Seth

Does Flash Caller ID work for anyone else?

I was under the impression that UNIMODEM in WinXP does not support distinctive ring, but that they had not removed support from the TAPI Windows service itself. Isn't this right? If so, why is it necessary to use UNIMODEM to communicate with the modem? Aren't there any voice modems with their own TAPI drivers? If not, don't some of the telephony boards have their own TAPI drivers and couldn't they support distinctive ring on Windows XP? P.S. - Aren't there any cheats possible? In other words, three effectively unused binary values that could reach IVM via UNIMODEM and be interpreted by IVM as the three distinctive rings drn[1 ()], drn[2 ()], and drn[3 ()]? (See post above for how I turned the Creative DRON/DROF modem into a true distinctive ring modem.)

I also tried replacing the 0x18, 0x19, 0x1a codes by 0x98, 0x99, 0x9a for single, double, and triple ring, respectively. Again, the rings were interpreted properly as Distinctive Ring 1, 2, 3 as seen in the modem log, but again this information was probably not passed by Unimodem to IVM, which continued to register drn[1 ()] for all three rings.

The version of Unimodem in Win NT/2000/XP does not support distinctive ring. Does that mean it is impossible for distinctive ring detection to work properly with IVM using these operating systems? I have a modem that somewhat supports distinctive ring (Creative DI5633). It doesn't give the RingA/RingB/RingC or Ring1/Ring2/Ring3 responses, but instead shows unique DRON/DROF sequences for each of my three distinctive ring numbers. I presume IVM would easily be able to use this information to distinguish the three rings if it had a direct mode of communication in addition to the TAPI mode. (It doesn't have a direct mode, does it?) Of course, I'm not going to give up using Windows XP so is it even possible with a voice modem for IVM to distinguish distinctive ring numbers? If so, which modem is known to work and how does it work since this information isn't passed by Unimodem? Also, is it possible for IVM to launch a program during the rings that connects directly to the modem (albeit briefly), takes the DRON/DROF information, determines whether it is Ring1, Ring2, or Ring3, and then passes that information back to IVM? Thanks, Seth P.S. - IVM logs show all three rings reporting drn[1 (6000ms)] (or nearly 6000ms), even though they have very different DRON/DROF sequences. ------- Update: 4/23/06 By the way, I turned my DRON/DROF distinctive ring modem into a normal distinctive ring modem by adding to the following binary values to the registry key HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion \Unimodem\DeviceSpecific\Creative Modem Blaster V.92 PCI DI5633::Creative::Creative\Responses "<cr><lf>DRON=19<cr><lf>"=hex:18,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00 "<cr><lf>DRON=9<cr><lf>"=hex:19,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00 "<cr><lf>DRON=5<cr><lf>"=hex:1a,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00 I chose DRON=19, DRON=9, and DRON=5 because these appear only in Rings 1, 2, and 3, respectively. (These values need to be customized -- I opened Program\Accessories\Communications\Hyperterminal to determine these.) The binary codes on the right are for Ring 1, Ring 2, and Ring 3, respectively. I also removed the standard reponses "<cr><lf>DRON =x"=hex:91,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00 "<cr><lf>DROF =x"=hex:92,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00 from the registry key Now, looking at the modem log (using the Modem Control Panel), I see correct responses to various rings. For example, to Ring 2: 04-23-2006 00:17:09.421 - Recv: <cr><lf>DRON=9<cr><lf> 04-23-2006 00:17:09.421 - Interpreted response: Distinctive Ring 2 UNFORTUNATELY, IVM still registers all rings with the drn[1 (6000ms)]. Why? I presume because this wonderful Distinctive Ring N (N=1,2,3) information is not passed by Unimodem to IVM! Does anyone know of any case where IVM has distinguished DRNs in WinNT/2000/XP? I would be happy to replace the three binary value above with any three values if they were passed by Unimodem in WinNT/2000/XP and if IVM could interpret these responses as drn[1 ()], drn[2 ()], and drn[3 ()].

I have a similar problem, except a little worse. I also have 3 distinctive ring numbers on a single phone line (single ring, double ring, and a short-long-short ring). Unfortunately, IVM is not receiving DRN information from my modem. It's a Creative Modem Blaster DI5633 and it does have hardware DRN built-in. Here is part of the modem's INF file: ---- ; Copyright © Broadxent Pte Ltd 2001 ; HCF DataFax/PCI/WIN2000 INF ; Version 2.1.2.173.010.000 ; By Huipeng 2002 [DRing] HKR, EnableDistinctiveRing,1,,"at+vdr=1,5<cr>" HKR,,ForwardDelay, 1, 88, 13 HKR, Responses, "<cr><lf>DRON=", 1, 91, 00, 00,00,00,00, 00,00,00,00 HKR, Responses, "<cr><lf>DROF=", 1, 92, 00, 00,00,00,00, 00,00,00,00 ---- In Settings - Devices - Advanced VoIP Account Settings, I have checked the Use Hardware Distinctive Ring. (I'm not using VoIP -- why is this setting here??) What happens is: number 1 reports drn[1 (6000ms)] and caller id shows up properly number 2 reports drn[1 (59xxms)] and caller id shows up properly number 3 reports drn[1 (59xxms)] and caller id shows UNKNOWN (xx varies, but is only somewhat smaller than 100, and there's no difference in reporting when calling number 1 and number 2 ) It's almost as if the short-long-short ring for number 3 throws off the ring count of IVM and so it assumes caller id information should have occurred already by the second ring... but it's really the first ring and so it reports UNKNOWN. The modem clearly supports both caller id and distinctive ring. Any ideas about how to get it to work properly with IVM? Thanks, Seth

I looked at quite a few programs of this type and decided on IVM because it was stable and reliable. A few features don't seem to work at the moment (on-screen caller ID of incoming calls). Others one might want are missing (e.g., a telephone ring through the speakers for non-blocked calls, a fast/slow flashing keyboard light for new/old messages, etc.). However, the program and help is very straightforward and I haven't purchased technical support yet. I'd recommend trying it out, at least for a few days, before buying so that you're at least aware of which parts work and which do not. I'd also recommend to set it to "Run as Service (before login). Show this user only." (This user is whichever logs in first.) Additional users should access messages using the web server feature and NOT launch a separate instance of ivm.exe since this will indeed break the answering machine functionality. (This seems true for all programs like IVM as well.) The setting "Run as Service (before login). Show all users" launches an instance of ivm.exe for all users. If you use fast-user switching, this is a problem the moment a second user logs into the machine. I don't know about the board, but the sound quality is really good, even with the voice modem that came with my computer.

There's nothing wrong with the Microsoft text-to-speech. If I give it a number (123) 456-7890, it will recognize that this is a phone number and say, "Area code one, two, three.... four, five, six.... seven, eight, nine, zero." If I give it 123-456-7890, it reads, "One, two three.... four, five, six.... seven, eight, nine, zero." If I give it 1234567890 (the format of Caller ID in the U.S.), it reads, "one billion, two hundred thirty four million,...." IVM simply needs to a quick check (and change, if necessary) of the number format before handing it off to the text-to-speech.

In General Settings I check "Run IVM automatically..." and select "Run as Service (before login). Show this user only." This is good since it will only start the service when the first user of the computer logs in (whoever that might be). It won't launch any other instances when other people log in, which breaks the answering machine. For example, if you set "Run as Service (before login). Show all users," a second instance starts running automatically when a second user logs into the computer (using fast user switching on Windows XP). This then breaks the answering machine. (Try calling the number and listen for an outgoing message!) This user instance needs to be exited (and monitoring of calls for this instance stopped) before IVM works properly again. Even with the setting "Run as Service (before login). Show this user only," if the second user manually launches IVM to get access to settings, voicemail, etc., it breaks the answering machine. That user has to remember exit his/her instance and stop call monitoring when finished. It would be great if the IVM program could be separated in a smaller core program (run as a service) and a system tray GUI program that each user could launch. For example, see the last two paragraphs of http://msdn.microsoft.com/library/default....ve_services.asp That way each user logged into the machine could have access to IVM with only one instance of the program running (under SYSTEM). Seth

Cingular (and maybe some other companies) allow call forwarding to any number (even your home number) when you're not available. You can then get messages in one place. The downside is that, if you're out, you'll have to check messages at home since you won't see the voicemail indicator on your phone.

Try this: In General Options you could check the Run IVM automatically... and then select "Run As Service (before logon). Show this user only."

The setting Flash Caller ID of incoming calls on screen doesn't work. There is nothing wrong with Caller ID otherwise. It records the Caller ID in the logs and announces it on the speakers when a call comes in (*). I am using the Small Interactive edition. * Actually, when a call comes in, e.g., from (987) 654-3210, the program announces a call from "9 billion, eight hundred seventy six million, five hundred forty three thousand, two hundred ten." It would be better if it just said, "nine eight seven... six five four... three two one zero."