Welcome and thanks for trying PAGER ASSISTANT! If you find yourself repeatedly calling the same group of pagers, and often with the same message, then PAGER ASSISTANT can make your job easier. PAGER ASSISTANT will keep track of up to 12 pager numbers, three preset messages and make multiple pager calls with just a few mouse clicks! You can even easily enter a custom message. LEGALITIES: PAGER ASSISTANT is a Shareware program which means that you are free to try it out and even give copies away provided that you agree to the following terms. 1) PAGER ASSISTANT is a copyrighted work, the author retains all rights to the program and documentation. 2) You may use PAGER ASSISTANT free of charge for a 30 day evaluation period, after which you must discontinue use or register the program as explained below. 3) PAGER ASSISTANT may be distributed without obligation as long as all original portions of the program are kept together and no fee is charged other than normal distribution charges. PAGER ASSISTANT is Copyright (c) 1995 by James Pelt, All Rights Reserved. Some portions are Copyright (c) by Microsoft Corp., Sheridan Software Systems, and Outrider Systems Inc. INSTALLATION: A properly connected modem is required for this software to operate. PAGER ASSISTANT also requires Microsoft Windows 3.1 or later and VBRUN300.DLL (available in most Shareware archives). If you have received a PAGER ASSISTANT installation disk, VBRUN300.DLL will be included, just run SETUP.EXE to complete installation. Otherwise, to install PAGER ASSISTANT, unzip the compressed file PAGER.ZIP onto a diskette or hard drive directory of your choice. For instructions on unzipping a file, please refer to a current version of PKZIP or compatible archiving software. It is recommended that you move the three VBX files to your Windows System directory. You can create an icon for PAGER ASSISTANT in Program Manager by opening the program group you wish the icon to be in, click on the FILE menu, select NEW then PROGRAM ITEM then OK. Use BROWSE to find and select PAGER.EXE then click on OK until you return to Program Manager. PAGER ASSISTANT can now be started by double-clicking on the new icon. CONFIGURATION: The software must be configured before it can be used. To do so, start PAGER ASSISTANT and click on the CONFIGURE button. Enter the name of the persons you wish to page under Recipients Name and their pager number on the same line under Pager Phone Number. You may enter up to three preset messages next to Message #1, #2, and #3. Note that this version of PAGER ASSISTANT will only allow numeric characters in a pager message. If you need to send alphanumeric characters to a pager that supports them, see the Shareware registration section below. The Seconds Pause before Message box is the delay time required for the pager company to answer the phone and play the greeting message. You should find a value of 12 to 16 will work in most cases. If a few numbers require a longer delay than others, place one or two commas after those pagers phone numbers. (Each comma equals a two second delay for most modems.) You MUST select the correct COM port to which your modem is attached. If you are not sure, start with COM2 or COM3 and click on the test modem button. When you get a message that the modem responded with OK or AT you have the correct port. If you are required to dial a number (such as 9) to get an outside line, enter that number in the Dialing Prefix box. Checking the Reset Modem on Exit will send a reset command such as ATZ to the modem when you exit the program, this is not normally required. You may select the modem dialing volume from the drop down list, note that some modems do not support the OFF setting. The modem initialization String is normally set automatically by the above selections. If there are any other settings you need to initialize your modem you may enter them here. One such setting you may wish to add is S11=45. On most modems this will increase the dialing speed, do not increase (lower value) the speed too much or your pager message may be incomplete. When every thing is set correctly and you have tested the modem, click on the ACCEPT button. A configuration file PAGER.INI will be created in your Windows directory to record all the settings. This file will be read each time you start PAGER ASSISTANT and all the settings will be restored. OPERATION: Once PAGER ASSISTANT is properly configured, operation is quite simple. On the left is a list of persons whom you can select to receive a page. Clicking on the name or check box next to the name will either put an x in the check box, or remove an x that is already there. An x in the box indicates that that is a person you want to page. You may check as many boxes as you have names or as few as one. If you want to send the same page to everyone, click the SELECT ALL button. If you want to clear all the check boxes, click the CLEAR ALL button. On the top right is a list of messages to be sent to the selected pagers. You may select any one of the messages by clicking on the message or the circle next to the message. If the preset messages are not what you want, click on the text box next to the fourth circle and type your custom message. Note that this version of PAGER ASSISTANT will only allow numeric characters in a pager message. If you need to send alphanumeric characters to a pager that supports them, see the Shareware registration section below. Also, some pager companies have limitations on the number of characters you can send to a pager, or a limited time in which to send them. 20 characters seems to be a safe count. In the middle right are the current configuration settings. Here you will also find the CONFIGURE button which will allow you to change those settings or the pager names and numbers. You will also see a counter indicating how many names you currently have selected. On the bottom right are three buttons, DIAL, CANCEL and EXIT. The EXIT button will exit the program. The DIAL button will cause PAGER ASSISTANT to dial each of the selected pagers in turn and send them the currently selected message. If no pagers are selected, the DIAL button will be disabled. The CANCEL button will be disabled until dialing is begun. If the CANCEL button is clicked while dialing, the current call will be completed, and any remaining calls will be canceled. Below those three buttons is the copyright notice. During dialing, the copyright notice will change to display the progress. Clicking on the copyright notice will reveal some Shareware information. REGISTRATION: You are free to make copies of PAGER ASSISTANT to distribute to anyone who may find it useful. However all original files must be included. You are also free to use PAGER ASSISTANT for a 30 day evaluation period. After 30 days, you must discontinue use or register the program. To register the software, send $10 with your name, address, and E-Mail address (if available) to the author at: James Pelt 406 Cumberland Ave Gulf Breeze FL 32561 USA Phone: (904) 932-0480 E-Mail: jpelt@gulf.net Registered users will receive notification of updates as the become available, Free technical support during reasonable hours, and 50% off of registration of the soon-to-be-released alphanumeric pager version.