═══ 1. Overview ═══ InterCom is a videophone for the Internet. It allows you to communicate with anyone in the world for free by using the Internet to transmit the data. It is a full featured program that acts like a real telephone in many aspects and has some features not found in normal telephones. The features include: 32-Bit multithreaded PM application 8 or 16 bit audio Video (Connectix Quickcam required) Static image transmission File transfers Clipboard text sharing Real time compression Runs on connection 14.4Kbps or faster (28.8K recommended for video) Configurable settings to improve performance Caller ID Quick Dial Call Blocking Dialing Directory Answering Machine Electronic telephone book server Connect to talk server networks around the world. Support for dynamic IP addresses Online help Easy installation Low Price! ═══ 2. Requirements ═══ For InterCom to run it requires: OS/2 Warp 3.x 8 MB of RAM (12 recommended) 8 or 16-Bit sound card (16-Bit recommended) MMPM/2 TCP/IP Internet Access Kit 14.4Kbps or faster connection to the Internet (28.8kbps recommended for video) Connectix Quickcam (Required for live video support) ═══ 3. Quick Start ═══ To successfully configure and use InterCom follow the instructions below: Basic Configuration Pull down the InterCom menu and choose configuration. Fill in the entire first page which is entitled GENERAL. Click the notebook tab labeled SYSTEM. Check the "Float to top upon ring." option. Check the "Dynamic IP" option if your IP address changed each time you connect to the Internet. Press ALT-F4 now and select "Yes" from the save dialog. Configuring video using the Connectix QuickCam Pull down the InterCom menu and choose configuration. Click on the notebook tab labeled VIDEO. Check the "Enable Video Camera" option. It is recommended that you change the seconds per frame to a higher number such as 30 or 45 if your connection to the Internet is 28.8Kbps or slower. Click on the notebook tab labeled QUICKCAM. Select the appropriate I/O port that your printer is connected to. LPT1 is usually 0x378, LPT 2 is 0x278, and LPT3 is 0x3BC. Pressing the detect button will attempt to detect the QuickCam on the port. This detection is not flawless and might fail. This does not mean the camera is not connected and working properly. Click the notebook tab on the bottom labeled ADJUST. Select the appropriate image size to capture from the camera. Remember that the larger the size the longer it will take to transfer. Select the quality of the image. Remember that the higher the quality of the image the longer it will take to transfer. Pressing the test snap shot button will retrieve an image from the camera using the current settings on the page. Adjust the values of the brightness, contrast, and white balance until the image is at a desirable quality. Press ALT-F4 now and select "Yes" from the save dialog. Configuring video using static images Pull down the InterCom menu and choose configuration. Click on the notebook tab labeled VIDEO. Make sure the "Enable Video Camera" option is not checked. Press the browse button in the Privacy Image group. Use the file dialog to find a BMP or GIF file on the hard disk that you would like to transmit to the remote computer. Press ALT-F4 now and select "Yes" from the save dialog Connecting to an ICTalk server The ICTalk server comes with a default configuration. To connect to this server simply press the checkbox labeled connected. Once a check appears in the box you are connected to the server and should see the names of other users you can talk to. Press the checkbox again to disconnect from the server. ═══ 4. Configuration ═══ There are several different parts to the InterCom configuration. Each page is a locally grouped part of the configuration. Not all pages will need to be configured. Consult the help for each page to determine how to configure InterCom to your system. ═══ 4.1. General Configuration ═══ The General Configuration dialog box is where you set InterCom's basic operating options. Name Name that you want to be known by. This will be displayed to the people you talk to and on the ICTalk servers. Location Location where you live. Comment This is the text that will appear in the comment field of the Connected People list on the ICTalk server. Max Rings Number of rings before the answering machine will pick up. Call Window The time of the day when the phone should ring. If someone calls outside of this time person then the answering machine will automatically pick up. This time is in 24 hour format. Language The primary language that you speak. This will be displayed to the other users on the ICTalk server. If your specific language does not appear in the list then choose "other". Email Your Internet email address. This is an optional field that will be used to send you product updates via email. Address Your address where product information updates can be mailed to. This is an optional field. Telephone Your telephone number. This is an optional field. ═══ 4.2. Server Connection Configuration ═══ The Server Connection Configuration dialog box is where you enter the addresses and information for the servers that you will be connecting to. ICDynaIP Server Address This is the address of the ICDynaIP server. This address should not be changed unless you are instructed to by Revolutionary Software. This server is used to provide direct dialing support for those people who have a dynamic IP address. ICPages Server Address This is the address of the ICPages server. This address should not be changed unless you are instructed to by Revolutionary Software. This server is used to search for the dialing information for other users of InterCom. ICTalk Server Addresses These are the addresses of the ICTalk Servers that you plan to connect to. There is no limit to the number of server entries you can have. To add an address first type the address in the entry field of the listbox and then click the Add button. To delete an address first click on the address inside the listbox you wish to delete and then click the Delete button. To select the server that you want InterCom to connect to double click the entry in the list. The address for the ICTalk server should be displayed next to the Default Server text below the list. Connect to ICTalk servers at startup If this option is checked then InterCom will automaticly log in to the default server. ═══ 4.3. System Options ═══ These pages help configure options that will effect InterCom entirely. ═══ 4.3.1. General ═══ The System Options page is where all the general yes/no toggles are configured that effect InterCom in general. Load Introduction If this box is not checked then the introduction will not be shown each time the program loads. Dynamic IP Address Check this box if you have a dynamic IP Address. This will cause InterCom to logon to the ICDynaIP server each time it loads and allow others to call you directory by retrieving your address from the ICDynaIP server. InterCom must be reloaded after configuration is complete if this is checked for the first time. Add duplicate caller ID If this is selected a caller ID entry is added for each call received or placed. If this is not selected and an entry already exists in the list then the entry is updated. Float on top upon ring This causes the main dialog or the quick control, depending on which one is showing, to float to the top of the desktop when a call is received. This eliminates the hassle of finding the window in time to click the answer button. Float quick control to top This causes the quick control to float on top of the desktop when open. The quick control will not take the focus away from other windows though. CB style record buttons This option causes the record buttons to function like a CB. You must hold the button down with the mouse or keep the key on keyboard down while recording. As soon as the mouse button or the key on the keyboard is released the recording stops. Quick Control at startup If this option is selected then the quick control dialog will appear at startup instead of the main dialog box. If start minimized is checked then this dialog will not show. Start minimized If this dialog is checked then neither the main dialog nor the quick control dialog will appear once the initialization is done. Call Forwarding The Call Forwarding feature allows you to forward calls to a remote location. When a call is forwarded the remote client simply disconnects from you and automaticly dials another IP address. Below is a description of each of the fields to configure to use Call Forwarding. Enabled If this box is checked it will forward all calls. Name Name of the person to forward the call to. If this person has a dynamic IP address then this name must be spelled exactly as it is in the configuration of the person you want to call. The reason for this is so that the dynamic IP can be resolved correctly with the ICDynaIP server. IP Address The IP Address of the remote computer to call. If the remote computer has a dynamic IP simply leave this field blank. Dynamic IP If the person you want to forward calls to has a dynamic IP address then check this box. ═══ 4.3.2. Page Turning ═══ The Page Turning configuration page allows for the configuration of which pages InterCom will automaticly flip to when a certain action occurs. The following pages can be automaticly turned to. Caller ID When a call is received by the system this page will be turned to. This includes calls that the answering machine picks up. Answering Machine When an answering machine message is left this page will be turned to File Transfers When a file is either being sent or received then this page will be turned to. Text Chat When a new message appears in the text chat window this page will be turned to. ═══ 4.4. Server Notify ═══ ICTalk Login Notify These are the names of the people that will trigger a notify dialog when they log on to the server. This is useful if you are on the server and waiting around for a specific person. Once they are in the notify list you can minimize InterCom and wait for them to arrive while doing other things. To add a name first type the address in the entry field of the listbox and then click the Add button. To delete a name first click on the name inside the listbox you wish to delete then click the Delete button. ═══ 4.5. Audio Options ═══ The Audio Options page is where all the general yes/no toggles and other options are configured that effect the audio part of InterCom. Use Line-in Check this box if your microphone is plugged into the line-in jack instead of the microphone jack on the sound card. Force 11025 sample rate by remote Check this option if your sound card does not support any other sampling rates except 11025. This will force the remote and you to record and playback at this level. Ring through the PC speaker If this option is checked the ring will be heard through the PC speaker. If this option is not checked the ring will be heard through the audio device. Enable sound replay If this option is selected the last sound played will be stored in memory to allow fast replay. Force 8bit sound card interface Select this if your sound card is being detected as 16 bit, but needs to be run in 8 bit mode or some reason. This was only needed by a few users because of hardware conflicts. This should not be selected by most people. This will not make transfers faster either. Use DART Enable this option if you have DART (Direct Audio Real Time) support installed on your system. DART allows InterCom to access the multimedia hardware at a faster rate which minimizes CPU usage. DART is still a beta feature of the entertainment toolkit and may not work correctly with some hardware and driver configurations. See Installing DART for more information. Sample Rate Select the sample rate to use by moving the slider around. The default is 8000 and this should not be changed unless your sound card does not support 8000. If your sound card does not support 8000 then you need to check the Force 11025 sample rate option on the options page of the configuration notebook. There are three types of compression that are used on sound. None Choose this only when you have a very fast connection to the remote such as local network or a ISDN-128K or greater. Loseless Choose this only when you want to transfer sound other then normal speech. The data compressed in this method will be reproduced exactly on the remote machine. This should be chosen if the connection is ISDN-64K or greater. Lossy Choose this if you are only going to be transferring normal voice audio. This type of compression should be chosen if you are running a 28.8 modem or slower. The reproduction of the audio on the remote is not exactly that of the recording, but the quality is almost exactly that of the recording when dealing with voice audio. ═══ 4.6. Video Options ═══ The Video Options page is where all the general yes/no toggles and other options are configured that effect the video part of InterCom. Enable Video If this box is enabled video will be transmitted to the remote system if they allow it. This box also determines whether test snap shots can be taken on the next page. Allow Remote Video If this box is checked it will allow the remote to send video images to you. If you are running on a low bandwidth connection such as a 14.4 modem then it is recommended that you have this box checked. Seconds per frame This is the amount of time that InterCom will wait in between sending images. If there is lag in the transmitting then there might be a longer delay between images. Image appearance This determines how the image will appear in the video windows. In stretched mode the image will fill the entire window. If it is in normal mode then the image will simply be centered in the middle of the video window. Privacy Image This is the path to a BMP or GIF file. This file will be sent the remote if they allow video and you have the video camera disabled. This is also a way for those who do not have cameras to send their picture to the remote person. ═══ 4.7. QuickCam ═══ The following pages in this section are to help configure and adjust the QuickCam video cameras. ═══ 4.7.1. QuickCam Config ═══ The QuickCam Config page is where you set the basic parameters for the QuickCam. LPT I/O Port This is the I/O Base address of the printer port that the QuickCam is connected to. LPT1 is usually 0x378 and so on. Make sure you have this set correctly before doing anything else with the QuickCam. Detect This will attempt to detect the QuickCam on the printer port. This detection is not flawless so don't be surprised if it takes more than one time to get a successful connect. This also works better if the fastio.sys driver is installed. ═══ 4.7.2. QuickCam Adjust Config ═══ The QuickCam Adjust Config page is where you set the type and quality of the images. Size This is the size of the image that will be captured from the QuickCam. Remember that the large the image the longer the transfer time will be. Quality This is the quality of the image in bits per pixel. At 4 BPP the image will have 16 shades of gray. At 6 BPP the image will have 64 shades of gray. Increase BPP also means large images to transmit to the remote user. Brightness/Contrast/White Balance These settings are used to fine tune the images that the QuickCam takes. Brightness is the most commonly adjusted setting. Test Snap Shot This button will retrieve an image from the QuickCam using the current settings in the dialog. This helps fine tune the image quality. ═══ 4.8. File Transfer Config ═══ The file transfer page is where you configure the options that will effect files that you transfer. Below is a list of the options and a description of how to configure them. Block Size The block size can vary from 512 bytes to 4096 bytes per block and can be changed in 256 byte increments. This is the size of data that will be read from the file each time. The large the block size the faster the transfer rate. This block size should not be set over 1024 if you are only using a 28.8 or slow so that the file data can mix with the audio and video data nicely. For those of ISDN 64K or greater speeds a block size of 4096 is recommended. Download Path This is the directory on the hard drive where the files received from the remote should be placed. ═══ 5. General Control ═══ The InterCom program consists of a main notebook, called the Control Notebook, and the talk controls. Phonebook This button will bring up the phonebook. This will allow you to choose a person to call. Call This button will call the currently highlighted person in the ICTalk window or if no person is highlighted it will load the phonebook and allow you to choose a name to call. Start Recording Once a conversation has been started, this button is used to start and stop the recording of audio. Make sure you understand how CB Style record buttons work if you have this option enabled in the configuration notebook. Replay This button will replay the last sound that InterCom played. ═══ 6. Control Notebook ═══ The main window of the InterCom program is known as the control notebook. This notebook has several pages that are used to control the various features of InterCom. Use the arrow keys to the right to change pages. To change pages faster, right click around the border of the notebook. This will bring a popup menu up with the names of each page. Select the page you would like to go to. ═══ 6.1. ICTalk ═══ ICTalk servers are so people can login and talk with other people. These servers are a great way to meet other people and chat with them. There are many ICTalks around the world that are networked together. Once you connect to one of them you will see everyone that is on the network. Once you are logged in to the server you can choose from a list of all the people and talk to them. When you are finished talking you can logout of the servers. Connected people This list displays the people that are connected to the servers. Double click on an entry in the list to call the person. There will also be LED type lights in the column to tell the status of the person including if they are busy, registered, and have a video capture device active. Connected This button is a checkbox. If there is a check in the box then you are connected to the server. To connect to the default server simply click the button. Filters Check these boxes to filter out people who are unregistered or busy. ═══ 6.2. Caller ID ═══ The Caller ID page shows the caller identification information for all the calls InterCom has received or placed since the program started. Previous View the previous caller ID entry. Next View the next caller ID entry. Block Adds the current caller ID entry to the call blocking list. This person will no longer be allowed to call you. Add to Dialing Directory Creates an entry in the dialing directory from the caller ID information. Return call This will automatically redial the person in the caller ID box. This is faster then adding them to the dialing directory, choosing call, and then selecting their name. This is also useful for those people you may only call once and don't want to have in your dialing directory. Clear Clears the current caller ID entry from the list. Clear All Clears all the entries from the caller ID list ═══ 6.3. Answering Machine ═══ The Answering Machine page is used to control the messages left on the answering machine. Delete This is used to delete the current message once you have listened to it and don't want to store it on the hard drive anymore. Next/Previous These buttons are used to move forward and backwards through the messages stored in the answering machine. Play/Stop This is used to play a message back. Click the stop button if you want to stop listening to the message before it is over. These commands are used to play back messages left on the answering machine. To review the greeting that you recorded select review greeting from the popup menu. Return Call Clicking this button will return the call of the person who left the answering machine message. ═══ 6.4. Local Video ═══ Quickcam Adjust These spin buttons are used to adjust the QuickCam settings to make the pictures taken, clear. The test button will take a snapshot with the current settings of the QuickCam. This test image will not be transmitted to the remote person. Mute This button will hault the transmittion of video data to the remote. This however will not stop the reception of video data. ═══ 6.5. File Transfer ═══ The File Transfer page is used to control and monitor the sending and receiving of files between the two users. Send Press this button to choose a file to send to the remote user. You will be presented with a file browser dialog to make finding the file easier. Once you have selected the file, the remote user will be prompted for confirmation. If they reject the file the send button will become selectable again. Abort The abort button will halt the sending or receiving of the current file. ═══ 6.6. Answering Machine Greeting ═══ The answering machine greeting page is used to record the messages that the remote user will hear when the answering machine answers the call. There are three types of answering machine messages. Busy This message is played to the remote user when you are talking to someone else. Default This message is played to the user when you are not talking, the phone rings the specified number of times, and the answering machine answers. User This message is played when the user who calls is in the user greetings list. This can be a personalized message for someone such as a friend or someone you are waiting for a call from. To record a user message type the users name in the entry field part of the user greetings list. Then click the Add button. Once their name is in the list select it by single clicking on it. Click on the user checkbox. When the record button is pressed it will then record a message for this specific person. Review This will review the greeting. If the User checkbox is selected it will review the greeting of the name highlighted in the user greetings list. Record Greeting This button will record the greeting message. Make sure that you have selected to correct type of greeting that you want it to record. ═══ 7. Phonebook ═══ The Phonebook is where you add and maintain the names and addresses of people you call. The list is like your personal telephone book. Add To add an entry to the phonebook. Delete To delete an entry click on it in the list and then click the delete button. Edit To edit an entry click on the entry in the list and then click the edit button or double click the entry in the list. ═══ 7.1. Phonebook Entry Editing ═══ The Phonebook Entry Edit dialog box is where you specify the information for an entry. Name This is the name of the person. If you know that the person has a dynamic IP address then this field must be spelled exactly as they have it in their configuration. Location This is the location of the person. If you know that the person has a dynamic IP address then this field must be spelled exactly as they have it in their configuration. If they do not have a dynamic IP address then filling in this field is not required. IP Address This is the internet address of the person. If the dynamic IP button is checked then this is ignored by InterCom and their IP Address is retrieved from the ICDynaIP server upon each call. Dynamic IP Check this box if the person has a dynamic IP address. ═══ 8. Call Blocking ═══ The Call Blocking dialog box is where you add and maintain the names and addresses of people you do not wish to let call you. Do not add entries to try and block people who have a Dynamic IP address because their address will change each time they connect to the Internet. Add To add an entry to the call blocking list. Delete To delete an entry click on it in the list and then click the delete button. Edit To edit an entry click on the entry in the list and then click the edit button or double click the entry in the list. ═══ 8.1. Call Blocking Entry Editing ═══ The Call Blocking Entry Edit dialog box is where you specify the information for each entry. Name This is the name of the person. IP Address This is the internet address of the person. ═══ 9. Quick Control ═══ The Quick Control is a small window that can be placed out of the way to allow easily control of the talk features. The main dialog box disappears when the quick control dialog appears. The main dialog box will automatically reappear when this window is closed. Start Recording This is used to start the recording of message to be sent to the remote person. Click this button again to stop recording the message. Hangup This is used to disconnect from the remote person. Answer When someone is calling you, you must click on the answer button to initiate a conversation. If you don't the answering machine will pick up. ═══ 10. ICPages ═══ ICPages is the electronic telephone book of other people running InterCom. You can register yourself with the ICPages so that other people can find out your address. ICPages allows you to search it's database for other people that you know. If will provide you with their address and they can be added to your dialing directory. ═══ 10.1. ICPages Register ═══ By choosing this from the menu you are automatically register with the ICPages Server. You must choose this at least once every two months to update your entry in the database and keep it active. If your internet address is dynamic you should not register with the ICPages server. ═══ 10.2. ICPages Search ═══ The ICPages Search dialog box is where enter a search criteria and submit it to the ICPages server. Name This is the name criteria to use for the search. If this field is left blank the server doesn't use it is part of the search criteria. This field can be a substring that would be found in the name that you are searching for. Location This is the location criteria to use for the search. If this field is left blank the server doesn't use it is part of the search criteria. This field can be a substring that would be found in the location that you are searching for. Add to Dialing Directory Once the search results are returned from the server you can add a result to your dialing directory. Simply click on the entry in the list you would like to add and then click the Add to Dialing Directory button. Search Once you have entered the criteria for your search, click the Search button to send it to the ICPages server and retrieve the results. ═══ 11. Glossary ═══ These are terms that help explain InterCom better. ═══ 11.1. Internet address ═══ An internet address is a unique number which identifies a computer on the Internet. There are two ways of expressing an internet address: names or numbers. An example of a name address would be ibm.com, but this address also has a number representation which would be 129.34.139.30 Note: This program can handle internet addresses that are either in either name or number forms. ═══ 12. Speeding up QuickCam ═══ To speed up the QuickCam you can install the FASTIO.SYS driver in your config.sys file. Simply add the line DEVICE=C:/INTERCOM/FASTIO.SYS to your config.sys. If you have the XF86SUP.SYS driver that is used for XFree86 then you shouldn't have to install the FASTIO.SYS driver. This driver is automatically detected by InterCom and used if found it is used. The system functions fine without it though also. This driver allows InterCom to do 32 bit IO to the printer port. This removes some system overhead and increases the speed by a small amount. ═══ 13. Installing DART ═══ To install the DART (Direct Audio Real Time) support follow the steps below. Example commands are given to provide addition ease of installation. Open an OS/2 command line window. Make sure you are in the InterCom directory. Example command "CD\INTERCOM" Create a temporary directory. Example command "MD TEMP" Unzip the DART.ZIP file to the temporary directory. Example command "PKUNZIP DART.ZIP TEMP" Change to the temporary directory. Example command "CD TEMP" View the readme file and follow the directions contained in it. Example command "E README" ═══ 14. Trademarks and Copyrights ═══ The following is a list of trademarks and copyrights used in this program. All rights are reserved. InterCom is Copyright (c) 1995-96 by Jonathan Tew. QuickCam is Copyright (c) 1995 by Connectix Corporation OS/2 is Copyright (c) 1987, 1995 by IBM Corporation FASTIO.SYS is Copyright (c) 1995 by Holger Veit All others not mentioned are trademarks or copyrighted by their respectful companies. ═══ 15. Technical support ═══ Revolutionary Software can be contacted by Email - jtew@revsoft.is.net WWW - http://www.ixworld.com/ic/intercom.html FTP - ftp://ftp.ixworld.com/ic/ There is also a Frequently Asked Questions file (INTERCOM.FAQ) in the InterCom directory. The solution to many common problems can be found with in this file. ═══ 16. Registration ═══ InterCom v3.x registration form InterCom is Copyright (c) 1995-96 by Jonathan Tew. All Rights Reserved. Note: Each registration of InterCom comes with at least two licenses for InterCom. Note: InterCom is distributed via BMT Micro. BMT Micro is in no other way affiliated with Revolutionary Software or InterCom. Mail Orders To: BMT Micro PO Box 15016 Wilmington, NC 28408 U.S.A. Voice Orders: 8:00am - 7:00pm EST (-5 GMT) (800) 414-4268 (Orders only) (910) 791-7052 (Orders / Order Inquires) Fax Orders: (800) 346-1OS2 (1672) 24 hours, 7 days a week Online Orders via BBS: (910) 350-8061 10 lines, all 14.4K (910) 799-0923 28.8k v.FC via Compuserve: Thomas Bradford, 74031,307 via Internet: orders@bmt.wilmington.net We accept Visa, MasterCard, Discover, American Express, Diner's Club, money order, cashiers checks, and personal checks. We also accept DM and British currency via registered mail. Personal checks are subject to clearance. We accept purchase orders from educational institutions, governmental agencies and other verifiable businesses. Terms are "Due Upon Receipt" with a $250 minimum. Name: ____________________________________________________________ Company: ____________________________________________________________ Address: ____________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________ City: _______________________ State/Province: __________________ Country: ____________________________ Postal Code: __________________ Phone: ____________________________________________________________ Fax: ____________________________________________________________ Email: ____________________________________________________________ Product Price Quantity Total -------------------------------------------------------------------- ( Funds below specified in US dollars ) _InterCom v3.x__________________ $_29.99__ x ________ = $____.___ ________________________________ $________ x ________ = $____.___ ________________________________ $________ x ________ = $____.___ ________________________________ $________ x ________ = $____.___ ________________________________ $________ x ________ = $____.___ Subtotal: $____.___ North Carolina residents, please add 6% sales tax: +$____.___ Shipping (check one): ___ Email (subject to credit card verification Free ___ Fax (subject to credit card verification Free ___ 1st Class ................................. Free ___ Airborne (Next day most places, USA Only).. +$___7.00_ ___ Federal Express (USA Only)................. +$__13.00_ ___ Federal Express (Canada/Mexico)............ +$__25.00_ ___ Federal Express (Europe/Japan)............. +$__30.00_ ___ Express (Outside USA) ..................... +$__20.00_ Total: $____.___ For credit card payment only: Circle one: VISA / Master / Discover / AMEX / Diner's Club Credit card number: _____________________________________________ Expiration date: ___/___ Authorization signature: _____________________________________________ --- Additional ordering information for our German customers--- If you reside in Germany and wish to register InterCom locally you can deposit the registration fee into our account in Germany. The registration fee using this method is 46 DM diskless / 50 DM with diskette. Empfanger: Thomas Bradford Konto-Nummer: 0860221 Bankleitzahl: 500-700-10 After depositing the money, you can fax confirmation of the deposit to 910-350-2937 along with the registration form -or- you can wait until we are notified by Deutsche Bank that your deposit has been made, usually within 7-10 days.