A phone number sits in an e-mail, in a signature, on a web page or in a PDF. Three things happen before the call runs: switch windows, retype the number, and while retyping, one digit slips. Then it rings at someone who has nothing to do with it.
Click-and-Call turns that into one keystroke: select the number, press Ctrl+Y, and the call goes out through your Webex. No window switching, no retyping.
What Webex brings itself
This question comes first, and rightly so. Cisco’s official shortcut list names Ctrl+Shift+Enter: `Calls the selected searched person (People only)”. That calls a person you searched for inside Webex – not a number selected somewhere else.
For selected text, Ctrl+Alt+Shift+H is passed around. It is not in Cisco’s shortcut list; the claim comes from the Cisco Community. According to that, the shortcut copies the selected number into the dial pad – and does not dial. A click remains, and four fingers are too many for a grip you make fifty times a day.
| Webex itself | Click-and-Call | |
|---|---|---|
| Grip | Ctrl+Alt+Shift+H | Ctrl+Y |
| What happens | number sits in the dial pad | the call goes out |
| Still needed | a click on “Call” | nothing |
| Different key possible | no | yes, from the icon menu |
Half the work is not dialling
A program that calls every selected run of digits is not progress but a risk. A wrongly dialled number rings at a stranger’s, and the caller only notices when someone picks up. So in case of doubt, Click-and-Call does not dial at all.
- A date is not a line. “01.02.2026” as a run of digits is “01022026” – eight places, starts with a zero, would look like a local number. Rejected.
- Nor is an invoice or customer number. Fully written phone numbers begin with “+” or with “0”. A bare run of digits is far more often something else.
- An IBAN is too long. The ITU caps phone numbers at fifteen digits; a German IBAN has exactly twenty after the “DE” – and starts with a zero.
- An extension alone is not enough. Below seven digits the system is missing, and without it the call goes nowhere.
Conversely, recognition holds exactly where phone numbers really appear. The German signature style “+49 (0) 5251 …” is the most common case: collecting only the digits there dials “+490 5251 …” and reaches nothing. The zero in brackets is not part of the number and is removed beforehand.
Ctrl+Y means “Redo” in Word
A key combination only ever belongs to one program. Claiming Ctrl+Y system-wide takes “Redo” away everywhere – a bad trade for a function you need twenty times a day and not a hundred.
- Read the selectionwhatever is selected right now
- A phone number?the rules above
- Yes: callthrough your Webex app
- No: pass onCtrl+Y works as always
If you would rather have the key elsewhere, pick another one from the icon menu next to the clock: Ctrl+Q, Ctrl+Shift+A or Alt+F8. Only what could actually be registered is saved – a setting that sits there and does not take effect is worse than none. If another program already holds the combination, the program says so at startup and stays quiet.
When Webex is not on the same computer
In law and tax firms this is the normal case: the specialist software runs on a terminal server, Webex on the PC in front of it. The program in the session then cannot start the call itself – it hands it to the Webex panel on the PC, where one click is enough.
What it costs
Nothing extra. Click-and-Call is included in the price of Haus iT Caller ID. Whoever pays per user for a panel is buying caller recognition; charging for the calling next to it as a separate item would mean selling something they believed they already had.
What has to be installed is a small Windows program that runs next to the clock – no administrator rights, no sign-in, no key. It is the only exception to “nothing on the workstations”, and whoever does not want the key simply leaves it out.
Frequently asked questions
Cannot Webex do this itself?
Only halfway. Cisco’s official shortcut list names Ctrl+Shift+Enter – that calls a person you searched for inside Webex, not a number you selected somewhere else. For selected text there is Ctrl+Alt+Shift+H; according to the Cisco Community it only copies the number into the dial pad and does not dial. A click remains, and it takes four fingers.
Ctrl+Y is “Redo” for me. Does this take the key away?
No. If the selection contains no phone number, the keystroke is passed on to the program – in Word and Outlook Ctrl+Y then works as always. It only dials when there really is a number. If you would rather have the key elsewhere, pick a different one from the icon menu.
Does it also dial things that are not phone numbers?
No – and that is half the work. A date, an invoice number, an IBAN or a three-digit extension are not dialled. A wrongly dialled number rings at a stranger’s, and the caller only notices when someone picks up.
Do I have to install anything?
For Click-and-Call, yes: a small Windows program that runs next to the clock. It needs no administrator rights, no sign-in and no key – download, double-click, done. Everything else about the portal and the panel stays installation-free.
What does it cost?
Nothing extra. Click-and-Call is included in the price of Haus iT Caller ID.
Does this work on a terminal server?
Yes, by a different route. There Webex usually runs on the PC and not in the session, so the program cannot start the call itself. It hands the call to the Webex panel on the PC, where one click is enough.
Is this the same as TAPI?
No. TAPI is a driver for phone systems that are not Webex and requires setup on every workstation. Click-and-Call simply hands the number to your Webex app.