The desktop app

Local modems need something running on the computer they are plugged into — to answer their calls, to dial their campaigns and to report their status. The desktop app is that something. Its window is the complete HelloCall console, the same one you use in a browser, and it cannot be closed by accident: closing the window only hides it.

• Answers incoming calls on your local numbers and runs their workflows.
• Dials campaigns and calls placed from local numbers.
• Reports each SIM’s signal, network and state to HelloCall every 30 seconds.
• Sends and receives SMS on your SIMs.
• Keeps working in the system tray with no window open, and after a restart.

1. 1 Sign in to the console in a browser on the computer the modems will be plugged into.
2. 2 Open Settings → Local modem. While the app is not running, the page offers Download for Windows, macOS and Linux.
3. 3 Run the installer. On Windows it also installs the USB driver for SIM7600 modems.
4. 4 Open HelloCall from your applications. The console opens in the app’s window.

Windows (64-bit), macOS and Linux (64-bit, AppImage) builds are published.

Google does not allow signing in inside an app window, so the app signs in through your web browser:

1. 1 In the app, press Continue with Google. The button changes to Finish signing in in your browser….
2. 2 Your browser opens a page titled HelloCall desktop — “Sign-in for the app on this computer”. Sign in with Google there.
3. 3 The browser says You’re signed in. Close the tab and go back to the app — the console is ready.

The app waits five minutes for the browser. If the page says Sign-in didn’t finish, nothing was changed; press Continue with Google in the app again.

The app keeps you signed in across restarts, so your local numbers answer and campaigns run after a reboot without anyone opening a window. Signing out, or switching organisation, is done in the console as usual.

The app lives in the system tray (the menu bar on a Mac). Its menu shows a status line — your organisation and how many modems are connected, Not signed in, or Starting… — then:

• Open HelloCall — shows the window (clicking the icon does the same).
• Reload console — reloads the console in the window.
• Quit HelloCall — stops the app completely. Your local numbers go offline until it runs again.

In the app, Settings → Local modem → Desktop app has the switch Start when I sign in to this computer. It is on by default: after a restart HelloCall opens straight to the tray, so your local numbers answer and campaigns run without anyone opening it.

The same tab shows the app’s Version, which HelloCall site it Works with, and who it is Signed in as.

You can also open the console in a browser on the modems’ computer. The browser finds the running app by itself and uses it for local calls, SMS and campaigns. Both can be open at once.

• The app and the browser must be signed in to the same organisation. If they are not, the browser says which organisation the app is using — switch organisation in the app.
• If another console tab is already using the app for a different organisation, close that tab first.

If the app cannot reach HelloCall when it starts, its window shows HelloCall can’t reach the console and checks again every 10 seconds; Try now checks at once. The console opens by itself when the connection is back. The modems stay connected meanwhile, and missed calls are filed as soon as the app is online.

To move to a newer version, download the installer again from Settings → Local modem (or the download links for your system) and install it over the current one. Your sign-in and modem settings are kept.