Basics

Local profiles are used to manage and store local settings, especially the TAPI configuration. Thus, it is possible on application start to load a specific TAPI profile automatically or select manually, depending on the environment.

Local profiles allow a user to access the local telephone on different work places.

For example:

  • If users frequently change the workplace in a Terminal Server environment.
  • If a user with a notebook frequently changes his workplace.
  • When a user frequently logs on to various workstation PCs with his own working directory lying on the network.

Environment variables for local profiles

The selection of profiles can be controlled using environment variables. Both the base directory and the directory name of the profile can contain these variables.

Environment variable/value Description
For base directory:  
%CTI_CLIENT_DATA% The base directory is in the user's working directory.
%LOCAL_COMPUTER_DATA% The base directory is centrally located in: "C:\ProgramData\CTI_Client\local_profiles\"
For directory name of the profile:  
%COMPUTERNAME% The name of the profile corresponds to the "Computer Name". On a Terminal Server it is the server name.
%CLIENTNAME% The profile name is the name of the terminal client.
%HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Volatile Environment\CLIENTNAME% The name of the profile corresponds to the value that is entered in this registry key.
PC_ALL, TS_ALL The fix name of the profile is "PC_ALL" or "TS_ALL".

Configuring Local Profiles

These settings can be adjusted under [Options > Administration > Local Profiles / Terminal Server].

Select the appropriate "environment" in which the CTI Client is used
  • PC
  • Terminal Server
  • Terminal Server Farm
Directory for local profiles

Here you can specify in which directory the local profiles are managed.

In the basic configuration, the local profiles are located in the working directory in the subfolder "..\local_profiles\".
Hint: Every user has his own Client working directory.

User-related base directory: Select "%CTI_CLIENT_DATA%\ local_profiles" to use the default base directory within the working directory of the respective user.

The central base directory for all users: Select %LOCAL_COMPUTER_DATA% or any other directory to use a central directory where the profiles of all computer / terminal clients are managed together. The name of the profile directories have to match the name of each computer / terminal clients.

Directory name for local profiles

Here you can specify the guidelines or environment variables to create the directory name for the profile.

Computer / terminal client-related profile directory: Any computer or terminal client has its own profile directory within the base directory. The profile name is formed from the selected environment variables (eg %COMPUTERNAME%) or the value of a registry key.

Fix profile directory: If you use the fix profile directories "PC_ALL" or "TS_ALL", the users always keep their own TAPI configuration, regardless of which computer / terminal they are logged on. This setting can also be useful for a Terminal Server Farm. Example: "..\local_profiles\PC_ALL\"

Fixed profile directories should be used only if the base directory is located in the working directory of the respective user or is otherwise ensured that not multiple users access the same profile.


Manually select local profile

In some situations it may be useful to select a specific TAPI profile.

Important! Only local profiles, who are within the working directory of each user in the sub-folder "..\local_profiles\ can be manually selected". The base directory for local profiles must be set to "%CTI_CLIENT_DATA%\local_profiles".

The CTI Client supports several options to manually select a profile:

Per profile selection dialog when the application starts

If the corresponding option is enabled in the configuration, so when the application starts a dialog with all available profiles is displayed.

By command line parameter

Start the CTI Client with the parameter "/local_profile PROFILENAME" to load the appropriate profile. If the profile name contains spaces, it must be enclosed in quotes.

Example: ..\cti_client.exe /local_profile "My Profile"

If only the command "/local_profile" is set without a profile name, a selection dialog appears.

Per File menu "application restart with profile selection"

After selecting this menu item, the application is restarted and a dialog with all available profiles appears.

The menu item appears only if the corresponding option is enabled in the configuration.


Automatically select a local profile based on the network IP

If you change your workstation frequently with your laptop (for example, home and office), profile selection can be done automatically by batch file.
The cti_client.exe would therefore be started indirectly via a batch file.

Example:

  IP subnet Profile name
Office 10.10.80.x office
Home 192.168.1.x home
cti_client_start.bat
@echo OFF
timeout 30
ipconfig | findstr IPv4 | findstr 10.10.80.
if %ERRORLEVEL% == 0 (
  C:
 cd "C:\Program Files (x86)\xtelsio_CTI_Client"
 start /b cti_client.exe /local_profile "office"
)
ipconfig | findstr IPv4 | findstr 192.168.1.
if %ERRORLEVEL% == 0 (
  C:
 cd "C:\Program Files (x86)\xtelsio_CTI_Client"
 start /b cti_client.exe /local_profile "home"
)

Create and edit Local Profile

To manually select a specific profile, it have to be created and adapted first. In contrast to the automatically created and loaded profiles, which must correspond to the name of the profile folder of the respective environment variable (eg %COMPUTERNAME%), the name of a user profile can be chosen freely. If the name does not corresponds to any of the supported environment variables so this profile can be loaded only manually.

To create a new profile, open the folder "..\local_profiles\" in the CTI Client working directory. In this folder, you can now create a new profile:

To create a copy of an existing profile, you can copy it and rename it according to your specifications.

To create a profile with a standard TAPI configuration, you copy the profile with the name "_default" and rename it according to your specifications. If this profile does not exist in the folder "..\local_profiles\", so you can copy it from the program directory of the CTI Client, for example "C: \ Program Files (x86) \xtelsio_CTI_Client\auto_config\workingDir\local_profiles\".

To create an empty profile, create a new empty profile folder with the desired name.

Local profiles can be created, edited and deleted in the profile selection dialog. The corresponding functions can be invoked from the context menu of the Profile list.


Examples for how to use of local profiles

use teminal-related profiles

Problem: If the users often work on different computers in a Terminal Server enviroment and need, besides, every time another TAPI line, the local profiles of every computer must be available in every working directory or the user have to setup the local profile for every computer by itself.

Solution: Using a central directory that contains all TAPI profile folders.
Example:
The directory "x:\config\CTI_Client\local_profiles" contains the subdirectories:

  • COMPUTER_001
  • COMPUTER_002
  • COMPUTER_003
  • ...
  • COMPUTER_xxx
Use fix TAPI Profiles

If you use the fixed TAPI profile folders "PC_ALL" or "TS_ALL" the users will keep their own TAPI configuration, regardless of which terminal they are working on. This setting can also be useful for a Terminal Server Farm.