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Since Distinctive Ring is
completely handled by Windows TAPI and the modem, it is up to
the modem to identify the ring pattern and then Windows TAPI
routes the call based on the modem's feedback. Because FaxTalk
Communicator simply waits for Distinctive Ring information from Windows
TAPI, and does not contain any configuration settings for
Distinctive Ring, most distinctive ring problems involve
configuration problems with the modem or Windows TAPI.
Distinctive Ring requires:
- Distinctive Ring service from your phone company.
- Distinctive Ring support in your modem hardware (that is, the modem must support true Distinctive Ring, and not
DRON/DROF).
- A Windows modem .INF file with Distinctive Ring support.
- A Windows TAPI Service Provider such as Unimodem V that enables the operating system to "see" incoming Distinctive Ring responses from the modem.
How to Configure Distinctive Ring in Windows 9x
Before you can use Distinctive Ring with a Windows TAPI based
application, such as FaxTalk Communicator, you need to
configure Windows to use Distinctive Ring.
To configure Distinctive Ring
in Windows:
- Click Start, point to Settings, and then click Control Panel.
- Double-click Modems.
- Select the modem that is installed on your computer, and then click Properties.
- On the Distinctive Ring tab, select the "This phone line has Distinctive Ring services" check box, and then click the appropriate type of call for each ring pattern provided by your distinctive ringing service.
Note: If the Distinctive Ring tab is not shown, the modem may not have this capability.
Testing the Distinctive Ring Feature
The best way to test the Distinctive Ring feature is to use a terminal data program, such as the HyperTerminal program in Windows.
To use HyperTerminal:
- Click the Start button, point to Programs, point to Accessories, and then click HyperTerminal.
- Double-click hyperterm or hyperterm.exe.
- Name the new connection test, and then click OK.
- Select the modem from the "Connect Using" drop-down list. Click OK. The Connect dialog box appears.
- Click Cancel.
- In the blank HyperTerminal window, type AT and press Enter. The modem should respond with OK. If the modem does not respond or does not respond with OK, it is not properly configured in Windows.
- Type the Distinctive Ring string
supported by your modem to enable Distinctive Ring.
Note: For some modems, the string AT-SDR=7 enables Distinctive Ring. Look in you modem's documentation to see if any setup string is referenced or mentioned. It is always best to verify the correct command with your modem documentation or vendor.
- If OK is displayed, continue on to the next step. If ERROR is displayed, the modem may not support Distinctive Ring and you should try a different setup string.
- Have someone call your computer and watch the terminal screen.
If Distinctive Ring is working, the word RING, followed by a letter or number is displayed.
If Distinctive Ring is not working, only the word RING is displayed for each incoming ring. If this is the case, try another setup string and go back to step 2.
When Distinctive Ring data works, the most common result is the following:
RING A
RING A
RING A
Other results could be RING B, RING C, RING 1, RING 2, RING 3.
Note: If your modem is outputting DRON/DROF messages, this is a non-standard implementation of Distinctive Ring. This implementation does not work with TAPI-based software, as UnimodemV does not support this format.
Additional troubleshooting information can be found in Microsoft's Knowledge Base document, Q240996, found at the Microsoft web site at
www.microsoft.com.
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