PhoneWatcher
version 1.4
©1996 Triplo Software
phonewatcher@triplo.com
http://www.triplo.com

What is PhoneWatcher?

PhoneWatcher is a personal telephone manager for your Macintosh and modem. With PhoneWatcher, you can track when your phone rings any caller ID information, and make the computer alert you with sounds and visuals when your phone rings.

In order to use PhoneWatcher, you simply need an external modem. If you want to use the features available with caller ID, you need a modem capable of recognizing caller ID. PhoneWatcher has it's own built-in serial port arbitrators, and is compatible with any other software that wants to use the serial port (ZTerm, MacSLIP, etc.); PhoneWatcher only listens to the modem when no other application is using it.

A NOTE TO SUPRA USERS:

There exists a bug in some older SupraFAXModem ROMs which will inadvertently hang up the phone on callers after caller ID information has been received. Because PhoneWatcher turns on this caller ID capability, you may experience this bug if you have the older versions of the ROMs installed while using PhoneWatcher.
To check your ROM version, use a terminal program (such as ZTerm) and send the command "ATI3" (without quotes) to check the ROM version. If the number returned is "V1.400-C05", it is the buggy ROM version. Contact Supra to have it replaced.

A NOTE TO POWERBOOK USERS:

PhoneWatcher is known to be incompatible with certain PowerBook configurations. At this time no other details about these bugs are available, though we are researching the problems.

A NOTE TO EXPRESS MODEM USERS:

PhoneWatcher is known to be incompatible with Apple’s Express Modem software. At this time no fixes are available, though we are researching the problem.

Installing PhoneWatcher

To install PhoneWatcher, put the PhoneWatcher control panel in the Control Panels folder in your System Folder and restart.

Using PhoneWatcher

To configure PhoneWatcher, open the PhoneWatcher control panel in the Control Panels folder in the System Folder. Complete balloon help is available. To open the abbreviated documentation/registration window, click on the PhoneWatcher title or icon.

Use the radio buttons to turn PhoneWatcher on and off. Normally you should keep PhoneWatcher on - PhoneWatcher will automagically let go of the modem when another application wants to use it. Some applications use an alternate scheme to check if the modem is busy, and will not function properly with PhoneWatcher. You can manually turn off PhoneWatcher with these buttons.

Using the popup menu at the top, choose the port that your modem is connected to.

Use the set of checkboxes on the left to define how your computer will react when the telephone rings:
• To make the computer play the currently defined ringing sound when the phone rings, select the top checkbox labeled “Play ringing sound”.
• To make the computer flash an icon in the menu bar for 10 seconds, select the checkbox labeled “Flash icon in menu bar”.
• To make the computer display the phone number of the caller when the phone rings, select the checkbox labeled “Display phone number”. This option is available only if your modem supports caller ID.
• To make the computer speak the phone number of the caller when the phone rings, select the checkbox labeled “Speak phone number”. This option is available only if your modem supports caller ID and the Speech Manager is available.

Use the set of buttons on the right to hear or change the current ringing sound.
• To hear the sound that will be played when the telephone rings, click "Play Ring"
• To record a new ringing sound with a microphone, click "Record Ring…". Recording sounds is available only if the computer supports sound input.
• To import a new sound file to become the ringing sound, click "Import Ring…" and choose a sound file. Only System 7 sound files are supported.

The Telephone Log

The Telephone Log lists all of the activities that PhoneWatcher sensed from your modem. They are displayed in the log, as above, in a scrolling list.
• To include the RING activites in the list, click on "Show ring messages". To show all activies excluding RINGs, deselect the button.
• To Save the Phone Log as a standard text file as displayed, click on the "Save…" button, and choose a name for the file.
• To erase the phone log, click the "Clear" button.
• When you are finished viewing the Phone Log, click the "Close" button or press the Return or Enter keys to close the window.

Paging Options

The Paging Options dialog box allows you to change paging features of PhoneWatcher.
• You can set paging on or off with the checkbox at the top.
• There are two ways PhoneWatcher can page you: one is after the phone has stopped ringing (when the call goes to the answering machine, voice mail, or gets picked up by someone as examples), and one is after PhoneWatcher receives Caller ID data.
• If the Caller ID is unidentified, you can choose whether or not to call the pager at all.
• You can set how long to have PhoneWatcher wait after the caller ID has been recognized before calling the pager.
• You can set the pager number to call. Be sure to include prefixes and spaces if necessary.
• You can also set a prefix to be sent to the pager before the caller ID number. This could be used to identify when a page is being sent to you from PhoneWatcher as opposed to another person or service.

PhoneWatcher Options

The Options dialog box brings up additional features you can use with PhoneWatcher.
• When an incoming call's phone number is spoken, you can choose whether or not you want PhoneWatcher to filter out the area code if it is within the local calling area.
• When an alert is automatically displayed by PhoneWatcher, you can set how long PhoneWatcher will wait before removing the alert by itself.
• When an incoming call's phone number is unidentifiable (the caller ID codes return "0" as the number - if caller ID is being blocked, for example), you can choose whether or not to speak that the call is unidentified.
• When using modems from various manufacturers, you may need to set the modem initialization and caller ID activation strings for your particular modem. The defaults are set to work with the Supra brand of modems and ROMs. Be sure to check your modem's manual before changing these settings.

Beyond PhoneWatcher

PhoneWatcher 2.0, to be released by Triplo Software, will contain all of the features of PhoneWatcher plus speaking names, running scripts, displaying alerts, playing sounds, extensive phone log cataloguing, and many more! Keep checking the Triplo Software WWW Site (http://www.triplo.com) for up-to-date information!

If you have any questions, comments, bugs or whatever about PhoneWatcher, you can contact us electronically at the addresses above.
PhoneWatcher is $15 shareware (US). Use the registration dialog to register or simply send your payment to:

 Triplo Software

1529 Brook Ave SE

Minneapolis, MN 55414

Attn: PhoneWatcher