A user recently asked about a problem with the dialer in Microsoft Outlook 2010:

In Microsoft Outlook 2007 (32 bit), I could initiate a telephone call from a contact by clicking on the appropriate icon. A screen for the call asked if I wanted the as journal entry started for the call. I could proceed to make a call out of Outlook whether I did or did not want a journal entry. I purchased Office 2010 Home & Business several weeks ago. After opening a "Contact" Clicking on the "Call" icon in the Ribbon does not initiate a telephone call to the Contract. Nothing happens. Should I uninstall and then reinstall?

No, you don't need to uninstall Microsoft Office and reinstall it. There is a known issue with Office Communicator and TAPI (which Outlook uses for making calls). Outlook will not use TAPI if Office Communicator 2007 R2 is running. Both Outlook 2007 and 2010 are affected and the fix is the same for both: You can either exit Communicator and retry or create a TAPIOVERRIDE registry entry.

Note: If you have Outlook 2007 or Outlook 2010 32-bit installed on Windows 64-bit, make sure you edit the correct registry value. If you don't want to edit the registry yourself, a *reg file is available for download

Other applications that can be used for calls, including Windows Messenger and Skype, may also cause this problem.

Using Windows 32-bit or Outlook 2010 64-bit

If you are using Windows 32-bit or Windows 64-bit with Outlook 2010 64-bit, you'll need to add the following value to your registry.

Press Windows key + R to open the run command, type regedit and press Enter. Browse to the following registry key and add the TAPIOVERRIDE DWORD value. If the Call Integration key does not exist, you'll need to create it.

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Office\Outlook\Call Integration
DWORD: TAPIOVERRIDE
Value: 1

Restart Outlook for the change to take effect. At least one user needed to re-select the modem in the dialer, so if the fix does not work, verify the modem is selected.

Using Windows 64-bit with 32-bit Outlook

If you are using Windows 64-bit and a 32-bit version of Outlook, you need to add the TAPIOVERRIDE value to the registry keys used by the WOW64 node.

Press Windows key + R to open the run command, type regedit and press Enter. Browse to the following registry key. If the Call Integration key does not exist, you'll need to add it.

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Wow6432Node\Microsoft\Office\Outlook\Call Integration
DWORD: TAPIOVERRIDE
Value: 1

Restart Outlook for the change to take effect. At least one user needed to re-select the modem in the dialer, so if the fix does not work, verify the modem is selected.

Do It For Me

Download and run the correct registry file for your installation to add the TAPIOVERRIDE value to your registry.

Windows 32-bit or Outlook 2010 64bit
Windows 64-bit with 32-bit Outlook

Tip: While you can choose Run, we recommend you Save the file to your hard drive, then view it in Notepad before double clicking on it to add to your registry. It's just good practice to know what you are installing, even from trusted sites.