#PhonePal VFX 2.0
32 messages in this thread
PhonePak VFX 2.0 users – how do you like the unit? Can it automatically
detect if an incoming call is Fax or Voice so a person (or machine)
sending a fax doesn't have to go thru a voice menu system?
73, Kelly
Yes, PhonePak has an option to automatically detect voice and FAX.
Although PhonePak has been 100% accurate at detecting FAXes, it has not
been as reliable at connecting with them. I have had awful results using
FAX back systems. I have to manually receive them and it takes 3 tries
every time. PhonePak works great for voice and it will send and receive
FAX. I've just had to tinker and fuss over FAXes more than I would have
liked.
The voice mail system is very good. The sound quality is pretty good.
Messages require about 9k per second, so you'll need to keep 2-3 meg of
hard drive space available. There is a low quality mode to make your
space go further. A handy feature when you're low on space or going to be
gone a long time, but you'll want to use the high quality audio most of
the time.
Although the software is a little strange, and overly complicated, you can
do a lot with it. Using ARexx, I was able to design an automated order
taking system that would accept credit card #'s from touch tone phones and
do FAX back to phone numbers entered by callers. It's not difficult to
set up a simple answering system, and it is possible to do very complex
things. I just think the software and manual are more compex than they
need to be. It feels like key pieces are scattered everywhere, instead of
being grouped in a more modular fashion.
You really should read the entire manual before installing it. It helps
to have a complete overview and know when you do something what other
things wil be affected. I think they should require people to read the
manual first by hiding a code in the manual that you have to have to make
the program run. <JUST KIDDING!>
The 1.0 manual was really confusing. Maybe it is much better in 2.0,
although it doesn't sound like the program changed much. I have not
upgraded to 2.0 as the differences seemed really minor. The most annoying
thing about PhonePak is that it doesn't generate a cover page for FAXes,
<continued>
Jerry,
Thanks for the reply on PhonePak. Definitely something that needs to be
thought about. The ability to correctly receive incoming faxes is very
important to me.
Right now I am using a Supra l44LC Fax/modem and GPFax Generic Class 1.
The 144LC is strictly a class 1 fax modem. The modem features Silent
Answer, but the class 1 software does not support it.
I was trying to use this fax setup with a fax server as if I was calling
from a fax machine (tell the software to go into receive before hanging up
the phone) and managed to crash the fax server twice. Another time there
was a phasing error after the second page, resulting in hangup. I was
about ready to jump ship with this software/hardware combo, until…
Tried again with the fax software in autoanswer and it has worked properly
with the fax server calling me up twice so far, and had somebody send me
a fax from work and it worked fine, also. Left the system on all night
and received 9 faxes, for a total of about 50 pages flawlessly from
another fax server.
Now if I had Silent Answer capability, I would be set. The only other
option is to get indent-a-call/distintive ring service and a box that
recognizes the different rings, so I have a seperate number for
voice/answering machine, and another for fax. Only problem is our Bell
switching center is an old mechanical system, and I believe the optional
telephone features are not available here.
GPFax for class 2 modems does support silent answer, or data/fax detection
for running with a BBS program. Several more features over the class 1
software.
73, Kelly
I had no end of problems when I tried identa-ring. Damn modem (ZyXEL is
normally good) didn't always get it right. Maybe the dedicated boxes are
better.
— Dale L. Larson, Intangible Assets Manufacturing
— INTERNET:dale@iam.com
so I'm waiting until that is added (or something else significant) before
I will upgrade.
I would like to get a 14.4 modem, so I've been thinking about going with a
FAX/Voice/Modem like the ZyXel, but I haven't had the time to convert over
from PhonePak to a new system.
I started this message out with the intention of trashing PhonePak, but as
I thought about it, it is really a pretty good system for the money. With
all the tinkering and cursing I did, I wonder if I would have had even
more problems integrating the different software packages required to get
a similar setup using a ZyXel. And GVP technical support was VERY patient
with me. I'm sure there are people who have had no problems with PhonePak
or using a ZyXel with GPFAX, but I always have problems with computers. A
friend of mine said that if there were any money in trashing electronic
equipment, we would be billionaires by now.
-Jerry
Having said all that, I missed yet another FAX today – some kind of report
on Commodore. My broker tried 4 or 5 times before giving up. I got one
page of 7, 1 of 7, 2 of 7, then the third page before she, mercifully,
stopped trying.
Okay, so PhonePak is a great answering machine that can occaisionally send
or receive a FAX (maybe even a multi-page FAX once in a while). If FAXing
isn't critical to you, then PhonePak is okay.
BTW, last I checked, GVP doesn't use PhonePak themselves. They have
Audix, I believe. If they did try to actually use PhonePak, I think it
would improve in a hurry.
-Jerry Thompson
There is no end to how pissed I am by companies who develop products that
aren't good enough for them to use themselves. Companies who develop
"professional" word processors that they can't use for their own manual
(i.e., Softwood and FinalCopy/Writer), phone/fax systems they wouldn't use
for their own incoming calls (apparently GVP), etc.
I've made a philisophical commitment to using the Amiga for everything I
possibly can for as long as I continue to develop for and write about it.
Reliable receiving of faxes seems to be one of the things I can't use an
Amiga for, though I can send them great.
— Dale L. Larson, Intangible Assets Manufacturing
— INTERNET:dale@iam.com
I thought SoftWood used FiW for the manual.
Paul
That's not what their tech support told me when I asked how they handled
"this" or "that."
— Dale L. Larson, Intangible Assets Manufacturing
— INTERNET:dale@iam.com
Well I'll be damned – I could have sworn that the manual stated as much
somewhere. Have to check on that.
Puzzled and annoyed
Paul
Paul,
if it does, I can't find it.
>Reliable receiving of faxes seems to be one of the things I can't use an
Amiga for, though I can send them great.<
I have been using GPFax with a SupraFaxModem V.32bis and have had good
success. My only complaint is that the printed versions of the incoming
faxes are not very good, but then I haven't seen outstanding output from
other platforms either!
Bill… on Autopilot in Womelsdorf 😉
I use GPFax. I seem to have problems connecting with some incoming faxes
— damn thing won't answer the phone. So far I don't receive enough faxes
for a dedicated line, so I turn on GPFax when someone tells me they are
going to send me a fax. If I bring it up on autoanswer, it doesn't always
answer the damn phone when it is supposed to (i.e., it is set for the
first ring but doesn't pick up by the fourth).
— Dale L. Larson, Intangible Assets Manufacturing
— INTERNET:dale@iam.com
hmmm…
I haven't used it much for receiving faxes, but it has been working in
both manual and auto answer modes. I had a lot of trouble initially
getting it to work in concert with my answering machine, but that turned
out to be the answering machine!
If GVP would add modem functionality to the PhonePak it would be a true
no-brainer, but without that I will stick with the Supra Modem and an
answering machine for a while. Actually, I am still waiting for the voice
option for the Supra modem… that would be nice… if someone wrote
answeing machine software for it!
Bill… on Autopilot in Womelsdorf 😉
Jerry,
I have never talked to GVP, so have no first hand experience with their
phone system, but believe I know the reason they do not use their own
product (PhonePak).
GVP is a fair size business, so they would have multiple telephone lines,
all with the same number, and some form of small PBX system.
I understand the PhonePak to be designed for single phone lines, and would
have no means for controlling, or interfacing to a PBX system. They would
most likely have to have a PhonePak on each incoming line, and be able to
tie all the boards/machines together some how so everything would be
seamless to the users (outside and inside), regardless of which line a
message could have come in to. Most likely doable, but it wouldn't be an
easy task, especially with having to communicate with the PBX system.
Odds are the system they are using is designed to work with PBX systems.
73, Kelly
Whether or not Phone Pak could handle multiple phone lines was one
question I had in mind. Too bad it can't. Do you know how much RAM is
recommended with Phone Pak?
By the way, GVP DOES use Phone Pak according to the voice on their
automated line.
Leslie, can't help you with memory requirements for PhonePak. Somebody
else on here should be able to answer that question, or you could try the
GVP tech support area in AmigaVendor.
73, Kelly
I'm sure GVP was using Audix long before PhonePak came out, and Audix is
designed to handle the needs of a large company. But PhonePak supposedly
does multiple lines by using multiple cards in one machine. The manual
describes software support to manage multiple lines. It is also able to
work in Centrex and PBX systems. There is a PBX jumper specifically for
this. The manual says it can do call transfers in a Centrex system.
If I were GVP, I certainly wouldn't switch from the Audix system, but
PhonePak IS supposed to be able to function as voice mail/FAX/FAX Back for
a large, multiline system. And if GVP were dependent on PhonePak as their
phone system, PhonePak would get a radical overhaul in a hurry. I'm not
ready to give up my PhonePak, but I wonder if others are having as much
trouble with FAXing as I am.
-Jerry Thompson
I have been using PhonePak for about a year now and had any problems
faxing at all. The problem I have is printing faxes from phonePak using a
Postscript driver. I just can't seem to get it to work. Has anybody got
any ideas.
-Gary
Gary Giles
Yap Yap all the way from the UK Via Autopilot
Gee, Gary, I JUST got graphics printing to my PostScript printer working a
couple of days ago. I still can't get PhonePak to correctly print faxes
to my printer. At least I should be able to save them as IFF files and
print them that way now. I will keep your message and if I figure it out
I will send you a message.
-Jerry Thompson
BTW, I'm using PhonePak 1.02. I don't know about 2.0.
Hi Jerry
Thanks for the reply.
I have been trying for last few days now with no results. Yes I can save
as a IFF file but with a 7 page fax it's a bit boring as you have save
each page as a IFF file. If you have any luck let know.
-Gary
Gary Giles
Yap Yap all the way from the UK Via Autopilot
Interesting on the multiple line setup and PBX jumper. Course, how many
can you stick in one machine – four or five, depending on the machine.
Less for the 3000 or 4000.
73, Kelly
I've been using PhonePak for about a year now. It is a bit fiddle to set
up. The manual isn't the best in the world. I haven't had much problem
receiving fax's. Only once, always from the same fax machine in Europe.
My biggest grips is printing out from PhonePak using WB2 Postscript drive.
I just can't seem to get to work. I have to save as a IFF file and import
it into PPage. Also I can't set the page size to British A4. 1 big problem
which I hope they fix in the next upgrade is that you can't forward or
rewind voice messages, this is a real pain if say the message is 4 minutes
long and you need a phone number which is at the end of the message.
The really useful feature for us is the call forwarding. My girlfriend and
I both have mobile phones. So if the are any messages left in her mail box
phonePak calls her mobile phone and plays back the messages. Its the same
for me if any messages left in my mail box. This feature is really useful
for us.
Hope this is helpful
-Gary
Gary Giles
Yap Yap all the way from the UK Via Autopilot
Hi Gary,
Thanks for the reply. Right now I have a Supra 144LC Class 1 fax modem
and GPFax (generic, class 1). The printing from it is great using my LJ4
driver going to a LJ4 printer at 600 dpi. I tried the PostScript printer
driver (first time!) and printing time was several times longer, and all I
got was a blank white page. Doing a graphic dump of the WB screen worked
okay, so don't know what the problem is.
The only size page GPFax supports for fax transmit/receive is A4. The
manual claimes it is the standard. I don't know about that one way or the
other. Of course, when it comes to printing using the printer device, the
output is scaled to the maximum print area as set in preferences. I have
it set to US Letter, so that is how it gets printed. If I set it to A4,
that is how large it would get printed.
I tried using the DOS software that comes with the modem, but it's
printing was terrible. The top always started about 3/4 inch down the
page, and the last horizontal line in the fax was printed on the next
page. Maybe A4 paper was required. The printer never requested it, and
there was no mention of this in the manual. Converted the faxes to GIF or
something (can't remember exactly) and imported them into ProPage and
printing postscript was really slow – big bitmap! Should have tried using
the PCL printer driver (bitmap graphics). But heck, takes forever for
ProPage to just import the image!
73, Kelly
Of course, your output would look exactly the same if you printed with
half the resolution. Probably even 150dpi.
— Dale L. Larson, Intangible Assets Manufacturing
— INTERNET:dale@iam.com
Dale,
Not exactly the same output at half the resolution (300 dpi). I can see
some of the fax pixels getting rounded off in size (pixelized), where at
600 dpi they look square and all the same size. Really noticeable when
printed at less then 300 dpi.
73, Kelly
You're right. How stupid of me.
— Dale L. Larson, Intangible Assets Manufacturing
— INTERNET:dale@iam.com
Yo Kelly,
I get rotten printouts from Supra14400fax/modem with I print from GPfax,
very bit mapped & hard to read. I just make an .iff file of the unreadable
file & printed thru Ppage with your driver, good print. I went out to wash
something so I don't know how long it took. Next dumb question, exactly
how do you print from your driver, not going thru Pp?
Gracia, on AutoPilot from Cooleemee, NC
Howdy Gracia,
>exactly how do you print……
You are not gonna like this, but I select Print from GPFax!
Maybe it is something to do with your Prefs/PrinterGfx settings. My
settings are Halftone, Fraction, Positive, Vertical (ooops, better change
that to Horizontal, vetical is for screen dumps!), Grey Scale 1,
Threshold: 7, Density: 5, Colors: 4096, Left Edge: 0, Limits: Ignore,
Smoothing: no, Center Picture: no.
That is what my settings are. Works like a charm.
Haven't converted a fax from GPFax to iff yet. I accidentally deleted the
one I wanted to convert (a questionnaire). Haven't tried sending or
creating a fax with it. Shall give the creation a try later today.
Finally getting the Toner Low message on the printer. Some 3000 or so
sheets since buying the printer. Ran out of white/letter paper, too. My
usual source is out, and isn't selling it any more (spend too much in
freight), and the other source in town is closed on the weekend. So for
the rest of the weekend everything is being printed on Pink paper!!! (left
over from some tickets I made up last fall)
Was able to pick up a new toner cartridge. Not HP, but an Olivetti
cartridge for LJ4 printers. Supposed to be just the same for quality.
Will find out soon enough. Results after a couple of hours testing: toner
is coarser. It's going back! Okay for text, not pictures.
73, Kelly
Yo Kelly,
I made an .iff into Pp and got a great print, but that's a pain in the you
know what. Will try your settings. I actually didn't set my prefs/Gfx for
GPfax printing. Going to do it right now. It worked! Even better than
.iff. I can actually read what this dumb br@&d wrote. Shame I couldn't
read it last wk <G>. I'll have to test bad xeroxes & dot matrix printouts,
which is how John's scripts get sent. He doesn't trust my faxes, so we
send to local library. Live & learn. Thank you again.
I used 2 reams of paper making union journal, so I expect a low ink mess.
soon. I bought an HP cartridge a few months ago on sale at Office depot so
I won't be caught short for a change and I loaded down with laser plus for
masters & el cheapo for proofs. I have to remember to load up since, like
you I'm not near big supliers. NYC certainly spoils one for counry living.
Gracia, on AutoPilot from Cooleemee, NC
Hi Gracia,
Great you have the printing going great, now. Much quicker/easier than
the other process, eh!
Hope John's scripts are being sent via fax using the FINE mode. Makes
readability much higher. Since the scripts are already on a computer, why
not arrange to get a copy in ascii format using modems? Then you could
really make it readable.
Next chance I get will stock up on paper. Took the Olivetti toner
cartridge back and the dealer is going to bring in some real HP carts.
Course the cost is going to be a good 40-50% higher. But better buy now,
before our dollar up here becomes on par with the mexican peso.
Haven't been in a city of any size since last summer! Should get my fill
come the end of the month for the annnual trek to Dayton for the
HamVention, then back to lovely peace and quiet.
73, Kelly
Yo Kelly,,
As you may see I'm even preaching your help to others <G>. Poor Pat
Wilkinson can't get OS2.1 upgrade & I can't get my SCSI card to work. My
first real Amiga trauma.
Unfortunately the scripts John gets are "sides" sent by his agent, hence
rotten reproduction. I'll tell her to use fine mode. You'd be surprised,
most people don't know it exists or how to use it.
We had a gaggle of Canadian geese on our pond this morning. Beautiful! I
caught a few pictures; with out my close up lense. Funny they let us drive
close the other day, but walking down to the pond was too much for them, I
guess. A couple stays on our pond for a few wks every spring & fall.
Thanks again.
Gracia, on AutoPilot from Cooleemee, NC