Packard Bell Comm Central

About Comm Central

Comm Central is a program for sending and receiving faxes and receiving voicemail on their computer.

Comm Central is found on certain early models of Packard Bell personal computers.

Screenshot

The picture above is the Comm Central shipped with some Packard Bell systems.

NEC Connections is almost identical to the picture above. However, the Settings,Help, and Hide is on the left side, and the Packard Bell logo is replaced
by NEC's logo.

Technical support

When attempting to print with Hewlett Packard printer, receive port not ready.

Hewlett Packard printers may have issues with the method of installation of Comm Central. Edit the system.ini by clicking Start, Run, and typing system.ini, between [boot] and [keyboard] look for comm.drv=pbcomm.drv and ensure the line says comm.drv=comm.drv. Also, make sure there are no other lines in these sections that have comm.drv.

Cannot receive faxes

Access Settings by clicking the Settings button and ensure the amount of rings you want to receive faxes is properly set. Then right-click the fax icon by the time, go to modem properties, and set the rings to answer.

Unable to detect modem when computer boots.

When booting up the computer on a Packard Bell system, if you get the error message about the modem not being detected or responding, do the following.

1. Click Start.
2. Select Settings.
3. Select Control panel.
4. Double-click the System icon.
5. Click the Device Manager tab, and click the plus (+) next to Modem.
6. If you have more than one modem, remove the modems that are not your modem and reboot.

After upgrading to Windows 98 speaker phone is lost.

After upgrading to Windows 98, you may experience issues with the Speaker Phone option available through Comm Central. If you are encountering this issue, follow the recommended steps below to resolve the issue.

1. Double-click the icon at the bottom right of your computer.
2. In the Sound Properties, click Options and then Properties.
3. In the Sound Properties, verify that telephone and microphone are checked and click ok.
4. Once back at the volume control, ensure that microphone and telephone are not checked on Mute. These are defaulted on mute, and if you uncheck these options, the speaker phone does not work.

Where can I download or obtain Comm Central?

Comm Central is a Packard Bell application; therefore, you can only get Comm Central from Packard Bell. Packard Bell only provided this program if it came with your computer. Additional information about purchasing this product can be obtained by contacting Packard Bell and NEC.

Issues with computer microphone

If you encounter issues with your microphone and cannot resolve the issue with any issues above, see the microphone and headset help and support page for further troubleshooting steps.