Vertical Wave Frequently Asked Questions

Have a question that isn’t in our FAQ?  Feel free to contact us – we’re always glad to assist!

Generally, we recommend that you leave Wave off of your network domain, unless you have a specific need to do so.  If you must put Wave on your domain, be sure to exclude it from any domain policies which would impact user accounts, services, or access to network shares on the Wave server.

Examples of issues we see when Wave is joined to a domain with mis-configured domain policies:

  • This is the number one issue we see with Wave systems on a domain: IP Phones (including the VIP series) will not register with Wave, because your domain policy has forced a password change or locked-out the “VIP” user account on your Wave server.
  • Wave’s services fail to start, resulting in the phone system not being operational
  • The Wave ViewPoint on the workstations will not connect to the Wave server
  • The Wave Recording Archive Service (RAS) fails to archive recordings
  • Errors when attempting to access network shares on Wave
  • Windows User accounts being locked our or even removed from Wave (which are required for the system to function)
  • A domain policy may try to force Windows Updates upon your Wave system.  Wave does not use the standard Windows update channel.  Rather, Vertical issues monthly cumulative update “rollups” which are installed via the Wave Global Administrator / Software Upgrade area.

Vertical Wave 7.0 now runs on Microsoft Windows Server 2016, which is a 64-bit operating system.  This requires that your Wave server is 64-bit capable.  The current model IP500 and current model IP2500 are both 64-bit systems.  While the previous IP2500 model (with a front LCD and 2GB of RAM) is also 64-bit capable and supports Wave 7.0, we do recommend using the current model IP2500 with Wave 7.0.

Wave 7.0 requires a Windows Server 2016 COA (the license sticker on the right side of your Wave chassis).  This is now included with all current model Wave systems.

All new Wave systems now ship with Wave 7.0 pre-installed.  If upgrading from a previous version of Wave, you do need an active software subscription to obtain your Wave 7.0 upgrade licenses.  Feel free to contact us and we can determine if your software subscription is active.

No, there is no extra license required to use Wave ViewPoint Mobile (available on iOS and Android).  This feature is included with your user license.  The ViewPoint Mobile app may be downloaded from the Apple App Store or from the Google Play Store at no charge.  For setup instructions, please see our tutorial on “How to setup Wave ViewPoint Mobile for iOS and Android Devices“.

Every year, Apple issues a new “APNS” (Apple Push Notification Service) certificate to Vertical which needs to be applied to your Wave server.  Vertical releases the new certificate before the previous certificate expires, however, it must be installed via the “Software Upgrade” area of the Wave Global Administrator.  One system restart is required to apply the new certificate.  There is no charge for these certificate updates.

There are two ways to access the administration area of Wave.

Option 1 – Use Windows Remote Desktop Connection (RDP) to connect to the console of your Wave system.  We recommend this method as Wave’s administration relies on a very specific version of Java, which is pre-installed on the Wave server and should never be updated.  From a Windows workstation, go to Start / Windows Accessories and find “Remote Desktop Connection”.  Use the computer name or IP address of your Wave system and click “Connect”.  You will then be prompted to login to Windows – use your Wave administrator login and password to login.  At this point, you can run TVAdmin (on the Start Menu) for user settings, auto attendant, settings, and several system settings.  To access the Global Administrator, click on the Internet Explorer icon in the system tray where you’ll be prompted to login to the Global Administrator area of Wave.  Important!  When finished, be sure to go to the Start Menu and “Log off” of the Wave server.  Be careful to not click Shut Down, or you will shut down your Wave server!

Option 2 – Use Internet Explorer on your Windows workstation to connect to Wave.  We do not recommend this method, as Wave requires a very specific version of Java to be installed on your workstation for this to work properly.  To use this method, simply launch Internet Explorer on your workstation and browse to http://<computer name or IP of your Wave server> where you’ll be prompted for your administrator credentials to login.

There are two recommended ways to backup your Wave system:

Option 1 – Wave Live Image.  This is the preferred method to backup Wave, and is built into all Wave systems (activated with a Live Image license).  Live Image provides an automated backup solution where a complete image of your system’s primary drive (C Drive) is created on a schedule which you define.  This can be stored on a local drive or on a network location.  This provides for a quick and easy restore process if disaster recovery is needed – simply put the Live Image backup file on a USB flash drive (prepared by the Live Image Disk Creation Utility provided with Live Image), insert it into the USB port on the front of your Wave system, and Wave will auto-boot and restore itself.  We provide free tutorials for “How to use Live Image to BACKUP your Vertical Wave System” and “How to use Live Image to RESTORE your Vertical Wave System”.

Option 2 – Using Wave’s manual backup procedure.  This creates an “iobackup.cab” which contains your Wave database and voice files.  If disaster occurs, you would need to use a Wave USB Recovery Drive to perform a fresh install of your version of Wave (and Operating System), install any previously installed software updates, then restore this “iobackup.cab” to restore your database and voice files.  This method works well, but is more time consuming than using Live Image.  No extra license is required to use this backup/restore method.

While we do typically keep at least one of every Wave hardware component on hand in-house and available for overnight delivery if needed, we do recommend that all Wave customers have a backup system on hand.  The majority of our customers keep a spare IP500/IP2500 base system on hand, many of which perform regular backups/restorations between their production system and backup system.  No extra Wave licensing is needed for a spare/backup system.  For customers running a Wave IP2500, we recommend at the very minimum to keep a spare IP2500 power supply on hand (the IP2500 uses a modular power supply which may be purchased separately).

As of Wave 5.0+, all Wave systems now have a “Software Upgrade” area within the Wave Global Administrator.  This will determine what updates are needed for your specific system and will allow you install them manually, or automatically on a schedule of your choice.  Both Wave-specific software updates and regular Microsoft Windows Server security “rollups” are provided here.  Always be sure you have a current backup of your system before installing any software update.  Keep in mind that nearly all updates do require at least one system restart, so be sure these are done during a time which is OK to restart your Wave server.  Simply click “Check Now” at the bottom of this area, and a list of applicable software updates will be displayed at the bottom of the screen.  Note that updates are installed one at a time, so if you have several updates to apply, you will need to click “Upgrade Now”, then once the system installs the update and restarts, go back into the “Software Upgrade” area and click “Check Now” to refresh and update the list of pending updates and install the next update.  Repeat this process until all available updates have been installed.  We very rarely see any issues with Vertical’s updates – they are very well tested before release.  Please note that upgrading to a new Wave software version does require an active software subscription.  Never install a new major Wave version update without having your new version licenses on hand!  Feel free to contact us for assistance in obtaining new version licenses for your system.

We typically see one Microsoft Server update roll-up released each month.  These are provided by Microsoft on a regular basis, then tested and packaged by Vertical for deployment on Wave.  Note that these are only provided for actively supported operating systems, which means you’ll need to be on the current version of Wave to apply these updates (currently Wave 7.0, which runs on Windows Server 2016).

In addition to the regular Microsoft Server update roll-ups, Vertical releases Wave-specific updates and hotfixes as needed.  These provide feature enhancements and bug fixes.

Yes, Wave was built for SIP – both SIP Trunks and SIP (IP) phones.  While some other phone systems claim to use “SIP”, they may be using a proprietary implementation of SIP which requires you use special phones specific to their systems.  Vertical Wave does not use proprietary SIP.  While there are several “certified” IP phones for use with Wave, any non-proprietary SIP device (phones, gateways, door controls, paging systems, etc) will work with Wave.  SIP Trunk functionality is built into Wave and enabled with a “SIP Trunk Services” license.  While SIP has recently become a popular way to do trunking and phones nowadays, Wave does also support T1/PRI, E1/BRI, and analog trunking, as well as both analog and digital stations.  Many customers who migrated to Wave from their legacy PBX have kept their previous analog or digital phones in place.

Wave uses a non-proprietary version of SIP, so you may use your own SIP phones as long as they are true “SIP” and not a flavor of SIP that is proprietary/locked to another phone system.  Vertical does provide four different models of IP phones (the VIP-9800 series) which are feature-rich.  Wave also has “certified” 3rd party phones by Polycom, Aastra, and Spectralink.  Most any 3rd party SIP device should work with Wave.  Note that Vertical’s IP phones do not require a paid license to work with Wave, however, a 3rd party IP device does require an extra license to use with Wave.

Vertical stopped producing PDF manuals around version 4.5/5.0, and now recommends that the manuals are accessed via the Help areas from within Wave.  From within the Wave Global Administrator, click the “Help” button at the top right to access this.  We do provide Wave PDF manuals (the most recent published PDFs) which may be found here.  Note: These manuals reference previous versions of Wave, however, they are still applicable to the current version of Wave.  We find that many Wave customers prefer PDF manuals.

A Wave system consists of two parts – the “VAM” (Vertical Application Module – the part of Wave you see during administration), and the “ISC” (Integrated Services Card, which you do not see).  The VAM / Windows side of Wave is simply hosting Wave’s database, the user interface for administration, storing your voice mails, call recordings, etc.  Wave runs on a special edition of Windows Server referred to as “Telecom Appliance Edition”, where you would not run your typical server-specific services such as a domain controller, file server, Exchange server, accounting server, etc.  It is only running services required by Wave.  Wave’s voice resources and voice processing happen on the ISC and are not putting significant load on the Windows side of Wave.  Some of our largest single-system Wave deployments (500 users on a single system) are still running without issue on a previous generation IP2500 with only 2GB of RAM.

Occasionally, a customer will reach out to us who has recently purchased a used Wave system and is looking for setup guidance.  We at Turn Up Tech are glad to provide overall guidance and technical support for everybody.  Please keep the following important points in mind if you are considering the purchase of a pre-owned system:

  • A pre-owned system usually becomes available because the customer has upgraded to a current version of Wave, and their old system hardware is no longer supported.  The majority of pre-owned systems available are previous-generation platforms which will not run an actively supported version of Wave.
  • Many vendors of used equipment are purchasing pallets of old electronics by the pound (eBay is flooded with “E-Recycling / E-Waste” vendors).  Most have no way of properly testing this equipment, and no way of knowing what internal components are required for a system to function.  You may find a good deal on used hardware, only to later find out that it is missing critical components required for Wave to function.
  • Pre-owned hardware will lack its warranty.  All new Wave system hardware includes a FIVE year warranty – one of the best warranties in the business.

If you must purchase pre-owned Wave hardware, please feel free to reach out to us and we will provide you with our honest feedback regarding your potential purchase.  We believe that Vertical Wave is one of the most feature-rich and user-friendly phone systems on the market, and we would rather arm you with the knowledge needed to make a good pre-owned purchase decision versus having a negative experience with the product.  We are always glad to assist!

Many years ago, Artisoft (who eventually became Vertical) produced the popular software based phone system “TeleVantage” which ran on a Windows server and Dialogic voice processing boards (going way back to the days of ISA boards!).  TeleVantage was an extremely feature-rich product, and basic administration such as adds, moves, and changes were simple enough to be done without the need for an IT specialist.  This system required the TeleVantage software and licenses from Vertical, a server from another vendor, voice boards from another vendor, and phones from yet another vendor.  While a knowledgeable dealer could certainly provide everything in one package, it was still a mix of products from many vendors.  Support could be complex as everybody was using a different server with different specs, etc.  VoIP was becoming more popular, and while later versions of TeleVantage supported VoIP, there were special Dialogic products required to use VoIP.  TeleVantage was discontinued after version 8.  Vertical took the best parts of TeleVantage and put them into a standardized hardware platform which is now known as Vertical Wave.  With Wave, the system hardware (server and voice boards), software, and phones are all under one roof.

You may see occasional instances of “Artisoft TeleVantage” mentioned within your Wave system.  Now you know where it came from!

If you’re business is still running TeleVantage, we at Turn Up Tech have extensive experience with TeleVantage and can still provide technical support if needed, or help you upgrade to Wave.

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