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Document avmNfax documentation avmNfax Program Documentation ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ AVM is Copyright - 1995 by Dr. R. Alberto Villarica (SoftWorx). EFax is Copyleft - 1993, 1994 by Ed Casas (edc@cce.com) Please read this documentation! It is *very* important! I have tried to make the documentation as complete as possible. However, if you find something that is out of date or if a feature is undocumented, let me know so I can update the documentation. Again, it is important that you go through the documentation at least once. If you have some problems, check out the section called `Common Problems' before asking me. You may find that some of your questions have already been asked by other people and have been solved. NOTE: Most of the stuff from section 0 to section 4 should be correct. Anything after that may not apply to this version of avmNfax. 0. Important Stuff! ------------------- 0.1. What is avmNfax? AVM (Advanced Voice Mail) is a program that allows you to use your voice-capable modem (Zyxel, Dolphin, LineLink, or Rockwell based voice-modem) as an answering machine or as a programmable voice mail machine. In addition to this, it allows you to send and receive faxes with the included EFax program. If you already own GPFax or TrapFax, you can use the included ARexx scripts to integrate AVM with those two other fax programs. AVM can also switch to data mode after answering a call, in case you want to use a BBS with it. EFax is a class 1 and class 2 fax program written by Ed Casas. It is a GNU program that was ported to the Amiga by Al Villarica for the purpose of providing fax capabilities to AVM. Technical support for EFax is being handled by Al Villarica. 0.2. Author Dr. R. Alberto Villarica 4 Lone Oak Circle Penfield, NY 14526 USA Internet email: rvillari@cat.syr.edu Fax: (716) 387-0724 (press 2) Voice: (315) 387-0724 Call at "nice" hours please -- my time zone is called Eastern Standard Time, so make the necessary time conversions. 0.3. How do I install it? Read the file called "Installation". It contains the steps needed to get you started. 0.4. How much does it cost? This is SHAREWARE! Please support it! Read the file called "Registration". It contains information on what the Unregistered version can do. It also tells you how to register the software to make full use of your voice-capable or fax modem. The file called "Registration_Form" contains a registration form that you can print, fill out, and mail together with your payment. 0.5. How do I get support for avmNfax? Join our `Mailing List'! You can call me up at my number (see the `Author'). If you do leave a message and want me to call you back, expect that I will call COLLECT. You can refuse my Collect call and call me back to save yourself some money. You may also send regular mail to the `Author'. I will try to answer your questions as soon as I can. However, if you have access to a system that can send email to an Internet site, my address is: rvillari@cat.syr.edu If you send email to this address and I do not respond within 1 week, you can be sure that I did not receive your email or my reply didn't reach you. I am usually very good about replying to email, even if you don't ask a question. So, if you don't get any response from me, try to find other ways of reaching me. I will answer all questions and help you do some ARexx programming if you are using a fax or data/BBS program that you want to integrate with AVM. Before asking me a question, *please* look for the answer here in this document. You may find that someone asked your question and I answered it. Look at the section `Common Problems'. Also, it would be most helpful if, aside from telling me that AVM doesn't work, you provide useful information. For example, I would like to know: o Your computer type (A1000, A2000, etc.) o Your processor type (68000, 68020, 68030, 68040, 68060) o Your operating system version (2.04, 2.1, 3.0, 3.1, etc.) o Your modem type and ROM version (if you have a ZyXEL, type in ATI1 in some terminal and tell me what it says). o Your serial port (internal, GVP IOextender, Multiface II, Multiface III, etc.) o A ram:logger.save file. Enable the Tracer Section by going to the Configure menu and selecting the "UI & others" menu item. Then, enable the checkbox called "Show Tracer Section". Try to reproduce the problem, then click on the Save button in the Tracer Section, then send me the file called ram:logger.save. The Tracer produces important information about the AVM Server process which handles the modem. It also tells me if there's a problem with one of your ARexx scripts. In other words, the file ram:logger.save allows me to do "remote" debugging. o Your avm:servers.cfg file. 0.6. Getting Updates 0.6.1. Networks and BBSes I will try to distribute the latest public versions on the major networks (Internet, FidoNet, Fred Fish, CompuServe, America Online, Delphi, etc.). 0.6.2. Deep Thought BBS Christian Stelter has been kind enough to carry AVM in his BBS. It is a FidoNet node. Here's some information on his BBS. DEEP THOUGHT Bulletin Board System InterNet: deepthought.north.de FidoNet: 2:2426/2020.0 & 2:2426/2021.0 AmigaNet: 39:170/204.0 & 39:170/205.0 Port 1: +49-(0)441-383365, 1200-21600 bps HST 16.8, v.32bis Port 2: +49-(0)441-383839, 1200-16800 bps ZyXEL Magic for Fido File Requests: AVM (for the latest version) : FILES (for a list of all files) 0.7. Mailing List Christian Stelter has set up a mailing list for AVM. To join this mailing list, send email to "listserv@deepthought.north.de". On the first line of your email (not the Subject header), type in: subscribe avm Then, when I send email to this mailing list, everyone on the mailing list will get a copy. This is a good way for you to find out about new releases of AVM (whether Beta or final). Plus, I plan to distribute small fixes to ARexx scripts here and to discuss new features and bugs. 0.8. History If you want to find out what's different between this version and the previous versions, browse through the file called "History". Note that I follow the Commodore way of numbering versions. In particular, the number after the decimal point is a revision number. Version 1.20 is not the same as 1.2. Version 1.20 is 18 revisions later than 1.2. Attention ZVM users! avmNfax is a major rewrite of ZVM, which was my first attempt at providing answering machine capabilities to users of the Amiga and the Zyxel modem. AVM now supports the LineLink 144e modem (some restrictions apply), the MTD Dolphin modem (a Zyxel compatible), and Rockwell chipset based voice modems (I tested a Zoom VFDX, others have tried a Zoom 14.4v). 0.9. Contributions Please check out avm:contrib. It contains stuff contributed by AVM users. You may like what's in there. 1. Introduction --------------- Here is a list of features that avmNfax provides if you have a voice-capable modem. o A three-mailbox answering machine. A caller has the option of leaving a message for two different people. If he doesn't choose one, the message is placed in the "anonymous" mailbox. o A simple answering machine if you don't want to have mailboxes. In this case, only the "anonymous" mailbox is active. o The ability to archive messages and faxes that you receive so that you can recall them later on. o The ability to receive voice messages, faxes, and data calls all on one line. At this time, only GPFax, TrapFax, & EFax are supported. With some ARexx programming, other fax programs may be substituted. There are a number of BBSes that are currently supported (4D BBS, AXsh, CNet, Excelsior, etc.). o The ability to retrieve messages from a remote site by using touch tone keys. Information about the message can be played (e.g. the time and date of the message, the telephone number left by the caller, or the telephone number transmitted via the Caller-Id mechanism available on some phone systems). o Silent answer -- if you pick up the phone before the program does, it will eventually pick it up and listen in on your conversation. By pressing the appropriate keys on your touch- tone phone, you can instruct AVM to handle the call as a fax call, a data call, or have it record your convesation. Recording the conversation is useful if you want to remember some information but don't have a pen and paper lying around. o Record Conversation -- you can use this to record important conversations. This is especially handy when dealing with mail-order firms. But, you probably should tell the other party that the conversation is being recorded because that may be considered as an illegal phone/wire tap. o Remote maintenance -- you can remotely record a personal greeting for each mailbox. In addition, some of the outgoing messages can also be recorded from another telephone. There are other "maintenance" activities that you can do remotely. o Pre Conversion -- voice modems transmit voice to the Amiga in a compressed format. In order to play it over the Amiga, it first has to be decompressed. With this feature, you will be able to pre-convert voice files into IFF while your computer is essentially idle. So, when you get home, you can click on Play to play your message, and it will be immediately played. Otherwise, you would have to wait for the decompression process to take place, which could take a while if you have a slow Amiga or the decompressor is slow. At this time, the decompressor for LineLink modems is quite slow, such that even with my A3000/25, I would use the Pre Conversion feature. o Immediate playing -- if you have a fast Amiga and you use a compression mode that can be "uncompressed" quickly (ZyXEL & Dolphin), you can play the incoming voice files directly to the Amiga sound system without going through the intermediate decompression stage. o Multiple greetings -- you can greet your callers differently depending on the time of day, the day of the week, randomly, etc. Plus, as stated above, you can record these greetings remotely. 2. Requirements --------------- o AmigaDOS 2.04 or greater o MUI 2.3 or greater (please don't try lower versions) o Voice & Fax: a Zyxel, a LineLink 144e, a MTD Dolphin modem, or a Rockwell chipset based voice-capable modem o Fax only: any class 1 or class 2 fax modem (class 2.0 is not supported) o ARexx - this is included with AmigaDOS 2.04 and up, but it may not actually be running on your system. Look in the startup-sequence or the user-startup for a line containing "rexxmast" to be sure. Alternatively, type in the following into a shell: rx "say hello world" If it prints HELLO WORLD in the shell, ARexx is running. o a hard disk to store voice messages & fax files o 2 megs of RAM (the more, the merrier) o a 640x400 screensize when using the AVM programmer -- it doesn't have to be an actual screensize...it could be a virtual screensize. For example, you could have an actual screensize of 640x200, but an auto-scrolling virtual screensize of 640x400. On my machine, you would use sys:prefs/screenmode to set these parameters for the Workbench Screen. 3. Desirables ------------- o an accelerated Amiga o speakers hooked up to your Amiga (only if you have a Zyxel, LineLink, or MTD Dolphin) o a sound digitizer (only if you have a Zyxel, LineLink, or MTD Dolphin) o a fast serial port (e.g. IOExtender, Multiface II, Multiface III, etc.) -- NOTE: I tried the A2232 with my Zyxel a long time ago and it didn't work, so, I make no promises using that card. 4. AVM Limitations for some modems ---------------------------------- Although AVM was designed to handle multiple modems, it does not currently handle multiple types of modems running at the same time. For example, you cannot have a Zyxel and a LineLink hooked up to two separate serial ports on your Amiga. You can, however, have two Zyxels or two LineLinks hooked up to two separate serial ports. If I have an encoder for the modem/compression you are using, then you can use the pre-recorded voice files. Otherwise, you pretty much have to record the voice files yourself, or go out and download a set of voice files. If I have a decoder for the modem/compression you are using, then you can listen to voice messages on your Amiga. Otherwise, you will have to use the telephone line, the local handset, or the modem's internal speaker. On Rockwell-based voice-modems (I don't have a decoder for any of its compression modes), the brands I've tried had local handset support, and their internal speakers were quite good. 4.1. ZyXEL o If you have an E+ or greater, you can use the CELP compression. However, there is no CELP decoder/encoder, which means that you cannot play out these voice files through the Amiga's sound system. You cannot record on your Amiga either. o Here's a list of compression modes in order of preference: ADPCM4, ADPCM3b, ADPCM2. Note that slower Amigas may not be able to handle ADPCM4 or ADPCM3b. o I do not have an encoder for ADPCM2SYNC or ADPCM3SYNC, or ADPCM4SYNC. o Zyxel Elites support Local Handset. The older ones do not. 4.2. Dolphin o As far as I know, the only available compression mode is ADPCM2. 4.3. LineLink 14.4e o The LineLink can use a compression called SPC. But, the decoder I wrote for it is not in tip-top shape. Try it to see if you like it. Be aware, however, that SPC uses more serial bandwidth and more diskspace. It is, however, fast to decode. I do not have an encoder for SPC. o The LineLink cannot detect a calling fax automatically. You will need to tell your fax callers that they need to follow instructions on how to activate your fax. I have implemented something that may enable you to receive faxes automatically. This only works when you use the two-mailbox system I developed. Normally, when a caller calls, he is instructed to press 1 to start the mailbox system. If he doesn't press 1, the default goes into a mailbox called "anonymous". See `Answer Priority' to change this default to go into fax mode or data mode. o Does not support Local Handset. 4.4. Rockwell o I don't have an encoder/decoder for any of the compressions used by Rockwell based modems. This means that you cannot play them to the Amiga or convert IFF files to a voice file. I hope to find some source code to alleviate this problem. Fortunately, you can play to the Internal Speaker or the Local Handset. 5. AVM UserInterface -------------------- AVMUI is the AVM UserInterface. It communicates via ARexx with the AVM Server, which is the program that manages the modem. 5.1. AVMUI Window The AVMUI window has three major sections: Mailbox, Caller ID, and Tracer. The Mailbox section is always shown. The Caller ID and the Tracer sections can be hidden from view. When you first install avmNfax, you will notice that neither the Caller ID nor the Tracer sections are shown. 5.1.1. Mailbox Section The Mailbox Section gives you access to incoming messages/faxes and outgoing messages/faxes. 5.1.1.1. Mailbox selector At the top of this section is a selector that allows you to choose to view: o "In" mailbox -- this is where incoming messages can be found o "In Arc" mailbox -- this is where incoming messages get stored when they are archived o "Out" mailbox -- this is where scheduled outgoing messages can be accessed o "Out Arc" mailbox -- this is where outgoing messages get stored when they are archived 5.1.1.2. Message list Below the selector is a list of messages. If you double-click on the message in this list, it will be played or viewed, depending on whether it is a voice or a fax message. You can select a message by clicking on its entry. You can select multiple messages (for example, if you want to delete or play multiple messages) by clicking and dragging on their entries. 5.1.1.3. Comment gadget Below the list is a Comment gadget that allows you to attach comments to individual messages. You should select a message from the list above, and then type in your comment. After typing, you should press the Return key to get the comment saved. When you select a message with a comment, you will see it in that gadget. 5.1.1.4. Time & Next Event information boxes If you are viewing the "Out" mailbox, then you will see two information boxes below the Comment gadget. The left-most information gadget shows the current time. The gadget to its right, which is named "Next Event", shows the time when the next outgoing message is scheduled to be delivered. 5.1.1.5. Action buttons Depending on which mailbox you're looking at, you will see some buttons and and checkboxes which apply to the selected entries in the message list. o Play/View button -- this plays or views the message that is selected. If there are multiple messages selected, they are played/viewed in succession. Double-clicking on a message in the message list is equivalent to selecting it and then pressing this button. o Select All button -- this selects all the messages in the message list. o Reply button -- this creates a new outgoing message in reply to the message that is currently selected. o Send button -- this creates a new outgoing message that contains the message. This can also be called forwarding the message. o Delete button -- this deletes the selected messages. o Archive button -- this archives the selected messages. If the message is an incoming message, it is placed in the "In Arc" mailbox. If it is an outgoing message, it is placed in the "Out Arc" mailbox. o Quiet checkbox -- this makes the AVM UserInterface shut up. Normally, when there are new messages, it will tell you. Another way to make it shut up is to play/view one of the messages. o Stop button -- this stops playing/viewing the current message. If there were multiple entries selected, this will cause the next entry to be played/viewed. o Stop All button -- this stops playing/viewing the current message. It also stops any new messages from being played/viewed. This is only useful if you selected multiple entries to be played/viewed and you wanted to stop listening/viewing the rest of them. o Send Now button -- this forces the scheduler to process the currently selected message. o Edit button -- this opens up an AVM Edit Scheduler Entry window. This window allows you to change things like the telephone number where the voice or fax should be sent, when it should be sent, the number of retries, etc. o Send No Dial button -- this forces the scheduler to process the currently selected message, but will not make it dial. You have to manually dial the destination before clicking on this button. This is useful if you want to send a fax to some foreign country, but have to go through an operator first. Once you have contacted the foreign fax number, you can click on this button. o New Entry button -- this creates a new scheduler entry. o Scheduler checkbox -- this enables or disables the scheduler. 5.1.1.6. Status information box Below the buttons is a Status line, which usually shows what the AVM UserInterface is doing. For example, when you play/view a message, this Status line would display something like "Playing/viewing". 5.1.1.7. Server Action icons Below the Status line is a set of graphical icons. These icons instruct the AVM Server to perform an action. o Stop (encircled exclamation point) -- tells the AVM Server to stop whatever action it is doing. o Answer as fax (paper with the word "fax" written below it) -- tells the AVM Server to answer the phone as an incoming fax. o Answer as data ("101" and "110" below it) -- tells the AVM Server to answer the phone as an incoming data call. o Answer as voice (mouth) -- tells the AVM Server to answer the phone as an incoming voice call. o Record conversation (cassette tape) -- tells the AVM Server to record the current conversation. 5.1.1.8. Server status information box To the right of the Server Action icons is a status information box that shows what the AVM Server is currently doing. When the AVM Server is working properly and is not currently handling a call, it should say "Waiting for a call...". 5.1.2. Caller ID Section This section displays any caller-id information. This is really only useful if you have caller-id enabled. This is a service that you usually pay for and is provided to you by your local telephone company. 5.1.2.1. Clear button -- this clears the list of callers. 5.1.2.2. Save button -- this saves the list of callers to a file called ram:cidlogger.save. 5.1.2.3. Add to Phonebook button -- this enters the selected entries in the list into the phonebook. 5.1.3. Tracer Section This section displays debugging information that is sent out by the AVM Server, EFax, and some of the ARexx scripts that make avmNfax work. This section is automatically saved to ram:logger.save after a certain number of lines have been displayed. Or, you can force it to save what is in the list by clicking on the Save button. Note that this information is very important to me when you have problems. I can usually track down problems in your configuration if you send me ram:logger.save. 5.1.3.1. Clear button -- this clears the debugging information stored in the list. 5.1.3.2. Save button -- this stores what is in the list into ram:logger.save. It then clears the list. 5.1.4. AVMUI Menus 5.1.4.1. File 5.1.4.1.1. About... Opens up a window to show you information about avmNfax, such as the author, and where to get technical support. 5.1.4.1.2. Print High avmNfax includes a printer driver that allows you to print from your favorite word processor to generate a fax to be sent out. Use this menu item to create a fax in "fine" mode. This is the best output supported by avmNfax. Each page is 1728x2288 pixels. A window will open up called AVM FaxPrinter. At this point, you can print a document from your word processor. After printing, a new entry in the "Out" mailbox will be created. You can double-click this entry to view what will be sent out. Alternatively, you can select it, and click on the Edit button to edit things like the telephone number where the fax file should be sent, when it should be sent, the number of retries before giving up, etc. If you want to send it immediately, you should Edit the entry, type in a telephone number, click on Done in the AVM Edit Scheduler Entry window, then click on the Send Now button in the "Out" mailbox section. If you want to send it, but manually dial a number, then dial your number using the telephone handset. As soon as the fax on the other end answers, click on the Send No Dial button in the "Out" mailbox section. 5.1.4.1.3. Print Low This is similar to Print High, except it will prepare avmNfax's printer driver to generate a "standard" fax. Each page will be 1728x1144 pixels. 5.1.4.1.4. Print Printer This turns off the fax printer driver. Use this when you want the output of your word processor to go to the actual printer instead of the fax printer driver. 5.1.4.1.5. Quit UserInterface This just quits the UserInterface program. The AVM Server will still be running in the background to answer your phone. 5.1.4.1.6. Quit All This quits all avmNfax related programs, including the AVM Server. Closing the close gadget of the AVM UserInterface does the same thing as this menu item. 5.1.4.2. Configure... 5.1.4.2.1. Play to o Amiga This option is available only if I have a decoder for the compression you are using with your modem. This option will first convert the voice file into an IFF file called avmtemp:temp.iff and then play it using "DSound". Note that I cache the last played file so that you can keep playing it without going through the conversion process. The ARexx script activated by this option is called playamiga.avm. You can modify this script if you would like to use a different player other than DSound. o AmigaDirect This option is available only if I have a decoder for the compression you are using with your modem. This option plays a voice file while it is decoding it. This results in a small delay from the time you press play to the time it actually plays, unlike when using the `Amiga' option, which converts the whole voice file first before playing it. Note that you can only use this option if you have a fast Amiga and a fast decoder. Currently, the decoder for the LineLink modem is too slow to use with this option. Try it out on your system to see if it's fast enough. If it is, you should use this option over anything else. o TelephoneLine This option allows you to play voice files through the telephone line. To use this option, you should first remove the dial tone. You can do this by pressing a few touch tone keys. Or, you can pick up the phone and wait for the telephone company to give up on you. o InternalSpeaker This will play voice files through the modem's internal speaker. The LineLink doesn't support this. o LocalHandset This plays to the telephone hooked up to the back of the modem. This will not work on LineLinks, the Zyxel 1496 series modems, and some Rockwell chipset modems. o IFF This option is available only if I have a decoder for the compression you are using with your modem. This will actually perform a conversion from the voice file to an iff file. In this version, the output IFF file is avmtemp:save.iff. A future version will allow you to pick the name of the IFF file. 5.1.4.2.2. Record from o Amiga This option is available only if I have an encoder for the compression you are using with your modem. This option will activate the rexx script recordamiga.avm. This script calls AGMSRecordSoundPS3 or AGMSRecordSound, depending on how you installed avmNfax. It calls the digitizing software in such a way that the output is avmtemp:temp.iff. This IFF file is then converted into the appropriate voice file by a converter. o TelephoneLine This allows you to record your messages using the telephone line. The only way to get this to work is to pick up the phone and get rid of that dial tone somehow. As with `Play to', you can do this by entering a few touch tone keys. Unfortunately, on some systems, after a while, you'll get the annoying phone company message to put down the phone. You could wait this out until the phone company gives you just silence. What I do is to wait for this silence and record all the messages I need to in one session. o ExternalMic This option only works with the ZyXEL modems and the Rockwell based modems. o Rockwell Some Rockwell based modems have a jack which allows you to plug an external microphone in. Use this option to record using that. o ZyXEL 1496 series modems Warning, DO NOT use this option if the modem is still plugged into the phone line. To record with this option, disconnect the modem from the phone line, plug in the handset (some telephones have a handset which plugs into the actual phone) into the "line" jack of the modem, and speak into the ear part of the handset (not where you usually talk into). The reason you should not plug the modem into the phone line when using this option is that the modem amplifies the signal. If the modem is plugged into the telephone line, the line signal would be amplified and could destroy your modem's internal circuitry. o ZyXEL Elite series modems These modems have a jack where you can plug in an external microphone. o LocalHandset This only works with most Rockwell based modems and the Zyxel Elite series modems. This option lets you record from the telephone plugged into the back of the modem. This works rather nicely. You don't have to kill any dial tones or anything. You can just start recording. o IFF This is similar to the Amiga option, except it doesn't actually call the digitizing software. If you have the rexxreqtools.library and the reqtools.library, it will ask you for a filename to convert. Otherwise, it assumes the file is stored in avmtemp:save.iff. 5.1.4.2.3. Default server If you have multiple servers, the one enabled in this menu item is the one that will be used for the actions in the Server Control/Default menu. It will also be the one used when playing or recording through the modem. It will also be the one used by the scheduler to send out voice or fax files. 5.1.4.2.4. Servers... This opens up a Choose Server window. Double-click on the server that you want to reconfigure. Things that you can change include the fax id, the voice compression, the maximum record length, the serial device, the unit number, etc. Note: You should use Kill Server first, then configure it, then use Start Server. If you do not, then the configuration will not take effect until you reboot. The reason for this is that the AVM Server only loads its configuration at start-up. 5.1.4.2.5. Mailboxes... This opens up a Choose Mailbox window. Double-click on the mailbox name that you want to reconfigure. Things that you can change include the mailbox's alias, whether it is visible in the "In" box, etc. 5.1.4.2.6. Voice prompts... This opens up an AVM Player window. From this window, you can change what is recorded in the voice prompts. 5.1.4.2.7. Phonebook... This opens up an AVM PhoneBook window. You can add, delete, and edit entries in AVM's phonebook from that window. 5.1.4.2.8. UI & others... This opens up a Configure User Interface window. From that window, you can configure certain aspects of the user interface, such as whether to show the Tracer Section and/or the CallerID Section, what the Time/date format for the lists should be, which fields are shown in the In, In Arc, Out, and Out Arc mailboxes, etc. 5.1.4.2.9. Scripts... This runs the AVM Programmer. This allows you to customize the AVM scripts. 5.1.4.3. Server Control This allows you to control the AVM Server. 5.1.4.3.1. Default All the actions here will affect the AVM Server that is selected as the `Default server'. 5.1.4.3.1.1. Stop Action Tells the AVM Server to stop whatever it is doing. 5.1.4.3.1.2. Fax Answer Tells the AVM Server to answer the phone as an incoming fax. 5.1.4.3.1.3. Data Answer Tells the AVM Server to answer the phone as an incoming data call. 5.1.4.1.4. Voice Answer Tells the AVM Server to answer the phone as an incoming voice call. 5.1.4.3.1.5. Record Conversation Tells the AVM Server to record the current conversation. 5.1.4.3.1.6. Close serial port Tells the AVM Server to close the serial port. Use this when you want to use any program that needs exclusive use of the serial port. 5.1.4.3.1.7. Open serial port Tells the AVM Server to open the serial port and start listening to it. 5.1.4.3.1.8. Unlisten Tells the AVM Server to stop listening to the serial port. Use this when you want to use a program that can use the serial port in "shared" mode. 5.1.4.3.1.9. Listen Tells the AVM Server to start listening to the serial port. This instructs it to start waiting for calls. 5.1.4.3.1.10. Kill Server Tells the AVM Server to exit. 5.1.4.3.1.11. Start Server Starts up the AVM Server. 5.2. AVM FaxPrinter Window There are two options that affect printing to the printer driver. You should try out the default and see if the fax printer driver generates the same number of pages that you tried to print. If it doesn't, then that's when you should start playing around with the two options described below. 5.2.1. End Page on Render Close This causes the fax printer drive to start a new page when it receives a "render close" message from your word processor. 5.2.2. End Page on FormFeed This causes the fax printer driver to start a new page when it receives a form feed from the word processor. 5.3. Choose Server Window This window allows you to select which AVM Server you want to configure. Double-click on an entry or select one of the entries and click on the Configure button. 5.4. Configure Server Window An AVM Server can be configured through five sections selected by the selector at the top of the Configure Server window. 5.4.1. Common 5.4.1.1.. ARexx Port Name This is the name of the ARexx port of the server. You should not include any spaces in the name. 5.4.1.2. Serial Port This is the device name of the port that the modem is hooked up to. 5.4.1.3. Unit Number This is the unit number of the port that the modem is hooked up to. 5.4.1.4. Rings with messages This is the number of rings required to be seen by the AVM Server before picking up the phone *when* there are messages in any of the "In" mailboxes. 5.4.1.5. Rings without messages This is the number of rings required to be seen by the AVM Server before picking up the phone when there are no messages in any of the "In" mailboxes. 5.4.1.6. Silent Answer rings If the phone stops ringing before the AVM Server answers the phone and the number of rings seen is greater than or equal to this value, then the Silent Answer feature is activated. This means that the AVM Server will answer the phone and listen in on your conversation. o If you press 2 or it hears a fax CNG tone, it will receive the fax. o If you press 5 or it hears a data tone, it will try to connect in data mode. o If you press 1, it will record your conversation. o If you press *, it will stop listening in on your conversation. 5.4.1.7. Command Pause This is the number of tenths of seconds that the AVM Server & EFax will pause before sending another AT command to the modem. 5.4.1.8. Use OwnDevUnit This instructs the AVM Server to use OwnDevUnit. This allows AVM to coexist with other programs that use this form of serial port locking mechanism. 5.4.1.9. Use CallerID o None - use this if you don't have a modem capable of doing CallerID, or you don't have the CallerID service activated on your phone line. o Name - use this if you have a modem capable of doing CallerID, and you have the CallerID service activated, and the service can send you the caller's name. o Number - use this if you have a modem capable of doing CallerID, and you have the CallerID service activated, and the service does not send you the caller's name. 5.4.1.10. Modem Type There are three types of modems that are supported. This option selects one of the three (ZyXEL, Dolphin, LineLink, NoVoice). People without a voice capable mode who want to use EFax should select NoVoice. 5.4.1.11. Command Init This is the string (usually an AT command) that is sent to the modem prior to entering voice mode. This is usually AT&F or ATZ to reset the modem. You can also use this setup string to enable distinctive ring (see your modem's manual on how to accomplish that). 5.4.1.12. Tone Dial This is the method to be used when dialing (enable this gadget for touch tone or disable it for pulse) a number. 5.4.1.13. Tracer Verbosity Don't play with this. It turns on various levels of debugging. The current settings are good. 5.4.2. Voice 5.4.2.1. Voice Init This is the string that is sent to the modem after entering voice mode. You can use this string to add or modify voice parameters that were not handled by the program. For example, you can use this string to adjust the voice recording gain of the LineLink modem (use AT#VG=x, where x is the gain). Consult your modem's manual for settings that aren't handled by the AVM Server. 5.4.2.2. Compression Your modem compresses voice data to reduce the amount of storage needed for the resulting voice files. Some compressions are better than others. ZyXEL modem users should choose between ADPCM2, ADPCM3, ADPCM3b, ADPCM4, CELP, ADPCM2SYNC, ADPCM3SYNC, ADPCM3bSYNC, or ADPCM4SYNC. MTD Dolphin users have only one compression, MTDADPCM2. LineLink users should choose between LLCVSD7200, LLSPC8000, or LLSPC9600. Rockwell users should choose between ROCKADPCM2_7200, ROCKADPCM3_7200, or ROCKADPCM4_7200. People without a voice-capable modem who want to use EFax should select NOVOICE. 5.4.2.3. Max rec len (secs) This is the maximum number of seconds that a recording is allowed to be. This timeout is there because sometimes, the modem doesn't detect hangups correctly. Without this timeout, you could easily fill up your hard disk. 5.4.2.4. Max Wait For Answer This is the number of seconds AVM will wait for the phone being dialed to be picked up. 5.4.2.5. Silence Interval This is the number 10ths of seconds of silence required before the modem reports to AVM that it has heard silence. The default value is 70, which translates to 7 seconds. 5.4.2.6. Silence threshold This is an adjustable parameter for telling the modem what to treat as silence. Note that the LineLink modem has two settings only (16 or 17). 5.4.2.7. Ringback Goes Away This parameter is for voice dial-out only. This tells the modem how long to wait for the ring signal to go away. When this timeout is reached, the modem assumes that somebody has answered the phone. This parameter is expressed in tenths of seconds. 5.4.2.8. Ringback Never Appears This parameter is for voice dial-out only. This tells the modem how long to wait for a ring signal to appear right after dialing. If a ring never appears before this timeout is reached, then the modem assumes that somebody has answered the phone. This parameter is expressed in tenths of seconds. 5.4.2.9. AVMTemp for Record Certain computer setups cannot handle receiving serial data and writing to the hard disk at the same time (you tend to lose characters or get serial port errors). If this is the case, or if you want to avoid writing to the hard disk in small increments, select this option. This will write the voice file to AVMTemp: (which is usually RAM: ) first. When the recording is done, it is transferred to the hard disk. 5.4.2.10. AVMTemp for Play Certain setups cannot handle reading from the hard disk and writing to the serial port. Check this option if you have trouble playing voice files directly from the hard drive. 5.4.3. Fax 5.4.3.1. Fax ID This is where you should enter your telephone number. 5.4.3.2. Fax Init String This is the string that is sent to the modem right before starting up fax mode. You really shouldn't change this unless the default setting doesn't work for you. 5.4.3.3. FaxModem Type This is the type of fax modem that you have. Select Class 2 if your modem supports that protocol. Otherwise, select Class 1. NOTE: You really should re-install avmNfax if you're switching between faxmodem types because there are other settings that only make sense for certain faxmodem types. 5.4.3.4. Reverse TX Bit Order Click on this if you want to reverse the transmitted data bit order. Don't play with this unless you know what you're doing. 5.4.3.5. Reverse RX Bit Order Click on this if you want to reverse the received data bit order. Don't play with this unless you know what you're doing. 5.4.3.6. Start RX with XON Check your modem manual to see if a DC1 (XON) or a DC2 is required to start receiving data. Again, don't play with this unless you know what you're doing. 5.4.3.7. Max Page Errors This is the number of errors that would have to be received before EFax will ask for a retransmission. 5.4.3.8. Fax Capability The second value tells how fast your fax modem is. Set it to 5 if you have a 14.4K fax capable modem. Otherwise, set it to 3. Don't touch the other values. If you have a 14.4K faxmodem, this should read: 1,5,0,2,0,0,0,0. Otherwise, it should read: 1,3,0,2,0,0,0,0. 5.4.3.9. Fax Hardware Handshaking This is the handshaking between the fax modem and your computer. Aside from enabling or disabling this switch, you should also include the necessary command in the Fax Init String to enable the handshaking that your modem requires. 5.4.3.10. Inits These are commands that will be sent to your modem before the modem is told to answer or dial. 5.4.3.11. Resets These are commands that will be sent to your modem after receiving or transmitting a fax. 5.4.4. Scripts 5.4.4.1. Voice Call default This is the name of the ARexx script that gets called when the server is instructed to pick up the line and no ring was received or an unqualified RING was received (unqualified RING == Type 1 distinctive ring). To enable distinctive ring or CID, look at the section entitled `Caller ID and Distinctive Ring'. Note that it is possible to use the distinctive ring feature even though your modem doesn't support it. Results vary with modems. If the modem eats the rings if they don't occur 4 seconds apart, then you're out of luck. If the modem reports double rings or triple rings within a span of 2 seconds, then AVM will be able to detect the distinctive ring. You can only use this feature *if* `Rings with messages' is greater than 1. If you have distinctive ring set up, you can put "answerfax", "answerdata", or "answervoice" in any of the Voice Call scripts. So, if somebody calls a number causing a short-short distinctive ring to occur and you put "answerfax" in the `Voice Call Ring 1' field, then he will always receive a fax tone. 5.4.4.2. Fax Call This is the ARexx script that gets called to handle a fax call. The default should be "handlefax". 5.4.4.3. Data Call This is the ARexx script that gets called to handle a data call. The default should be "handledata". 5.4.4.4. Silent Answer This is the ARexx script that gets called if the phone stops ringing before reaching the number of rings required for AVM to pick up the line *and* the number of rings received is greater than or equal to the number in `Silent Answer rings'. 5.4.4.5. Record Conversation (Script) Script to handle recording a conversation. 5.4.4.6. Voice Call Ring 1 Script called when the modem receives a type 2 ring. 5.4.4.7. Voice Call Ring 2 Script called when the modem receives a type 3 ring. 5.4.4.8. Voice Call Ring 3 Script called when the modem receives a type 4 ring. 5.4.4.9. Voice Call Ring 4 This is currently not used. 5.4.4.10. Ring Script This script gets called right after the modem receives a ring from the modem. This script gets called with the variables "RINGS", "DISTINCTIVERING", "CIDNAME", and "CIDNUMBER" set. If you type in "AlertRing" into this field, the file "avmrexx:alertring.avm" gets run on each ring (except the last ring before AVM decides to answer the phone). At this time, "AlertRing" uses DSound to play an IFF file called "avm:ring.iff". Note that it only plays the ring between the hours of 9am and 11pm. This is what I currently use so that people can call up my system late at night to log onto my system. This way, I don't hear the rings at all. Another use of this Ring Script is to announce the name of the caller or his telephone number. This script gets called with CIDNAME and CIDNUMBER for this purpose. The type of distinctive ring is placed in the variable DISTINCTIVERING. The number of rings received so far is placed in the variable RINGS. Yet another use of this script is to log information to some file (or another program) that a call was received at a certain time. This is useful if you just want to know if your phone rang while you were out. 5.4.5. Advanced 5.4.5.1. Advanced Flags These flags help to configure the AVM Server. You really shouldn't have to touch these flags. Contact me if you are considering changing any of the default settings. ***they are set to the proper values*** 5.4.5.2. Enable or Disable Flag This enables or disables a particular flag. If a "#" symbol precedes the name of the flag, it is disabled. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- NOTE: ANYTHING BELOW THIS LINE IS OLD STUFF. I HAVE NOT HAD TIME TO REWRITE IT. YOU MAY WANT TO LOOK IT OVER THOUGH. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- 14. AVM Server -------------- AVM is the server that runs in the background. It has no user interface and can only be run from the CLI. When `AVM UserInterface' starts, it runs all the servers it knows about. If you wish to run the AVM server manually, its command line interface template is: avm servername/a where servername is the ARexx port name of the server. Remember that you should probably use the "run" command when running the AVM server manually, as in: run >nil: <nil: avm Server.lin The only way to tell that the AVM server is running is through the `AVM UserInterface' program. 15. VoiceMail Instructions -------------------------- This chapter describes the "user interface" presented to a caller of this system. I will not document everything that you can do, but will try to give you a general idea of what AVM is capable of. Hopefully, the voice prompts are friendly enough that you can figure out stuff for yourself. 15.1. Fax and Data tones At any time, when AVM is recording, playing a message, or waiting for the remote caller to press some telephone key, if a fax tone is received, then the fax program is automatically started. If a data tone is received (some newer modems emit modem calling tones), the data program (BBS) is started. At this time, the only fax program that is supported is GPFax and TrapFax and the only BBS supported is AXsh. I think it should be easy to support other types of BBSes, but would require more thought to support other FAX programs. avmrexx:startbbs.avm is the script that actually runs AXsh. Note that certain modems cannot detect Fax tones or Data tones. So, what I just described may not be true for your setup. 15.2. Standard User Interface I tried to make the menu system as standard as possible. Pressing the '*' symbol at any menu should hang up the system. This is good to know because you may be late in getting to the phone. Pressing '#' usually brings you back to the previous menu. Pressing '0' usually replays the menu's voice prompt. 15.3. Remote Caller When somebody calls, an initial greeting is played over the telephone line to the caller. This varies depending on whether you have set AVM up for TIMEOFDAY, RANDOM, etc. (see `Introduction Messages') If you configured AVM to run in multi-mailbox mode, the caller is then instructed to press 1 to start voicemail (at this time, he can also press 2 to send a fax or 5 to start a BBS). If he does not press any key in the time allowed, then the caller is either placed in the Anonymous mailbox (where he can record a message), or AVM can start Fax or Data mode. See the section `Answer Priority'. If you decided to use AVM as a simple answering machine, then AVM will automatically put you into the Anonymous mailbox after the initial greeting. Note that you can still press 2 to start the Fax program or 5 to start the BBS program even while AVM is playing the instructions on how what to do ("...wait for the beep, leave your message..."). When entering a mailbox, the first thing that is played is the mailbox's Personal message. You can record this personal message remotely or using the Player program. To record it remotely, you first need to get into maintenance mode and choose "Record a Personal Message". If you want to record it using the Player, you need to run the Player, then type in avm:anonymous/voices/Personal into the string gadget below the listview containing a list of filenames. Note that you need to replace "anonymous" be the directory name of the mailbox (i.e. mailbox1, mailbox2, etc.) if you want to record personal messages for mailboxes other than the Anonymous mailbox. After the personal message is played, then the telephone number of the mailbox owner is played (assuming you set the Announce flag in the MailboxConfig program for this mailbox *and* there is a telephone number to announce). After the telephone number is announced, then the instructions for leaving a message ("...wait for the beep, leave your message...") are played. Then, a beep is played (or a user defined voice file containing some form of beep), then AVM starts recording. If the caller presses 1 during any of the messages described above, he will be taken directly to the beep, where he can leave a message. This is useful for people who already know how to use your system and want to skip all those messages. After the caller leaves a message, he can press 1. This will get him into another menu which allows him to leave another message (in case he got cut off because he exceeded the timeout for recording), leave his telephone number, send a fax, get into data mode, start maintenance mode, etc. To get into maintenance mode, you need to first access a particular mailbox. Then press 9 while it's playing the Personal message, the mailbox owner's telephone number, or the instructions for how to leave a message. You can also enter maintenance mode after recording a message. 16. Configuring with RXSET or SETENV ------------------------------------ There is a file called avm:StandardConfig.Template. This file will always be overwritten whenever you install new versions of avmNfax. This file provides the default values for the things you can configure. In order to override these values, edit avm:StandardConfig since that file gets executed *after* avm:StandardConfig.Template gets executed. You can configure this voicemail system to a certain extent. Look in the file "avm:StandardConfig". This file contains default values for all of the "environment" settings you can adjust. Note that "avm:StandardConfig" is executed by startAVM. These "environment" settings are described in this section. 16.1. Introduction Messages When AVM answers the phone, it plays 1 of 7 files (these files are called avm:voices/intro1, avm:voices/intro2, etc.), depending on certain options you set. You can choose any of the seven files to be played, or you can have one played for each day of the week, or you can have one played depending on the time of day (morning, afternoon, evening), or you can have it pick one at random. To play a particular file (choose 1 to 7), you would do the following: rxset AVMIntroductionType 1 To play something based on the day of the week (1=Monday, 2=Tuesday, etc.) rxset AVMIntroductionType DAYOFWEEK To play something based on the time of day (1=morning, 2=afternoon, 3=evening) rxset AVMIntroductionType TIMEOFDAY To play one of the seven files randomly rxset AVMIntroductionType RANDOM 16.2. Time Format You can control what is said when playing a time. rxset AVMTimeFormat "%hours12 %minutes %pm" The line above will cause AVM to play the hours (1-12), followed by the minutes, then am or pm, depending on whether it's before 12pm or after 12pm respectively. To play the time in 24 hour format, rxset AVMTimeFormat "%hours24 %minutes" will do it. You can play any voice file in between any of the time specifications by typing a filename (its full path). For example, rxset AVMTimeFormat "avm:voices/TheTimeIs %hours12 %minutes %pm" will cause AVM to play the message in avm:voices/TheTimeIs, then the time in the 12 hour format. Note that the voice files should not have any spaces in their names. 16.3. Date Format You can control the order and voicefiles that are played when playing a date. To do this, do a: rxset AVMDateFormat "%month %day" This will play the month first, followed by the day of the month. If you want to play a particular voice file anywhere in between, you only have to specify the name of the filename in the AVMDateFormat string. For example, you can do this: rxset AVMDateFormat "avm:voices/TheDateIs %month %day" This will play the file in avm:voices/TheDateIs, followed by the month, then by the day of the month. Note that the voice files should not have any spaces in their names. 16.4. Simple or MultiMailbox You can make this system be a simple answering machine, where the caller will not have to press any keys to get to leave a message. To do a simple answering machine, do the following before running any of the programs in the AVM Suite. rxset AVMSimpleAnsweringMachine YES To use the two mailbox system, do the following: rxset AVMSimpleAnsweringMachine NO Note that the default is to use a simple answering machine. 16.5. Playing Numbers Normally, AVM concatenates two numbers when it plays a 2 digit number. This reduces disk storage in having to store the all the possible numbers. However, I have been told that the concatenation is language specific. So, you have the option of recording all 59 numbers (I can only play 0 through 59 at this time). To tell AVM to use the non-concatenating method, you do: rxset AVMDirectDDNumber YES To use the concatenating method, you do: rxset AVMDirectDDNumber NO 16.6. Time and Date Specification LogView, Scheduler, and SchedulerView all show times and dates. You can change the format of the time and date that is displayed. To do this, you need to set an environment variable called AVMTIMEDATEFORMAT. Be careful with this! In the environment variable, special character sequences get replaced by the appropriate time or date information. See below for an example: %a = abbreviated weekday name %A = full weekday name %b = abbreviated month name %B = full month name %c = locale's appropriate date and time representation %d = day of month (1-31) %H = hour (00-23) in 24 hour clock %I = hour (00-12) in 12 hour clock %j = the day of the year (001-366) %m = month (01-12) %M = minute (00-59) %p = equivalent of AM & PM %S = second (00-61) %U = week number of year (00-53) (the first sunday as the first day of week 1) %w = weekday (0-6) %W = week number of year (00-53) (the first monday as the first day of week 1) %x = locale's appropriate date representation %X = locale's appropriate time representation %y = year without century (00-99) %Y = the year with the century %Z = time zone name or abbreviation %% = percent sign setenv AVMTIMEDATEFORMAT "%H:%M %b %d" If you don't set AVMTIMEDATEFORMAT, the default is "%H:%M %b %d", which would display something like "15:59 Dec 5". 16.7. Answer Priority When AVM is setup as a multi-mailbox machine (not a simple answering machine), you have a choice of what to do if the person calling doesn't press 1 to start voicemail. Normally, you would put him automatically into the anonymous mailbox. However, some people would rather put the caller into fax mode or data mode. This is useful especially if your modem doesn't support fax CNG detection (which simply means that the modem can't detect the special tone that a fax normally emits when it is sending). If you would like to automatically receive faxes, then you will set the answer priority to fax. So, if your caller doesn't press 1, he will get a fax tone. To set fax priority, you would do: rxset AVMAnswerPriority FAX For data priority, you would do: rxset AVMAnswerPriority DATA And for voice priority (the default), you would do: rxset AVMAnswerPriority VOICE Edit avm:standardconfig to change the default permanently. 16.8. VOICE2IFF Converter The VOICE2IFF converter (actually, this converter handles all of the compressions) can now use a double rate version of the CVSD to IFF converter that is more accurate. To do this, setenv AVMDOUBLERATE YES The default for this option is NO. Note that this option produces IFF files that are twice as big as normal. 16.9. Pre-Converting When someone calls and leaves a message, AVM can be instructed to preconvert the voice file into an IFF file. So, when you get home, and you press the play button, you will immediately hear the voice message. This is useful if AmigaDirect doesn't work for you (either because the decompression routines are too slow or because you have an unaccelerated Amiga). By default, the pre-convert feature is turned off. To turn it on, you do a: rxset AVMPreConvert YES The default for this option is NO. Note that the VOICE2IFF program will be run without a GUI when preconverting files. It will also be run at a lower priority (specified by the AVMVOICE2IFFPRI environment variable). If you do not want the GUI to show while pre-converting, you do: rxset AVMShowPreConvertGUI NO The default for this option is YES. 16.10. Priorities You can set the priorities of some of the AVM programs by using the setenv command. To set the priority of the AVM Player, the environment variable is called "AVMPLAYERPRI". For the AVM ServerMan, the environment variable is "AVMSERVERMANPRI". For the actual AVM servers, the environment variable is "AVMSERVERPRI". setenv AVMPLAYERPRI 0 setenv AVMSERVERPRI 0 setenv AVMSERVERMANPRI 0 setenv AVMVOICE2IFFPRI -5 16.11. Playing while converting You can preview a voice file (if you have a slow amiga and don't use the PreConvert feature or the AmigaDirect feature) by: rxset AVMPlayWhileConverting YES The default is NO. 16.12. ZyXEL Conversion settings If you have pre-6.10 ZyXEL roms, you should set this to YES. setenv AVMOLDZYXEL YES The default is NO. If you have 6.12 ZyXEL roms or greater, you should set AVMZYXEL612 to YES, as in: setenv AVMZYXEL612 YES 16.13. User Beep You can replace the beep that is played right before AVM starts recording a new message into a mailbox. You can use this feature to get fancy -- for example, you can tell your caller to leave a message after the explosion. When using this feature, make sure there is as little silence as possible at the end of the beep voice file (since the caller may start speaking right after the voice file gets played). You do not want him to start speaking when you're still playing the voice file -- he won't get recorded. The file that gets played instead of a beep is avm:voices/userbeep. You can use the AVM Player to record your user-defined beep. To enable this feature, do a: rxset AVMUserBeep YES The default is NO. 16.14. Fax Program You can tell AVM what fax program you are using. Currently, I only support GPFax, TrapFax, and EFax. rxset AVMFaxProgram GPFax or rxset AVMFaxProgram TrapFax or rxset AVMFaxProgram EFax EFax is the default. 16.15. Data After Silence When a mailbox is entered and a voice file is recorded, if no one speaks, then the modem returns with a 'Silence' result. This is different from 'Quiet', which means that someone spoke and then kept quiet. Anyway, if 'Silence' is returned, then you could start the BBS. To do this, rxset AVMDataAfterSilence YES The default is YES. 16.16. Monitor with Speaker This only works on Rockwell based modems. This turns on the speaker when a call is handled. This allows you to hear what is going on when somebody is calling up your system. 16.17. LogFile The Logger program normally writes its output to "ram:logger.save". You can override this by: setenv AVMLOGFILE "rad:logger.save" 16.18. Server Debugging You can tell the AVM server which debugging messages you are interested in via the AVMDEBUGFLAGS. The following command turns on all the messages. setenv AVMDEBUGFLAGS "excir" e=errors, x=extra debug, c=commands/responses, i=information, r=rexx 16.19. Controlling which programs are started by StartAVM You can control which programs get automatically started by StartAVM. sys:rexxc/rxset AVMStartLogger YES sys:rexxc/rxset AVMStartScheduler YES sys:rexxc/rxset AVMStartCIDLogger YES sys:rexxc/rxset AVMStartCallNotifier YES sys:rexxc/rxset AVMStartServerMan YES Set any of the above to NO to turn them off. 16.20. Fax font and font size You can tell the FaxPrinterD program which font and font size to use. You must tell it before it actually starts up. At this time, you cannot change the font or font size while it is running. setenv AVMFAXFONT "courier.font" setenv AVMFAXFONTSIZE "30" 16.21. Fax viewer adjustments You can tell the viewer where it should open its window, what size it should be, and what the default reduction should be. ;choices are 1, 2, 3, or 4. 1==normal size, 2==1/2, 3==1/3, ; and 4==1/4. setenv AVMFaxViewMag 1 ;leftedge topedge width height setenv AVMFaxViewWindow "0 0 640 200" 16.22. BBS Program You can tell which BBS program to run by setting the AVMBBSProgram variable. sys:rexxc/rxset AVMBBSProgram 4D 17. Wish List ------------- 5/26/94 - o Add Send Manual to Scheduler, which should cause it to send the file using ATD (no telephone number). This is usual for doing faxes where you have to manually call them up before clicking on Send. 4/18/94 - o Make iff2adpcm load stuff a chunk at a time. 4/17/94 o Reduce memory requirements for programmer o Add forward to logview o In schedulerview, if the user selects an iff file, we should go ahead and convert it for him. 4/15/94 - o In schedulerview, we should probably have another type (Unknown or Unrecorded) to alert the user that the file that has been selected is not a valid thing to send. After recording, then we can adjust the type accordingly. - o In the scheduler, when you click on the file gadget or hit return on the string gadget specifying a file, try to find out if it's a fax file or not and automatically set the 'type'. If it's not a fax file, then assume it's a voice file that's to be recorded. o Print out the compression type that's being decoded or encoded in adpcm2iff or iff2adpcm o Multiple delete/play/archive in logview - o Quit All in ServerMan to kill every avm program that's running 3/23/94 o Add a restart servers to serverconfig. Better yet, add a way to tell the AVM server to re-read the config file. 2/26/94 o At certain times, the rings to be expected may change. Need to add an ARexx command in the servers to change the number of rings. - o When playing to Amiga (not AmigaDirect), add an option to play the file while it's being converted. Although it won't be real time (the voice file will not be continuous), at least you will get to hear parts of it to see if it's worth the wait. 2/25/94 o Maybe blink the power led when the answering machine is on. But, we need to blink it differently than our flashpower program does. 2/24/94 - o If port is in use, try every 5 minutes to get the port. Maybe try different things to get the port to listen. - o Add Quit & Kill Servers to serverman to quit serverman and to kill all the active servers. - o Add a name field for mailboxes (in mailbox config) and use that to show what's in the call notifier (not just the directory name). - o Pre-convert voice files while machine is idle (in other words, do a low priority conversion routine when voice files are created). 2/21/94 o Add play all to the logview o Add delete all to the logview o Add "serverconfig" to the server manager (opens up a serverconfig program). 2/10/94 - o Make a special answervoice to do simple answering machine stuff - o Clean up ServerMan to hide the Close, Open, Unlisten, Listen, Start, and Kill server gadgets. 2/9/94 o Allow disabling of busy detect for ROM versions which are faulty o Use user-defined filenames for saveiff or loadiff - o Allow Player/Recorder to play/record user defined files o Phonebook that's integrated with the logview (so you can show the names of the people with a particular phone number) o Add better error reporting (like when audio.device is being used) 2/8/94 - o Make the anonymous mailbox accessible from the other mailboxes - o Finish the Scheduler and SchedulerView scripts - o Document Scheduler/SchedulerView o Document Programmer o Make a "copy" template for each of the Programmer constructs so that, when a construct is instantiated, the new construct copies stuff from this template. Template should be persistent. o Secretary feature for calling people (integrated with the phonebook -- click on somebody to dial out until connected, play some file, and beep) o Localize the program (binaries and ARexx scripts -- this includes localizing the concatenations of numbers) - o Add a button to the Call Notifier to shut up until the next call comes in. - o Support Rockwell chipset voice modems o Pre-load most of the shorter ARexx scripts (such as delete, broadcast, etc.). This should speed things up quite a bit - o Add options so that we can easily customize the ARexx scripts without having to maintain several versions for different users. Probably do this through the getclip and setclip ARexx functions. Can't do this with environment variables since they are not easily accessible from ARexx. - o Use MUI better -- make everything controllable from the keyboard - o Have multiple (random, day, or time driven) greetings o Fix up string gadgets which accept input to *not* allow spaces to be typed in o Add some flags to the AVM server to filter out debugging information (so we don't have to see it all) 18. Acknowledgements -------------------- o Stefan Odendahl for helping me find lots of bugs and problems in the documentation. o Mike Sinz for SimpleRexx and Enforcer o Dr. Greg Perry of GPSoft for GPFax o SAS for SAS/C o David Gay for Emacs port o ZyXEL for their modem and the conversion routines from ADPCM2/3 to something o Sierra Semi for being helpful w/r to the LineLink modem o Commodore Amiga for their iff routines o David Junod for FindLine o Alex G. M. Smith for AGMSRecordSound and AGMSRecordSoundPS3. He was helpful in adding the ARexx commands necessary to make these program work seamlessly with AVM. o Dave Schreiber for DSound 1.31. I included a modified executable as well as his original DSound.doc. According to his docs, there's no mention of not being allowed to do what I did. If there's a problem, Dave, send me email. I will send the source modifications to anyone who asks. o Kasper Peeters for helping me add support for the dolphin modem. o Carl Wernhart - TrapFax support is (c) by him -- thanks! o Thomas Lewandowski - New Icons are (c) by him -- thanks! 19. Beta Testers ---------------- o Stefan Odendahl o Dirk Sieber o Michael Breger o James Atwill - thanks for the asl code! o Christian Stelter o Pjotr Sjostrom o Frank Geider o Fred Pienkos o Cogrossi Fulvio - please send me email! o Tim Lloyd o Daniel J. McCoy o Ryan Bruner 20. Common Problems ------------------- o AVM doesn't seem to play a file that I selected using the file requester. AVM *cannot* play filenames with spaces in them. For example, the file "Ram Disk:dialtone" cannot be played. You need to use "ram:dialtone". Sorry, but I just don't have the time to go through all the ARexx scripts and fix this. This was one of those "compromises" I made when I started this project. I didn't want to have to muck around with quoting conventions. o AVM reports that the serial device either couldn't be opened when working with GPFax. You should make sure that the shared mode flag in GPFax is enabled. o When answering a fax call, the modem picks the line up, drops it, then picks it up again. This is caused by an "&F" in the Modem Init string of GPFax. You should remove this. o I have trouble receiving and sending faxes with the LineLink modem. You need to make sure the Modem Init string is the same as the init string mentioned in the file "Installation". Also, the LineLink modem cannot detect a fax automatically. You will need to instruct people who may send faxes to you that they have to follow instructions (like pressing 2) on how to start up fax reception. o AVM doesn't handle data calls properly. Why? You need to make sure that AXsh is set up properly. Here is what I needed to do in my s:user-startup ;BEGIN AXSH assign axsh: pd:axsh.installed path axsh:bin mount axaux: from axsh:etc/mountlist.axsh ;END AXSH If you have AXsh 1.31, use the following instead: ;BEGIN AXSH assign axsh: pd:axsh.installed path axsh:bin mount newaux: from axsh:etc/mountlist.axsh ;END AXSH In addition to making sure that AXsh is set up properly, you need to make sure that "handledata" is in the `Data Call' field. The ARexx script "handledata.avm" sets up the modem, performs an ATA, then calls the script "startbbs.avm" if there is a modem connection. If you are not using AXsh, the script "startbbs.avm" is where you should start tinkering. Finally, edit StandardConfig.template and add: sys:rexxc/rxset AVMBBSProram AXsh or sys:rexxc/rxset AVMBBSProgram AXsh1.31 depending on which version of AXsh you have. o I get very short files when recording; sometimes, they're truncated. Sometimes, there's too much silence. When you press `Record', there is a short delay before the modem actually starts recording. This is due to two things: First, I need to send commands to the modem to actually start recording. This takes a finite amount of time. Second, I need to tell the server to tell the modem to start recording. To do this, I use ARexx to communicate between the user interface and the AVM Server. Again, this takes some processing time. So, to be sure that what you say gets recorded, you should press `Record', then watch the modem until some light starts flashing continuously (this indicates a recording process). Then you can start speaking. When stopping the recording, there is also a short delay between the time you press `Stop' and the time the recording actually stops. These short delays will take some getting used to, but when you're used to them, they will turn into a minor annoyance. These delays may decrease in future versions. o How do I save window positions and sizes and icon positions? Go to a CLI, cd to env:mui, look for the names of the AVM programs (AVMLOGVIEW, AVMCALLNOTIFIER, AVMLOGGER, AVMPLAYREC, etc.), and copy their .wini files to envarc:mui. For icon positions, you need to use the MUI Prefs program. Then copy over the .prefs files to envarc:mui. o How do I put all the windows on a different screen? Use the MUI Prefs program to create a public screen and tell MUI to open up the windows on that public screen. o How do I make the windows open up in iconified form? Use the MUI Prefs program. o Do I need a registered version of MUI? No, you do not. But, you will be able to customize all the AVM programs if you do register MUI. I really encourage you to do so. Stefan Stuntz has done a very good job with MUI, so please support him. o When I try to edit something in the programmer, no window opens and the programmer hangs. You need to have a screen size of at least 640x400. MUI will not open a window if it is too large to fit in the screen. o When using the programmer, sometimes it just exits. You probably don't have enough memory. The Programmer uses a lot of memory because of the large windows it uses and the fact that it loads an entire file into memory. Try closing other applications when using the Programmer. o Sometimes, AVM misses keys pressed by a caller. This is not AVM's fault. It is the fault of the modem. I have nothing to do with detection of DTMF keys. It just reports them to me. If you have a ZyXEL with a ROM less than 6.11a, I really recommend that you upgrade your ROMS. o After 10 minutes, the AVM server dies for some unknown reason. The UNREGISTERED version will not work properly unless its "annoying" window opens up on the WorkBench. Therefore, do not use a public screen manager to "shanghai" its window to another screen. Also, do *not* use an external program to close the window or resize the window. Your computer may crash. I am not responsible for crashes due to tampering with the "annoying" window. o AVM doesn't want to record anything. Perhaps you didn't set things up correctly. You need to make sure that the Drawer "AVM:voices" exists. From the WB, create a drawer called "voices" in the AVMSuite Drawer. Or, from the CLI, type in "makedir avm:voices". o AVM only records silence or a dial tone when I'm using the TelephoneLine option. For all modems *not* based on the Rockwell chipset, the telephone should *not* be hooked up to the back of the modem. You should hook up the telephone and modem using a splitter of some sort. o AVM hangs up while you are accessing some of the voice menus (when calling). Or, it just hangs up on you. Make sure that you record all the messages in the Player program. If you did record all the messages, then run the Logger program, play around with the system until it hangs up unexpectedly. Then, click on the Save button in the Logger window, and send me the file called "avm:logger.save". That will help me tremendously in finding out what is wrong. o Recording doesn't seem to work too well. It seems to terminate early. Try running the program called Logger. When recording, if it says there's a serial port error, then your machine cannot handle the speed at which the modem is transmitting data at. Maybe you have a program running in the background that's taking up so much CPU time that it takes too long to process the serial port interrupt. The first thing to try is to enable the "Use AVMTemp: for Recording" button in the Server Config program and restart the AVM Suite. If that still doesn't work, try opening up a public screen with a low resolution. Then, switch to that screen and try AVM again. If that still doesn't work, you may need one of those high speed serial ports which handle high speeds more easily. o On the LineLink modem, AVM seems to hang up when playing to the modem. Maybe you enabled the "UsesHardwareHandshaking" flag in the Advanced Flags section. Disable that and try it again. Please don't play with things that aren't documented. o How can I speed up playback of my incoming messages through the Amiga? You can turn on the PreConvert feature. See `Pre-Converting'. o I'm using a LineLink modem and playback through the Amiga is very soft. Try adjusting the AVMSCALEADJUST environment variable. See `Scaling output'. o Why does AVM not release the serial device when I quit all the AVM programs? Remember that there is a "server" that's running in the background. If you have an unregistered version of AVM, you would see the window. If you have a registered version, you probably wouldn't even know it was running. As of V1.17, you now have a Quit button and a Quit No Kill button. If you Quit, you take all the servers with you. With the other button, you don't. o Do I need a digitizer to make my own messages? No, you can use the TelephoneLine option to record any outgoing messages. o How can I customize the way dates and times are played back through the modem? It seems like it's too "American". Read the manual. See `Date Format' and `Time Format'. o How can I customize the way AVM displays dates in the Scheduler, LogView, SchedulerView, etc.? Read the manual. See `Time and Date Specification'. o Can I distribute keyfiles? Absolutely not. You can only distribute AVM as it comes in its .lha form. You cannot create a new archive or add to the archive that's available for download. o Why should I register? Because it would encourage me to keep supporting AVM. I don't think I charge too much for what this software is capable of. Even if you do not register, I would appreciate a postcard from you saying that you use AVM. o On a ZyXEL, when sending out voice files using the scheduler, it seems to be playing the voice files even though the called party hasn't picked up the phone. Why? The ZyXELs cannot seem to determine reliably when the called party has actually picked up the phone. I can't figure out what the problem is. Probably a bug in the ROMs. Don't worry, outgoing messages are repeated multiple times. o How do I change the icons when the program is iconified? Use some icon editor and edit the icons in avm:icons. o Why does AVM only print the first half of the first page of a fax? Register the fax part of AVM to enable full printing. 21. New Voice Files ------------------- Execute the script called "avm:renamevoicefiles". I renamed stuff like one, two, ... to number1, number2, ... to facilitate in sorting stuff in the Player program. Note that this script is executed automatically if you used the Install script. Execute the script called "avm:deletevfiles". This will delete all the obsolete voice files. Note that it won't delete voice files that are still usable. Only the minimal number of voice files will be deleted. If you run the installer script, I ask before doing this. However, I highly recommend that you do this and just re-record everything that the Player program tells you to record. 22. Caller ID and Distinctive Ring ---------------------------------- If you have a ZyXEL, the way to activate Caller ID is to put an S40.2=1 in your Voice Setup String. LineLink owners cannot make use of the Caller ID feature. I have it on good authority that the hardware cannot physically support Caller ID. Remember that although the ROMS say they support Caller ID, if the modem doesn't have enough "stuff" in it to pick up Caller ID information, then the modem cannot support Caller ID. To activate the Distinctive Ring feature in your ZyXEL, you need to put an S40.3=1S40.4=1S40.5=1S40.6=1 in your Voice Setup String. If you have any other modem, you don't need to do anything. Try it out and see if AVM can distinguish between the different distinctive rings that you have subscribed to your phone company for. 23. Programmer -------------- I cannot describe everything that the Programmer can do at this time. Sorry. But, I will tell you how to add new mailboxes. The first thing to do is to add a mailbox using the Call Notifier program. When you add a mailbox, don't include spaces in the mailbox name. Note that I distinguish between a mailbox name and a mailbox alias. The mailbox alias is what you see in the Call Notifier listview. Sometimes, the alias is the same as the name. Anyway, the next thing to do is to run the Programmer. Double- click on the file called startup.avmsrc. Double-click on the line which says level0. This is a menu to which you can add mailboxes. Look at how mailbox1 and mailbox2 are done. You will see how easy it is to use the Programmer. Really! Once you're done editing stuff, Save your changes, then click on Compile. Then, test out your new system. If it fails for some unknown reason, try Compiling again. This has something to do with "include" dependencies that I'd rather not get into. Note that I've never needed to Compile twice -- I just thought I should mention it just in case. 24. Faxing ---------- EFax is now included with AVM. It is a class 1 or class 2 fax program. To view received faxes, you just use the LogView program. It will convert the fax into an iff file and will then invoke AVMFaxView which allows you to view it. To send a fax, double click on printHigh or printLow. Alternatively, you can, from a Shell: execute avm:printHigh or, execute avm:printLow printHigh should be used if you want to use Fine mode when creating your fax file. printLow should be used when Standard mode is used. Once you do the above, a program called FaxPrinterD should appear. If it does not, something is wrong and any printing to the faxprinter device driver will not work properly. Try running FaxPrinterD from a Shell to see why it failed to run. Most likely, it couldn't find a font used to render text printouts. You should edit StandardConfig to use a font that you have. Then, print using any Amiga program. When done printing, a SchedulerView will open up to allow you to enter the telephone number. After entering it, click on Done. Then, press the Send button in the Scheduler. This will send it now. If you scheduled it for a later time, it will go out at that time (assuming you registered the AVM Scheduler). Note that when printing out to a fax file, you should ensure that there is an adequate margin on the left and right sides. When printing from a word processor, try to make sure that there is at least 1 inch on both sides of the page. When printing in text mode, try to make sure that there are 10 spaces to the left and right of all your text. If you don't ensure these margin settings, your fax may not be completely readable at the other end (the left and/or right part of the fax may be chopped off a little -- that's why you should ensure that those parts don't contain anything useful). After printing using your Amiga program, double click or execute printPrinter. This will use the previous Printer and PrinterGfx preferences settings (which will allow you to print stuff to your printer). The FaxPrinterD (printer daemon) has only 1 option. When this option is enabled, the printer daemon will start a new page if the program sends a "Close Render" message to the printer driver. When it is disabled, even if the program sends a "Close Render" message, it will continue to print to the same page. Only a FormFeed will cause the printer daemon to start a new page. In general, I think you should have this option enabled. But, for ProWrite users, you should disable this. For some reason, ProWrite prints in small strips. Therefore, if you had this option enabled, you would get lots of little pages. If you use GhostScript, you should enable this option. Otherwise, you will get one very long page even if you are printing multiple pages. You can also use the asc2fax program to convert ascii files into fax files. I added an extra option (-l) which selects low resolution (Standard resolution in fax terminology). Basically, when you enable low resolution, asc2fax will render the font of the height you selected and will then read every other line and convert it into the fax compression (note that this is the same thing that the FaxPrinterD does when you select low resolution). The side effect of this is that if your font has horizontal lines of 1 pixel, they may disappear completely from the fax file. You should always choose a font that has horizontal lines that are greater than 1 pixel. Just to be sure, you should create a document with all the characters you will use, convert it into a fax file, and view it to make sure that all the characters look ok. Another strategy (not implemented) would have been to render the font with half the size that you chose. This may be added at a later time. If you don't want to bother with this problem, use Fine mode instead (or use the printer driver and print in graphics mode). Note that you cannot schedule faxes for a later time if you do not register for the Scheduler. Also note that with the Scheduler, you will be able to automatically forward faxes received to another number. 25. About EFax and other GNU Programs ------------------------------------- Starting with 1.26, I am including EFax, a class 1 and class 2 fax program. EFax is Copyright 1994 by Ed Casas. It is covered by the GNU General Public License. See file called avm:gnu/COPYING. Therefore, with this release, you can get fax capability with a nice user interface even if you *don't* have a voice-capable modem. If you don't have a voice capable modem, see the section entitled `Faxing'. Look in avm:gnu/EFax.man to see what fax modems are known to work with EFax. I also include a fax2iff program (for converting received faxes into IFF for viewing using some IFF viewer), asc2fax for converting ascii files into fax format, and a printer driver. fax2iff is a slightly modified version (it reads non-raw fax files) of the executable in ElCheapoFax. My printer driver is a modified version of the HP Printer driver found in the RKM plus some code found in the ElCheapoFax faxprinter driver. My printer driver also includes the code found in the asc2fax program of ElCheapoFax. My printer driver, since it's a derived work of a GPL'ed program, is also covered by that License. ElCheapoFax is Copyright (C) 1993 by Olaf 'Rhialto' Seibert. Only the programs covered by the GNU General Public License are "free software". I cannot and will not charge for you to use them. Note, however, that the GNU License allows me to accept donations for supporting this software. Send what you like so that I will be inclined to maintain the fax program and the corresponding fax related programs. I would be more likely to help you if you decide to donate :) BTW -- the GNU programs are in avm:gnu. 26. Unclassified ---------------- There's a file called playall.rexx in the main directory. This file is an example ARexx script which opens up a LogView for any mailbox, selects all the contents, then plays them out. All of this is done from the script. This means that you can automate playing different mailboxes without the use of the Call Notifier and without actually touching the LogView gadgets.