********************* * PRIVATE SECRETARY * * BRIEF GUIDE * ********************* INTEGRATED SUPPORT TECHNOLOGY January 22, 1993 Private Secretary(tm) BRIEF GUIDE ---------------------------------------------------------------------- NOTICE ------ (c) 1991-1993, Integrated Support Technology - All rights reserved. Private Secretary(tm) is a copyrighted product of Integrated Support Technology. A single decompressed copy may be used on a trial basis for a period not to exceed 30 days. At the end of the trial period, please register or discontinue its use and destroy all decompressed copies in your possession. Any unauthorized duplication and/or modification of the program or the accompanying documentation, in any form, in whole or in part, except as specified by Integrated Support Technology, is prohibited, without the express written permission of Integrated Support Technology. Private Secretary(tm) is a trademark of Integrated Support Technology. ===================================================================== This documentation is intentionally brief. It is not intended to replace the illustrated manual that comes with registration and therefore does not explore the details of each function and feature. If you require assistance during evaluation, select F1-About within the application or review the support section of the README file. ----------------------------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------------------------------------- (c)Integrated Support Technology, 1992-93 All Rights Reserved January 22, 1993 Page 1 Private Secretary(tm) BRIEF GUIDE ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Private Secretary(tm) Brief Guide ================================= The basic function of Private Secretary is to monitor the phone via a Hayes compatible auto-dial modem and notify you on your pager and/or at another phone that a call came in. This allows you the freedom to be away from your home or office phone and still respond quickly to incoming calls. In addition, Private Secretary can send wakeup calls and routine reminders to remind you of important events/meetings (or provide an excuse to get out of one). Private Secretary can be set up to log call activity to disk, dispatch calls to small groups, other answering machines, and once registered, can also report when power has been restored after a power failure. When used with a standard remote call pick up answering machine connected to the same line, Private Secretary can provide a powerful and inexpensive voice mail system that can be linked to your pager, used for screening your cellular phone calls, or used as a message center for small groups. This ability saves you the cost of leasing voice mail services and allows you to restrict your pager or cellular phone numbers. It also means you are free to change your pager or cellular services at any time without having to notify your callers of your new numbers or change your business cards and stationary. You simply change the numbers in Private Secretary. The timing of Private Secretary is initially set up to send call notification to most "direct dial" digital pagers. If this is what you have, just put your pager number in the Numbers Screen, review the section below on "Pick Up Modes" and you're ready to go. If you wish to use it to call you at another phone or your pager answers with a voice message or requires a PIN (ID) number, some changes in the dial timing and digital message will be required. To test your settings, you can use the "Simulate Call" feature of Private Secretary to force Private Secretary to dial out. HARDWARE REQUIREMENTS The minimum configuration is an IBM PC or greater with a color CGA monitor or higher, a Hayes(tm)/AT command set compatible auto-dial modem. An answering machine connected to the same line as the modem is required for voice mail capability and a digital pager is highly recommended. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- (c)Integrated Support Technology, 1992-93 All Rights Reserved January 22, 1993 Page 2 Private Secretary(tm) BRIEF GUIDE ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Note: Monochrome version is available by contacting Integrated Support Technology If a FAX machine is installed on the same line, it should be the type that allows an answering machine to be connected and the modem should be connected to the answering machine or phone side of the FAX machine. Depending on the hardware configuration and the capabilities of the FAX unit, Private Secretary will dispatch a notification call or page when FAXes are received as well as phone calls unless the ring signal is intercepted by the FAX machine or FAX switch. SOFTWARE CONFIGURATION Private Secretary will run under most versions of DOS and can be configured as a Non-Windows application under Windows. IMPORTANT --------- All of the "PS" files created by Private Secretary, should be kept in the same directory as the Private Secretary application. The files Private Secretary uses are: PS_STNGS.DAT, PS_NMBRS.DAT, PS_RMDR.DAT and PS_LOG.DAT. INITIAL START UP If you have a previous version of Private Secretary rename the old version and place the new Private Secretary application in the same directory as the "PS" files used by the older version. Or copy those files to the directory the new version is in. The new version will use the data you have already set up in these files. To Start Private Secretary type PVTS109 (for version 1.09) Private Secretary will bring up the Registration Screen explaining the terms of the evaluation. You will need to press the ESC key to proceed from here each time you run the program, until it is registered. Pressing the ENTER key leads you to the details screen which explains the additional benefits you receive upon registration and will create the registration order form for you, once you decide to keep the program. The first time you run Private Secretary, the program will attempt to locate the "PS" files mentioned above. If it does not find them, it will create them for you using the standard default settings. Before it creates the numbers file, which it uses to store the phone or pager numbers you want it to dial out to, it will present this screen. You can elect to enter the numbers now or do it later and proceed by pressing ENTER. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- (c)Integrated Support Technology, 1992-93 All Rights Reserved January 22, 1993 Page 3 Private Secretary(tm) BRIEF GUIDE ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Once all the files have been located or created, Private Secretary will attempt to establish communications with the modem. If the modem does not respond, or the default settings are not supported by your modem, it will direct you to the settings menu or allow you to turn on the modem and try again. Private Secretary will not allow you to proceed unless it can find a Hayes compatible modem to communicate with. The most common reasons for not being able to establish the modem communication link are that the modem is powered off , disconnected , poorly connected, improperly connected (possibly to another COM port) or the Baud Rate is set to a value not supported by the modem. The above file initialization procedure will not be required again, as long as you keep the "PS" files it created in the same directory with the Private Secretary application. Finally, Private Secretary will bring up the sign on screen where you will get a little reminder to register. It will be replaced with your name, or whatever you want, when you receive your registration code. The program will proceed automatically after displaying this screen for 10 seconds or you can force it to proceed by pressing ENTER. CONTROLS The "F" keys are used exclusively to navigate through the various menus of Private Secretary. The current menu is displayed at the top of the screen. Pressing F-10 at anytime (whether displayed or not) will end the program. Pressing ESC (escape) from any menu other than the main menu will move you to the previous menu. While in a dialog box, ESC will close the dialog box without saving any changes and will return you to the current menu. Pressing ENTER (or carriage return) while in any dialog box will save the current settings reflected in the dialog box and will return you to the current menu. The TAB and CURSOR (arrow) keys are used in dialog boxes to navigate from field to field. The Space Bar and the "X" and "*" keys are used to toggle selections on and off where appropriate within the dialog box. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- (c)Integrated Support Technology, 1992-93 All Rights Reserved January 22, 1993 Page 4 Private Secretary(tm) BRIEF GUIDE ---------------------------------------------------------------------- INITIAL SET UP Step 1 Press the F2 function key to bring up the settings menu. Select phone numbers and put in a phone or pager number. The phone numbers can be entered using numbers, spaces and dashes (-). Examples: 800-555-1234, 800 555 1234 or 8005551234 Entering a "/" character will cause a brief 1/8 second delay in the dialing sequence (on some modems) and can be used to set a delay for an outside line for some phone systems. Example: 9/800-555-1234 A longer delay of approximately 3 seconds can be achieved by using a comma (,) instead of the "/". The "assigned to" field is not used by the program and can contain anything or be left blank. To activate a number, move the cursor to the proper select box next to the desired number using the tab or cursor keys. Then press the space bar to select (or deselect) the number. An X in the select box, indicates that that particular number is selected. Up to 5 numbers can be entered to dial your pager, your cellular phone, your home phone or groups of individuals. Press enter to return to the previous menu. Step 2 Set the Call Pickup Modes. This tells Private Secretary how you want it to recognize you are picking up (or retrieving) your messages from your answering machine, since you may not want it to dial out for this call. To select or deselect an option, move the cursor to the proper location using the tab or cursor keys and press the space bar. An option is selected when an "*" appears in front of it. Dial out for Every Call (Confirm Call Pick Ups): When this option is selected Private Secretary will dial out to the number(s) selected for each call that comes in regardless if it is you retrieving your messages or not. Therefore, if you use this setting, you should ignore the first call it makes to you after you retrieve your messages or you will be caught in an endless loop dialing in for messages that were just you trying to pick them up. Assume "N" Pick Ups per Call: This option will assume that for each call there will be "N" message pick ups or message retrieval calls following it and the program will not attempt to dial out for those calls. This setting is best suited for applications where there is typically lots of time between calls. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- (c)Integrated Support Technology, 1992-93 All Rights Reserved January 22, 1993 Page 5 Private Secretary(tm) BRIEF GUIDE ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Use Pick Up Code - (1 Ring, Hang Up, Call Back): When this mode is selected, by using a special ring sequence when you retrieve your calls, Private Secretary can recognize it is you calling in and it will not attempt to dial out, thus giving you as long as you need to listen to your messages. For Private Secretary to recognize that you are picking up your messages when this option is select, you must use the following sequence when you call in to retrieve your messages. 1. Hang Up as soon as the phone rings (and get your money back). 2. Wait 8 seconds minimum, a bit less if you have to dial in a credit card number. 3. Call in again within 25 seconds (maximum) and stay on the line to retrieve your messages as you normally do. This Pick Up Code mode is usually the best for all applications but requires some getting used to. The key is on the second call dial the last digit of the number no sooner than 8 seconds and no later than about 30. (the 8 + 25 = 33 max). Toll Saver Mode - Ignore Calls Less Than 4 Rings: This mode is designed for use with answering machines that have a "Toll Saver" mode. For the first call, Private Secretary will dial out regardless of the number of rings (just in case you forgot to reset previous messages on the answering machine). It will then ignore all subsequent calls of less than 4 rings until you call in and reset the answering machine toll saver function to 4 rings. Note: This option will work with any answering machine that rings 4 or more times when the first call comes in and 3 or less thereafter. You also must remember to reset the toll saver (if your answering machine does not reset automatically) when you pick up your messages. Group Dialing Modes: When there is more than one phone number selection, the group dialing modes are enabled. There are 2 group options to select from: Dial Selected Numbers in Rotation - 1 per Call (Rotation mode): When this option is selected, Private Secretary will report the first incoming call to the first phone number selected, allow for a pick up call according to one of the 3 available options previously set and report the next call to the next selected number, and so on. It will always start at the top of the phone list. Once a call has been sent to each number in the group, it will start over with the number at the top. If one of the phones is busy it will retry according to the retry options explained later and eventually try the next number in line. If there is no answer, it will call the next number in line a immediately. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- (c)Integrated Support Technology, 1992-93 All Rights Reserved January 22, 1993 Page 6 Private Secretary(tm) BRIEF GUIDE ---------------------------------------------------------------------- NOTE ---- When rotation mode is selected, the Reminder Service is DISABLED. Generally, the best pickup mode for rotation is using the 1 ring pick up code. When set in any of the rotation modes, if a call comes in before Private Secretary has a chance to dial out, it will dispatch the second call when the first pickup call is received, indicating a "Make Up Call" was sent. Dial All Selected Numbers After Each Call (Group mode): When this option is selected, Private Secretary will dial every number selected to report each call, allow for message pick up according to one of the 3 available options selected and then report the next call to all numbers and so on. NOTE ---- When group mode is selected, the Reminder Service is ENABLED. If Reminders are set to ON, all selected Reminders will be sent to all numbers selected. The best pickup mode for this group selection is using the 1 ring pick up code sequence. The toll saver mode is available under this group option but is only practical for single user/multiple number applications or where only one member of the group is responsible for picking up the messages and resetting the toll saver. For these applications, toll saver is a good pick up option. Step 3 If you are using Private Secretary to dial phones or need to enter secondary pager numbers (PIN Code) or extension numbers, you will want to change the Digital Message. Setting up Digital Message The digital message is the secondary set of tones or digits that Private Secretary sends after dialing the phone number. The purpose of the digital message is to provide limited information about the call it received. To set the digital message parameters, press F3 in the Settings menu. Initially the digital message settings are preset to dial direct dial pagers that do not require a secondary (PIN) number. It is set to send the call number, time and number of rings, digitally. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- (c)Integrated Support Technology, 1992-93 All Rights Reserved January 22, 1993 Page 7 Private Secretary(tm) BRIEF GUIDE ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Some pagers do not support using an * in the number string to generate a dash and may use it as a clear or other custom function. If you do not get the digital message in the format you expect when Private Secretary dials, turn off the "Supports dash" check box. To use Private Secretary to dial pagers that require a secondary pager number or PIN, select the Private Code and replace the digits within the field with your PIN number and see the Dial Timing discussion for possible changes required there. Alternatively, if Private Secretary is being used to call more than one number, place the PIN number after the pager number in the Phone Number field of the phone set up, separated by a "," (i.e. 555-1212,8574) and leave the Private Code off. To use Private Secretary to dial phones turn on the Private Code, set the call number to "tones", with a code of 3, set pause for 2 seconds, set number of rings to "tones" with a code of 9 (to distinguish it from the 3 tone). When set this way Private Secretary will dial out, then play the private code (tune) followed by the digit (tone) 3, repeated equal to the call number and then the digit (tone) 9, repeated equal to the number of rings. Alternatively, if you are using Private Secretary to dial phones and a pager, place a sequence of codes similar to that in the Private Code, after the phone number in the Numbers set up and turn off the Private Code. If you don't care about the call number or ring count, you can de-select them. Step 4 If you are using Private Secretary to dial phones or pagers that require secondary (PIN) codes, or it has trouble sending the Digital Message to your pager you will want to adjust the Dial Timing. Setting Up Dial Timing To access the timing set up, press F4 in the Settings menu. Begin Dialing: This setting tells Private Secretary how long to wait after a call is received before it dials out to notify you of the call. It can be set to report each call or queue up calls and only report them on a regular time schedule. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- (c)Integrated Support Technology, 1992-93 All Rights Reserved January 22, 1993 Page 8 Private Secretary(tm) BRIEF GUIDE ---------------------------------------------------------------------- After Any Call: This option should be selected when you want each new call to be reported as soon as practical after it is received. When used with an answering machine, the time specified should be enough to allow for your outgoing message and the caller to leave his or her message plus some overhead for answering machine tape positioning (if applicable). If you find that your callers leave excessively long messages or are getting disconnected when leaving a message, or you have trouble getting all your messages remotely, increase the Begin Dialing time accordingly or install a "line check module" discussed in the last section of this document. After 1st Call - (Call Queuing): If you do not wish to be called after each call, but would rather be called only periodically, choose the "After 1st Call" option. In this mode, normally you would set the Begin Dialing time to be 10, 15, or 30 minutes. When this option is selected, you will receive a call from Private Secretary (the number of minutes set) after the first call is received, ignoring any other calls that come in in that time frame. The clock begins again on the first call received after it reported the previous ones. Send the Message Codes: This setting tells Private Secretary how long to wait after the phone or pager service was dialed to begin sending the secondary "Digital Message". After 5 seconds of Silence: In this mode, the modem waits for 5 seconds of silence before sending the digital message. The modem decides when the time is up and therefore will only work with modems that support this option. This may not work well when dialing phones, or with pagers that have voice instructions for the caller because often when the modem hears voice it may interpret this as a busy signal and hang up and dial again. However, this is the best choice if it works in your application. __ Secs. After Dialing: If you find that the "After 5 Seconds" option does not work well in your application, set the "__ Secs. After Dialing" option and load in the appropriate number of seconds. In this case there is no way for Private Secretary to determine when the phone or pager service answers and it will "blind dial" the digital message the number of seconds set, after it dialed the number. To determine the best setting for this number, take into account the time your phone service normally takes to process a call and add 6 seconds for each full ring you expect to occur when the call is placed. Some pager services may hang up before 5 seconds of silence and therefore you may want to use this option to set the time manually, anywhere from 3 to 8 seconds. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- (c)Integrated Support Technology, 1992-93 All Rights Reserved January 22, 1993 Page 9 Private Secretary(tm) BRIEF GUIDE ---------------------------------------------------------------------- If your pager requires a secondary code, the amount of time to put in this field is the time from the time the code is entered, until it is ready to accept the callers phone number. Send Mark-Time Tones: The "Mark Time" option works only when the "__ Secs. After Dialing" option is selected. It tells Private Secretary to send tones repeatedly after dialing so if the call is picked up before the time set, there will be something on the line besides silence (which might cause the person receiving the call to hang up before the digital message is sent). If the "Private Code" is selected in the digital message, the tones sent will be the private code sent repeatedly , otherwise, it will send a single "1", about every second. This option should not be used when Private Secretary is being used to dial any type of pager system. Give Up after _____ retries _____ seconds apart: This setting tells Private Secretary how many times, and how often you want it to retry if it can't get through to you on the the first try. Use small values if you are using it with a pager and larger values, if you are using it to dial another phone. Force modem to hang up____Seconds after dialing: This setting tells the modem the maximum time to wait after dialing before hanging up. Normally, this should be set to 30 seconds or more as Private Secretary will tell the modem to hang up as soon as it has sent the last digit. TESTING YOUR SETTINGS To test your settings return to the main menu by pressing ESC (escape) then press F5 to select the "Simulate a Call" function. Private Secretary will immediately report a simulated call of 2 rings, bypassing the "Begin Dialing" timing to save time. If you are using a pager that has voice or you are dialing to phones and Private Secretary is incorrectly reporting busy, try changing the modem protocol in the modem settings to X0 or X1. If Private Secretary sends your pager PIN number too soon, add one or more commas between your PIN number and the phone number (each comma produces 3 seconds of delay. If it is sending it too late, remove one or more commas. Once Private Secretary is sending the PIN number at the proper time, increase or decrease the time set in the ____ seconds after dialing (in the dial timing dialog) to adjust the timing of when it sends the Digital Message. If you feel that being able to more closely control the delay produced by a comma could help in setting up the proper timing, the delay can be programed by placing S8=N ("N" being the delay you want from 1-255 seconds, i.e. S8=2, for 2 seconds) in the Custom field of ---------------------------------------------------------------------- (c)Integrated Support Technology, 1992-93 All Rights Reserved January 22, 1993 Page 10 Private Secretary(tm) BRIEF GUIDE ---------------------------------------------------------------------- the modem settings dialog. Do not preface the S8=N with the AT command. Private Secretary issues the AT command automatically. Step 5 - Setting Up other Options Call Log: Private Secretary keeps a log of each call received. Each call is assigned a number (call number), starting with 1 each time Private Secretary is loaded. Private Secretary also logs the time the call was received, the number of times the phone rang (ring count) and the result when Private Secretary tried to dial out to report the call. This information is presented in the log window after start up and can also be sent to a log file for later analysis by most spreadsheet and word processing programs. When the information is sent to a log file, the date is also included for each call. To set up the call Log, press F3 from the main menu. Private Secretary records only the last 15 calls to the log window. Set Path: To set a different path other than the current directory for the Log file, press F1 and enter the new information. Create New File: There are three possible settings for this option. Append, Daily, Monthly. Press F2 in the Log File menu to toggle between these options. NOTE ---- When the daily option is turned on, if Private Secretary is used daily, 365 files a year will be created. So you may wish to merge or delete these files from time to time. Log File is: Press F3 to toggle the log file ON or OFF. When the log file is on, Private Secretary makes a log entry at the completion of each call, indicating the date, the call number, time (in 24 hour format), ring count and result. This information can be retrieved by many spreadsheet programs and most word processors for producing reports or analyzing activity. The log file is closed between each call to avoid any damage that might occur to the file system if the system is powered down or the power fails while Private Secretary is running. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- (c)Integrated Support Technology, 1992-93 All Rights Reserved January 22, 1993 Page 11 Private Secretary(tm) BRIEF GUIDE ---------------------------------------------------------------------- REMINDER SERVICE Private Secretary can be set to dial out to you as a reminder of an important meeting or event. It can handle up to 5 reminders each run. In addition, registered copies can be set to report restoration of a power failure if Private Secretary is set up to run as the last line in the AUTOEXEC.BAT file. To set up Reminders or Power Failure reporting, press F4 from the main menu. Set Times: Press F1 to set up and select the desired reminder times. Use tab or the cursor keys to move between fields. Press the space bar to select or deselect each reminder. The "CALL AT" field should be loaded with the actual time you want Private Secretary to make the reminder call. The time should be entered in the AM/PM format such as 2:00 PM. The send message can be any number sequence except "#" (and "*" if your pager service treats this as a clear). The numbers will appear as numbers to a pager and as tones to a phone. Press Enter or ESC to return to the Reminder menu. Reminder ON: This is the "Master" switch for the reminder service. Press F3 to toggle the Reminders ON or OFF. When it is on, all of the reminders selected will be sent. When it is OFF, none of the reminders will be sent except the Power Fail if selected. Power Fail: This option should be turned OFF until the program is registered. Complete information on it's use and set up is described in the manual. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- (c)Integrated Support Technology, 1992-93 All Rights Reserved January 22, 1993 Page 12 Private Secretary(tm) BRIEF GUIDE ---------------------------------------------------------------------- GENERAL NOTES ------------- Private Secretary's only link to your telephone is the modem. It relies on the modem to detect the phone ringing for incoming calls and to check for dial tone, busy and no answer when attempting dial out to alert you of incoming calls. Therefore, the overall reliability of Private Secretary depends largely on how well your modem does it's job. Because the modem does not report when the outgoing call is answered, Private Secretary can not detect when the phone is answered and must rely on the timing set up by you to be proper for the way you use it. Also, the modem only detects and reports no answer when the "5 seconds of silence" option is selected in the Dial Timing dialog. If this option is not set, Private Secretary will send the tones in the time frame set and will report that the call was sent successfully even if the call was not answered. If the modem "call progress protocol" mode is set properly, Private Secretary will report when the modem senses no dial tone, busy and no answer, and will execute a retry as set up in the dial timing. When an answering machine is used with Private Secretary, it is important to remember that Private Secretary has no connection with it. When you choose the call pick up modes and dial timing you are essentially programming Private Secretary "around" the way your answering machine works, not programing "how" the answering machine works. Private Secretary has no way of knowing if the caller left a message and will report all calls that are not interpreted as message pick up (retrieval) calls. By setting Private Secretary to report the number of rings, it may be possible for you to determine if the caller hung up before the answering machine answered the call. Increasing Response and Preventing Call Cut Off. If you find that Private Secretary is cutting off your callers messages or not allowing sufficient time for you to pick them up, this can usually be remedied by increasing the begin dial timing in the Dial Timing dialog box and using the "Pick Up Code" message pick up mode. If however, you want calls reported as soon as possible after they come in, an inexpensive "line check" module can be placed on the modem which will prevent Private Secretary from interrupting a call in process, and report the call as soon as the phone IS available. With this device installed, Private Secretary can be set to report calls very shortly after the call is received (such as 30 seconds) without worry that it will interrupt the caller or you when retrieving your messages. The line check module is available from Integrated Support Technology for $12.95 each plus applicable CA tax. Shipping and handling are included when ordered with registration, otherwise, add $4.55. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- (c)Integrated Support Technology, 1992-93 All Rights Reserved January 22, 1993 Page 13 Private Secretary(tm) BRIEF GUIDE ---------------------------------------------------------------------- --------------------------------------------------------------------- MY 2 CENTS: If you find this product has helped stamp out telephone tag, simplified your communications by having a single number for your customers to call, helped land a deal or keep a critical customer happy, I would like to hear about it. Private Secretary is also available for the Macintosh. An evaluation copy on diskette can be obtained directly from Integrated Support Technology. Plans for the future include some enhancements to Private Secretary, a version for Windows and development of new products that sing with the latest in small office communication technology. Since Private Secretary is privately funded (i.e. out of my pocket), these plans can only be realized through your support. Whether you use Private Secretary to improve your service response time, expand your service hours, moonlight from home, or just avoid missing important calls and opportunities when you're having lunch with clients or fun with your friends; I hope you find this product adds a new dimension of freedom and success in your life! -- Tom Holmes. THANKS for choosing Private Secretary! Integrated Support Technology * 478 W. Hamilton Blvd. * Suite 191 Campbell, CA 95008 * FAX (408) 379-0516 * CompuServe (CIS):72225,1577 ===================================================================== ---------------------------------------------------------------------- (c)Integrated Support Technology, 1992-93 All Rights Reserved January 22, 1993 Page 14