Experimental BBS Explossion 3/Experimental BBS Explossion III.iso/comunic/track13.zip/TRACK.DOC

Text File | 1993-09-05 | 10KB | 220 lines

 Track-It! Phonebill Projector
 (C)opyright 1993 Stealth Software
 Release: 1.3

 ---DISCLAIMER---

 Qmodem is a trademark of Mustang Software and is in no way related to
 Stealth Software.

 This program is provided as is with no guarantee. Its primary purpose
 is to estimate your phonebill. However, it is extremely difficult
 to exactly duplicate the phone company's billing methods. Stealth Software
 and Stephen McClymont, Jr. will not be responsible for any unexpected
 phonebills that occur as a result of inaccurate reports made by this
 program.

 ---SHAREWARE---

 If you find this program useful, please consider sending $15 (or however
 much you think its worth) to:

        Stephen McClymont, Jr.
        Route 1 Box 6
        Elbert, Tx 76359-9702

 ---INFO---

 Being extremly limited in the amount of money I can spend on long distance
 calling, I find it necessary to know as I go along how much I have spent
 so far. After a couple of months of trying to keep up with the charges on
 paper, and comming up at the end of the month with a much higher total
 than I had expected, I decided I needed to write a program to take care of
 this function for me. This is the third version I have written of a phone
 bill tracking program, but it is the first public release. It is at the
 moment only compatible with the Qmodem software package. I have looked
 into other comm programs but non of them(at least the versions I have)
 generate a log file with enough info to work with my program. Usage of
 TRACK-It is really quite simple.

 When you run the SETUP utility, you will be asked to enter certain
 default rates for the three calling periods.

 8am - 5pm   PrimeTime/Daytime      Most Expensive
 5pm - 11pm  Evening                Cheaper
 11pm - 8am  Late Night             Cheapest (but still high!!!)

 I have set the defaults on the program according to my phone company's
 billing methods. I use AT&T, under a rural co-op. The rates generally run
 about $.17 , $.15, $.13 respectivly, for the above listed time periods.
 That is for out of state calls. The within state calls are much more
 expensive, unless extremely close. All of the rates discussed above are
 on a per minute basis. TRACK-IT cannot handle hourly charge rates unless
 divided by 60 to produce a per minute rate. TRACK-IT maintains a listing of
 every number it processes. (Note: Track-It ignores LOCAL and 1-800 calls).
 Each time a new number is proccessed, you are given the option of entering
 a new rate for the number or of using the defaults (this could be useful if
 you occasionally call 1-900 numbers, or your calling rates vary
 significantly from one number to the next). After you have entered the
 new rates or accepted the default for a new number, the next time you call
 that number you will not be prompted for the rates again. My experience
 is that out of state rates generally do not vary significantly from one
 state or number to another. However, every phone company is probably
 different so when starting out it is a GOOD idea to contact the operator
 and get rates on a bunch of different numbers and compare them. TRACK-IT
 rounds each partial minute up to the next. So, if you spend 3 minutes and
 25 seconds online, it will figure the cost as a 4 minute call.

 ---ENTERING DEFAULTS---

 Run the SETUP.EXE program, allow the automatic scan program to locate your
 QMODEM program files. Then you will be given the following configuration
 options.

  [1] Daytime Rate
  [2] Evening Rate
  [3] Late Rate
  [4] Monthly Service Fee
  [5] Day New Billing Month Begins

 To change the defaults, simply enter the number of the option you wish to
 change. Press ENTER by itself to save the defaults.

 At any time, should you change the paths in which Qmodem or Track-It are
 located, or you upgrade to QMODEM PRO, or you just want to modify your
 default options, simply run SETUP.EXE.

 Option 1:
 Allows you to change the default daytime (8am-5pm) rate.
 Use standard US currency format, max $9.99 per minute.

 Option 2:
 Allows you to change the default evening (5pm-11pm) rate.
 Use standard US currency format, max $9.99 per minute.

 Option 3:
 Allows you to change the default late night (11pm-8am) rate.
 Use standard US currency format, max $9.99 per minute.

 Option 4:
 The program will automatically figure in your telephone company's
 service charge each month. Enter the service fee here.

 Option 5:
 My phone company, in order to get their money at the end of the month,
 instead of a couple of weeks into the next month, begins a new billing
 period on the 22nd of each month. This option allows you to enter the
 day of the month that your phone company begins its new billing period.

 That covers the configuration aspect of TRACK-IT!

 ---INSTALLATION---

 Here is how to install TRACK-IT!

 When you first run SETUP.EXE, and configure the defaults, a batch file
 named QMT.BAT is created in your QMODEM directory. The only additional
 installation you need to do is this:

 Go into your QMODEM configuration and turn "Auto-Start LOG" to ON.
 (found in Toggles, under the option menu)
 Make sure the log filename is QMODEM.LOG. (Or QMPRO.LOG for Qmodem PRO)
 Try putting an ^M after the log file name like this: QMODEM.LOG^M.
 Sometimes this keeps you from having to press ENTER each time you start
 Qmodem up but sometimes you still have to. That should do it! Each
 time you want to run Qmodem, just run the QMT.BAT batch file and when you
 are done TRACK-IT! comes on and figures up your bill.

 ---FINAL WORDS---

 I have used a various versions of this program for the about 9 months,
 and normally the program has predicted my phonebill within $5-7 of the
 actual total. TRACK-IT! keeps a list of all your calls in a file called
 CALLS with the extention being a three letter code which signifies the
 current month. For example, in January you would have a file called
 CALLS.JAN; February: CALL.FEB and so on. The file looks very much like
 a real phone bill, with the time, date, minutes spent online, place
 called, cost of call, and running total for each call. Once a year, you
 will want to go through and erase all the old CALLS files or maybe more
 often. You can view the call files from dos or a wordproccessor.

 UPDATE!!! Version 1.2
 You can now view CALLS files without leaving Track-It. Simply select
 <V>iew Previous Activity on the Main Menu or Log File Not Found Menu,
 and select month you desire to examine!

 Do not make any modifications to the current CALLS file for the month
 because your total could be lost. I have also recently added a nice feature
 which allows you to log in calls that you did not make with QMODEM. This
 can be any kind of call, including a voice call, or a call made with another
 COMM program. The trick to this is you have to enter the number called,
 time called, name of place called, and time spent online. To enter a
 "non log" or "non Qmodem" call, run TRACK from DOS without first running
 Qmodem and select the appropriate option. Remember, each time you make
 a call to a modem that picks up but does not connect properly, the
 phone company still charges you. TRACK-IT cannot detect such calls, and
 this provides small inaccuracies. Its only a computer, its bound to
 mess up somehow so don't be surprised if one of these days you get a
 bill you weren't expecting.

 ---TECHNICAL SUPPORT---

 This program has not yet been fully tested. Please inform us of any bugs
 or technical problems you encounter. If you are having trouble with
 installation and operation, I'd be glad to try and help. If you have
 a modem (which I expect you do, if you use this program much) you can
 contact me thru these BBSes:

 [phone]   Stealth System BBS     Elbert, Texas [Home BBS]
 [phone]   Stimpy's Litterbox     Sacramento, California [Beta Sight]

 If you'd rather, you can write me thru the US Mail at the address
 given under "SHARWARE" or on PRODIGY at CNFT83B.

 UPDATE VERSION 1.1 RELEASE (New:TRACK.ZIP) (BugFix:TRACKFIX.ZIP)

 I found a bug in Version 1.0 in that it was unable to handle calls that
 were long distance but were withing the same area code. I have fixed this
 problem, and I have also added the provision to use the QMODEM PRO software
 package.

 UPDATE VERSION 1.2 RELEASE (New:TRACK.ZIP) (Update:TRACKFIX.ZIP)

 I have recieved many responces on the support boards for this program,
 so I have decided to spiffy up the user interface just a bit. I have
 added colorful information & menu windows for the text. In general,
 it looks like a new program but still does basically the same thing.
 Also, I have added a mini-text viewer that gives you a menu from which
 you can select & view the projected phonebill of any month you desire,
 as long as it is in the Track-It! directory. Also, an option has been
 added to allow users to read this file from the main option menu. Hot
 key menus have been replaced with bar menus.

 UPDATE VERSION 1.3 RELEASE (New Only: TRACK13.ZIP)

 I amazed at the popularity of the "concept" of this program. After
 sending this program to my beta-tester & distribution sight
 "Stimpy's Litterbox BBS", I began to recieve calls and questions
 concerning installation & operation through prodigy, my bbs, and
 my voice phone. People seem to find it difficult to install the
 program... So, I have written a setup program which should make
 *almost* all the installation automatic. That is the major addition
 to version 1.3. Also, there was a small bug which caused the call
 tracker to print incorrect names when the phone number was not
 the full 10 number lenght. I hope that is fixed.

 BTW, Brad Barrier, SysOp of Stimpy's LitterBox uploaded Track-It
 to MSI BBS (The home of Qmodem). I was amazed to see that it has
 been downloaded from MSI over 600 times!!!!!
        Thanks Brad, for everything!

 ---THANK YOU!---

 Your input about this program has been extremely helpful. Please
 continue to tell me about any bugs, and inform me as to what you
 would like to see in future releases of Track-it! and other
 Stealth Programs.

                                (**End of Documentation**)