before shutting down IRIS Phone, his/her name will be displayed as on-line some 30 minutes. During that time, he/she will be indicated as on-line but will be already unreachable, because he/she is not connected to the Internet any more.
3. If you try to call a user when the IRIS White Pages are not available (the White Pages connection indicator is not active), you would not be able to find his/her location (IP address) and to place a call. Wait until the White Pages become available and try again.
4. The remote party doesn’t want to talk with you. He/she has rejected your call by pressing the Hang Up button, or has added you in his / her Black List. Try to send him/her an e-mail or a voice mail message.

If none of the above would help, press to open the IRIS Phone feedback form or go to http://irisphone.com/feedback.htm.

You can place but not receive calls.

You are experiencing packet filtering problems. You need to contact your Internet Service Provider or Network Administrator, and determine if packets addressed to the following ports are "passed through" to IRIS Phone: UDP/TCP ports 4969 and 4970 for both IN and OUT. Alternatively, you can install a modem on your computer and use a dial-up connection to the Internet instead of your corporate LAN Internet connection.

If none of the above would help, press to open the IRIS Phone feedback form or go to http://irisphone.com/feedback.htm.

You can receive but not place calls.

Most probably your IRIS Phone trial period has expired. To order an activation key, press . Complete the form and press the Submit button. All the specified information will be transferred securely over the Internet to our sales department. 

If none of the above would help, press to open the IRIS Phone feedback form or go to http://irisphone.com/feedback.htm.

"Unable to call [username] because of a network problem [...]." error message.

IRIS Phone failed to call the reported user by some reason:

• There is no route between your PC and the remote user's PC. Try later.
• The remote PC is protected by a firewall. Tell him / her to follow the instructions for using IRIS Phone across a firewall.

If none of the above would help, press to open the IRIS Phone feedback form or go to http://irisphone.com/feedback.htm.

You hear your own words feeding back through your speakers.

The remote party is using a full duplex sound card without a headset. Tell the remote party to perform one of the following:

• If he/she uses speakers and microphone, drag the Full Duplex Echo Cancellation slider in the Audio tab, IRIS Phone Configuration window to the right when Auto is cleared.
• Use earphones/headset instead of speakerphones.
• Increase the distance between his/her speakers and his/her microphone, and decrease the Speaker Volume in the Audio tab, IRIS Phone Configuration window.
• Turn off the Allow Full Duplex Operation option in the Audio tab, IRIS Phone Configuration window.
• Decrease his/her Microphone Volume in the Audio tab, IRIS Phone Configuration window..

If none of the above would help, press to open the IRIS Phone feedback form or go to http://irisphone.com/feedback.htm.

The remote party cannot hear you

To solve your problem quickly and easily, follow the instructions below:

• If your speaker indicator is constantly active during conversation  - use the Talk button or the text chat and tell the remote party to hang up and perform the loopback test. Then try again.
• If during conversation, your microphone indicator does not blink as you speak - hang up and perform the basic sound test. After completing it successfully, perform the loopback test. Then try again.
• If during conversation, your microphone indicator blinks as you speak - either you or the remote are probably experiencing packet filtering problem. Check the Use TCP Instead of UDP box in the Network tab, IRIS Phone Configuration window. It is not recommended that you work with that option switched on. Check it just to make sure that it was the firewall that caused the problem. To eliminate the problem, either ask your system administrator or ISP to enable UDP/TCP ports 4969 and 4970 for both IN and OUT, or install a modem on your computer and use a dial-up connection to the Internet instead of your corporate LAN Internet connection.
• If the remote side has yet heard some sound from your side - see the choppy sound problem.

If none of the above would help, press to open the IRIS Phone feedback form or go to http://irisphone.com/feedback.htm.

You cannot hear the remote party

To solve your problem quickly and easily, follow the instructions below:

• If your microphone indicator is active even when you don't speak - hang up and perform the loopback test. Then try again.
• If your speaker indicator is active from time to time, but you don't hear anything - hang up and perform the basic sound test. Then try again.
• It is possible that your sound card cannot operate properly in full duplex mode. Go to IRIS Phone Configuration window, Audio tab, and clear the Allow Full Duplex Operation. Then try again.
• It is possible that your sound device is used by another application. Close all programs that could play sound at this moment. If you are not sure which program plays sound, close all programs and restart your conversation.
• If the problem persists, tell the remote side to refer to the previous problem.

If none of the above would help, press to open the IRIS Phone feedback form or go to http://irisphone.com/feedback.htm.

There is noise, the sound is choppy or unclear during conversation.

The problem may be due to one or more of the following:

• Your speakers or the remote party's microphone is producing additional noise. You may check whether this is the problem by performing the loopback test from the Audio tab, IRIS Phone Configuration window.
• The remote party's Microphone Sensitivity is set too much to the right. Tell him / her to move the slider to the left or adjust that setting automatically. It is recommended that he / she performs the loopback test when he / she is not holding a conversation.
• If this wouldn’t help, decrease the Receive Maximum Connection Speed in the Audio tab, IRIS Phone Configuration window. Set it to 2400bps for example. Mind that this will aggravate your audio quality.
• Close any other Internet applications, except your e-mail or text chat programs which do not cause big traffic.
• If you are using Video, uncheck the Receive Video and Transmit Video controls for the current line. They make your Internet connection slower.
• You are holding a conference call with more people than your bandwidth allows you. You have to hang up some of the connections.
• Currently the Internet is extremely overloaded with traffic. The narrower bandwidth available slows down packet transmission. Try connecting later and avoid pick hours.
• Your or the remote party's PC is slower than IRIS Phone needs it to be in order to operate normally. See the IRIS Phone system requirements.
• Your Internet Service Provider is probably overloaded. Check to see if this is happening on a regular basis. If you experience problems when logging on, get dropped frequently, or notice severe delays in other Internet functions, try another ISP if possible.
• Your modem speed is slow. If you use a 14.4 Kbps modem, make sure your error correction/data compression are enabled. If you use a 28.8 Kbps, make sure you are connected at 28.8 Kbps.
• Poor telephone connection or noisy telephone line. This can cause a slower connection speed or background interference. Remember that line splits and answering / fax machines can cause interference. Try a different phone cable between your computer and the wall, and use a handset telephone to check for static and background noise.
• If DOS session operations are performed on either your or the remote participant's computer (diskette operations cause many more "breaks" in the sound than hard disk operations), perform these operations with the Windows File Manager. Don’t format diskettes if you are using IRIS Phone (unless you are running IRIS Phone under Windows NT) because this will stop the IRIS Phone operation.
• If you are using Sound Blaster 16 / AWE32 or ESS186x with a full duplex driver, replace it with a standard (non-full duplex) driver or turn off Allow Full Duplex Operation option from the IRIS Phone Configuration.

If none of the above would help, press to open the IRIS Phone feedback form or go to http://irisphone.com/feedback.htm.

You cannot see your local video view.

1. To see the video you are transmitting, you need to have a MS Video For Windows compatible video capture card and a compatible camera. Check whether your system meets these hardware requirements. Also, make sure that your video camera is operating properly by using the program that comes with your video capture card.
2. Make sure that the local view window is enabled.
3. Go to the Video tab of the IRIS Phone Configuration window and make sure that the video capture card you want to use is selected in the Video Device field. If this card is absent from the list, re-install the video capture card drivers and, if the problem persists, contact the video capture card manufacturer.
4. Press the Video Format button and make sure you have selected a supported video format. Also, make sure that you have selected the correct Video Source.
5. Make sure that there isn't another running program that is using your video capture card. If you are not sure if there is such a program, restart your computer and run IRIS Phone again.

If none of the above would help, press to open the IRIS Phone feedback form or go to http://irisphone.com/feedback.htm.

You cannot see remote video.

1. Make sure that you have checked the Receive Video box in the Video tab, IRIS Phone Configuration window. Also, make sure that you have checked the Receive Video Over the Current Line control.
2. Ask the remote party whether he or she can see his / her local video view. If not, tell him / her to refer to the previous problem.

If none of the above would help, press to open the IRIS Phone feedback form or go to http://irisphone.com/feedback.htm.

The remote party cannot see you.

1. To transmit video, you need to have a MS Video For Windows compatible capture video card and a compatible camera. Check whether your system meets these hardware requirements. Also, make sure that your video camera is properly connected by using the program that comes with the video capture card.
2. Make sure that you have checked the Transmit Video checkbox in the Video tab, IRIS Phone Configuration window. Also, make sure that you have checked the Transmit Video Over the Current Line control.
3. Make sure you see your local view. If you don't, refer to the corresponding problem.
4. Then, ask the remote party whether he or she can now see you. If not, tell him / her to refer to the previous problem.

If none of the above would help, press to open the IRIS Phone feedback form or go to http://irisphone.com/feedback.htm.

"IRIS Phone does not support this video format!" error message.

Press the Yes button in the error message box and choose another video format from the list. Otherwise, IRIS Phone will not transmit video.

If none of the above would help, press to open the IRIS Phone feedback form or go to http://irisphone.com/feedback.htm.

"IRIS Phone does not support this video format size." error message.

Press the Yes button in the error message box and choose another video format from the list. Otherwise, IRIS Phone will not transmit video.

If none of the above would help, press to open the IRIS Phone feedback form or go to http://irisphone.com/feedback.htm.

"The video format that you have selected is compressed... " error message.

The full text of the message is: "The video format that you have selected is compressed and that will slow down IRIS Phone operation. It is recommended that you select an uncompressed video format. Do you want to specify another video format?"

Though, you may ignore that message by pressing No in the error message box, it is recommended that you press Yes and choose an uncompressed video format (if your capture card supports such one).

If none of the above would help, press to open the IRIS Phone feedback form or go to http://irisphone.com/feedback.htm.

"Failed to send mail to [username]. Do you wish to try again?" error message.

This message is usually displayed when the connection had been broken while IRIS Phone was sending the mail. Try sending it later.

If none of the above would help, press to open the IRIS Phone feedback form or go to http://irisphone.com/feedback.htm.

Perfoming the Basic Sound Test

First, check your microphone by using Windows Sound Recorder. Hang up and open Windows Sound Recorder. Start to record some sound. Press the Stop button and try to play it back. If you do not hear what you have just said over the microphone:

1. Check whether your microphone is plugged in the proper sound card jack (MIC).
2. Open your Windows Volume Control program, choose Properties from the Options menu, adjust volume for Recording. Then, in the Recording Control, set the Microphone Volume to its maximum and make sure that the Microphone Volume control is selected (enabled, not muted).
3. Make sure that your speakers are properly connected, they are not muted, and the Speaker Volume is set to maximum.

If, after performing the actions above, you still cannot hear your words, contact your sound card technical support.