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1993-05-15
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PortaCall(c)
If you regularly use your cellular phone to check your answering
machine messages, then PortaCall is the program for you.
With PortaCall, your computer will call you whenever a new message is
on your machine. PortaCall lets you know there is a message, by
dialing your cellular phone, leaving a few harmless rings and then
hanging up.
When you hear the rings you can then dial up your answering machine and
retrieve your new message.
PortaCall will make you more responsive to your customers and will save
you money in cellular phone charges- You'll only call your answering
machine when you KNOW there are messages.
Hardware Requirements and Setup
To use PortaCall you'll need an answering machine and a Hayes
compatible, auto-dial modem. PortaCall will dial out on either
a PULSE or TONE phone system. The default setting is TONE, if you
want PULSE you must put a 'P' before the phone number (see examples
below).
The proper setup for the answering machine and modem should be:
- Connect the modem LINE jack to the answering machine PHONE
jack.
- Connect the answering machine LINE jack to the wall jack
You may require a different configuration if you have additional phone
equipment, such as a fax machine, to consider. The bottom line is, you
want the answering machine and the modem to sense incoming calls at the
same time.
When properly connected your answering machine should pick up calls as
usual and (without any communications software running) your modem
lights should blink whenever you receive phone calls. If you have an
internal modem, obviously, you cannot check the lights. In this case
just make sure the answering machine is working properly.
(1)
Running the Program
1. Before you leave your office, turn on your PC and modem
2. Load PortaCall by entering:
PCALL [cellular phone#] [wait time] [ring count]
For example:
PCALL 555-1212 2 3
or
PCALL P555-1212 2 3 (this option uses PULSE dialing).
Will set PCALL to dial 555-1212 two minutes after your answering
machine receives a message. PortaCall will leave three rings on the
cellular phone and then hang up.
Things to Consider
The WAIT TIME is in minutes. It begins as soon as your office phone
rings. You should use a WAIT TIME that is long enough for someone to
leave a nice long message. If the wait time is too short, then
PortaCall may begin dialing your cellular phone before the caller
finishes his message.
The RING COUNT is based on the standard '6 seconds per ring' timing on
most phones. On cellular phones there is sometimes a long delay before
the first ring occurs. It may be best to add 1 to the ring count. For
example, if you want PortaCall to leave 2 rings on your cellular phone,
use 3 as the ring count.
Checking Your Messages
Whenever your cellular phone rings a few times and then stops, you'll
know there are messages waiting for you. In the mean time, PortaCall
will have looped back to wait for the next phone call to your answering
machine. When you call up to get your messages you will be activating
PortaCall again. Because PortaCall doesn't know that it's you checking
your messages, it will, again, call your cellular phone a few minutes
after you've dialed in. If you are certain that this second PortaCall
call is due to your message checking, then just ignore it.
(2)
The PortaCall Screen
The PortaCall screen shows the values you chose when you started
PortaCall. To modify these values, press ESC to exit PortaCall and
then start the program again with new values:
Dial Indicates the cellular phone number
Wait Indicates the delay time between when a message is
left on the answering machine and when PortaCall
dials the cellular phone
Rings Indicates the number of rings to be left on the
cellular phone
Status Indicates the status of PortaCall
The last line on the PortaCall screen shows the status of PortaCall.
The different status' and their meanings are as follows:
Waiting for a Phone Call PortaCall is listening to your
modem to see if it rings.
nnn Seconds Until Dial PortaCall has sensed a ring on the
modem and is counting down before it
dials your cellular phone.
Dialing PortaCall is dialing your number
Not Enough Info to Load You started PortaCall and either the
phone number, the wait time or the
ring count were missing.
Phone Number is too long The phone number can be 15
characters
Wait time is not valid The wait time must be between 1 and
9
Ring Count is not valid The ring count must be between 1 and
9
(3)
Registration
It would be greatly appreciated if you registered PortaCall with its
author. PortaCall should save you a great deal of time and money if
you use it regularly. For this I ask just $10.00.
Please register by sending a check or money order for $10.00 to Bill
Dineen, 455 Hope Street #3F, Stamford, CT 06906.
If you have any questions about PortaCall, my CIS ID# is 76370,2451.
(4)