A Communicator 2007 user hears a long dial tone mixed with the streaming audio if the user takes a USB telephony device handset off the hook and then uses the device to stream audio from another application

A Microsoft Office Communicator 2007 user takes a universal serial bus (USB) telephony device handset off the hook. When the user then uses the device to stream audio from another application, the user hears a 30-second-long dial tone mixed with the streaming audio.

This issue occurs because Communicator 2007 cannot detect whether the device is being used by another application such as Microsoft Office Live Meeting or Windows Live Messenger.

To resolve this issue, follow these steps.

Important This section, method, or task contains steps that tell you how to modify the registry. However, serious problems might occur if you modify the registry incorrectly. Therefore, make sure that you follow these steps carefully. For added protection, back up the registry before you modify it. Then, you can restore the registry if a problem occurs. For more information about how to back up and restore the registry, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

1. Apply hotfix 946164.
   
   For more information, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:
   946164  (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/946164/ ) Description of the update for Communicator 2007: April 2, 2008
2. Click Start, click Run, type regedit in the Open box, and then click OK.
3. Right-click the following registry subkey:
   HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Communicator
4. Point to New, and then click DWORD Value.
5. Type PlayAbbrDialTone as the name of the new registry entry, and then press ENTER.
6. Double-click the PlayAbbrDialTone registry entry, type 1 in the Value data box, and then click OK.
7. Right-click the following registry subkey:
   HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Communicator
8. Point to New, and then click DWORD Value.
9. Type PlayAbbrDialTone as the name of the new registry entry, and then press ENTER.
10. Double-click the PlayAbbrDialTone registry entry, type 1 in the Value data box, and then click OK.
11. Exit Registry Editor.