Monster Media 1994 #1/monster.zip/monster/BBS_UTIL/BM0406_A.ZIP/DOCS.ZIP/DISRNG74.DOC

Text File | 1992-07-01 | 6KB | 111 lines

                            PERSONALIZED RING MERGE
                                   FOR RBBS
                            -----------------------

            In many locations, the phone companies offer a service
         that is known as 'Personalized Ringing', Distinctive
         Ringing', and other various names.  This service allows one
         phone line to have 2 or 3 phone numbers associated with the
         one line. Depending upon which number is called, a different
         ringing pattern will be heard on a phone connected to this
         line.  For example, one line may be assigned 111-1111 and
         111-2222.  When the first number is dialed by someone, the
         ring heard on this line will be a regular sounding ring.  But
         when the second number, 111-2222, is dialed by someone, the
         ring heard consists of 2 short rings in the amount of time
         that 1 regular ring normally occurs.  Imagine that the dashes
         in the following diagram represent ringing on this line and
         you will be able to see the difference:

             NORMAL RING -

           ------------------------- PAUSE -------------------------

             SHORT PERSONALIZED RING -

           ------ SHORT PAUSE ------ PAUSE ------ SHORT PAUSE ------

            This service allows a person to have 2 different phone
         numbers but only have 1 phone line!  What's really great is
         that this service is usually VERY inexpensive (somewhere
         around $5 to $8 installation and $2 per month for each
         additional number past the first (up to 3 numbers total on a
         line).  (This service may not be available on what the phone
         company calls 'hunting lines'.  A hunting line is a line on
         which a call can 'roll over' to or from another line.  This
         is the type of line that most businesses have when they have
         more than 1 line.  Personal Ring service is usually ONLY
         available on single, dedicated lines, however, check with
         your phone company, as this may vary from phone company to
         phone company).

            This is ideal for someone who wants to share 1 line with 2
         or 3 different devices.  For example, 1 line can be shared
         with a FAX machine and with a BBS!  The disadvantage to this
         arrangement is that most BBS's do not have the capability of
         detecting the different ring patterns, thus an additional
         piece of equipment is needed to decode these different rings.
         This is still better than paying monthly for 2 or 3 lines,
         but it would be great if a BBS could detect these differences
         without any additional hardware.

            This is where this merge for RBBS comes into play!  It
         allows this very thing.  At the present time, it will allow
         RBBS to answer the phone on either the regular ring or on a
         2-short ring pattern as shown above.  This works quite well
         if RBBS is set up to answer the line that rings with a normal
         ring pattern and the other device (FAX or answering machine)
         is set to answer on 4 or more rings.  In this case, RBBS will
         answer after the second normal ring (just in case the first
         ring is abnormally short), but if the incoming ring is the
         2-short pattern, RBBS will ignore it and the FAX or answering
         machine can then answer on the 4th (or more) ring.

                               MAKING THE MERGE

            The utility BLED is required to make this merge with
         RBBS.  (NOTE THAT THIS MERGE IS FOR RBBS VERSION 17.4.
         ANOTHER VERSION IS AVAILABLE FOR RBBS VERSION 17.3c.  PLEASE
         CONTACT US AT THE ADDRESS BELOW IF THE OTHER VERSION IS
         NEEDED).  It's very easy to do.  Simply merge the file
         DISRNG74.MRG with the file RBBSSUB2.BAS, calling the new file
         RBBS1742.BAS. Be sure to use the LINE NUMBER MERGE with BLED.
         Then recompile RBBS.  Remember that you'll want to use the
         NEW file, RBBS1742.BAS, in place of the OLD file,
         RBBSSUB2.BAS.

                        USING THE PERSONAL RING FEATURE

            Using the Personal Ring feature is also very easy.  To
         tell RBBS which ring to answer on, select parameter 225 in
         the RBBS CONFIG program.  Then, include in item 2 (INITIALIZE
         THE MODEM) S0 = 252 to tell RBBS to answer on the 2-short
         ring pattern or include S0=253 to tell RBBS to answer on the
         regular ring pattern.  When RBBS is running, it will decipher
         this MODEM INTIALIZATION STRING and determine which number S0
         is set equal to.

            This merge was developed for our own use, in order to
         provide a customer support BBS sharing the same line with our
         FAX, but using different phone numbers.  This works MUCH
         better than ANY of the typical FAX SWITCHES that are
         available.

            The copyright to this source code is held by it's author.
         It can be freely distributed by non-profit organizations and
         on non-profit bulletin boards.  No one may distribute this
         source code for a profit, nor can it be included with any
         commercial product without our consent. Individuals may
         freely pass copies of this code to other individuals.  Any
         copies that are distributed MUST include this documentation
         file (DISRNG74.DOC).  We hope that others can benefit from
         this modification to RBBS.

                         John Rayfield, Jr.
                         RAYFIELD COMMUNICATIONS, INC.
                         2201 W. Battlefield Rd. #2
                         Springfield, MO  65807
                         417/887-4663
                         417/887-1434 (FAX)