If at any time you do not know what a setting is used for, press the Help button and you will be given more information.  The Wizard covers a wide variety of different categories, some of which you may want to change and others you may not.  Default settings will appear which suggest the most common use.  

General Configuration Options

The Wizard will allow you to change or configure most of the common options in the system.

System Details Tab

The "Name of System" field is the most important field in this tab.  The name supplied will not only be used as the name in the application's Window (the blue bar), but will also appear in places such as the file CCRECORDS.TXT in the Logs\ directory.  If you are just evaluating the system, you can leave the default.  The rest of the fields in this tab are primarily for information purposes, although some may be implemented in the future in new features, so it would be a good idea to complete them anyways.

Happy Half-Hours Tab

What is a Happy Half-Hour?  Twice daily, callers can try out your system for free during two thirty (30) minute periods.  By default, these times are from 11-11:30am and from 5-5:30pm.  It should be noted that the system prompts (.wav files) make reference to these two periods, so it would be necessary to edit the voice prompts if you decide not to use this feature.  Exactly what is free or not is up to you, and will be the subject of other configuration options in the "Half-Hour Freebies" tab.

On this tab you will find two "starting" times and two "ending" times, a "Yes/No" box for enabling/disabling the options in this tab, and four clear buttons.

By default, a new system will use two Happy Half-Hours.  The times shown are in 24-hour military format.  In other words, from 1pm until 11:59pm, you would need to add 12 hours to the time you are using.  For example, 5:30pm is 17:30.  Midnight would be 00:00.  11am is 11:00 and 6am is 06:00.  1pm would be 13:00.

To set a time to "00:00", hit the clear button next to it.  You must clear both the starting time and ending time to "00:00" if you do not want to use that Happy Half-Hour.

Although the intended use is two 30 minute periods, there is no restriction in place that would prevent periods longer or shorter than 30 minutes (such as if you want just one hour period a day instead of two 30 minute ones).

Note: The "Allow Happy Half-Hours" Yes/No box at the bottom of the tab only affects the Half-Hours tab.  Clicking on "No" will clear all times to "00:00" for you.  Each time the program is started, this option will default to "Yes".  This is the only option in the entire Wizard that is not stored in the database and retrieved when the Wizard is run.  It is simply intended to speed up configuration.  Even if the "Yes" is marked, as long as all the starting and ending times are "00:00", Happy Half-Hours are still disabled.

Half-Hour Freebies Tab

The "Permit non-subscribers free periods?" field determines if non-subscribers may take part in Happy Half-Hours.  If you set this option to "No", only members will be able to take part.  Each system may have different reasons for wanting to reward (or not) callers with free time, so this option has been made available for more flexibility.  In most cases, you will want to leave the default (Yes) enabled.

The "Free ad record during free periods?" field will either allow ads to be recorded without charge during free periods or not.  In most cases, you are not likely to be charging for ads (record or listen) and therefore leaving the default (Yes) will be the correct choice.

The "Free ad listen during free periods?" field will either allow ads to be listened to without charge during free periods or not.  In most cases, you are not likely to be charging for ads (record or listen) and therefore leaving the default (Yes) will be the correct choice.

The "Free voice mail record during free periods?" field will either allow voice mail to be recorded without charge during free periods or not.  In most systems, you are likely to charge for voice mail record during non-free periods, so this is one of the more valuable "freebies" on your system. Note: One thing to consider with this option is that it is the only way non-subscribers can avoid spending money on your subscriptions if they leave others voice mail with a "call me back at this number" type of message.  The system never allows callers to listen to voice mail if they are in a billable class (per minute, per action, per month) and have no credit, even during Happy Half-Hours.  It is only if they are in the exempt class that they could listen to voice mail without credit.

The "Free out-dial during free periods?" field will either allow out-dial without charge during free periods or not.  In most systems, you are likely to charge for out-dial during non-free periods, so this is one of the more valuable "freebies" on your system.

The "Free voice mail messages per call" field allows you to limit the number of messages per call non-subscribers can send during free periods.  This option is important because it is one of the ways to encourage callers to signup as members.

Credit Charges Tab

NOTE: All credit charges in this section (listen, record, save) only apply to "per action" billing class accounts.  

The "Public message (ad) LISTEN charge" field determines how many credits to charge for listening to each caller ad.  In most systems, you probably will want to leave this set to "0".

The "Public message (ad) RECORD charge" field determines how many credits to charge for recording an ad.  In most systems, you probably will want to leave this set to "0".

The "Private message (vm) LISTEN charge" field determines how many credits to charge for listening to a voice mail message.  The default for this is set to "1".

The "Private message (vm) RECORD charge" field determines how many credits to charge for recording a voice mail message.  The default for this is set to "1".

The "Private message (vm) SAVE charge" field determines how many credits to charge for saving a voice mail message.  The default for this is set to "0".

The "Out-dial charge during non-free periods" field determines how many credits to charge for initiating an out-dial call.  The default for this is set to "4".

Restrictions Tab

The "Allow new caller signups?" field will likely always be set to "Yes", however, you might find a time when it is necessary to restrict signups for some reason.  For these times, the option is available.

The "Allow user to out-dial?" field will determine if callers can use the out-dial feature to call other users or not.  If you do not want this feature, disable it here.

The "Minutes max..." fields allow you to control how long non-subscribers can stay connected to your system per call under various circumstances.”Free time" is the same as the period during "Happy Half-Hours". "Full System" is defined as when all usable channels are in use. The "warning for boot" lets the system know how many minutes in advance of the caller reaching any of the time limits they should be given notice of a pending disconnection.  In most cases, the warning will be a tone.

Credits/Other Tab

The "Force ad menu for new signups?" field determines how aggressive the system is in encouraging callers to complete an ad.  As long as a caller is a non-subscriber, this option is enabled and they do not have an ad completed, they will be placed into the "Personal Options Menu" where they will be given the opportunity to complete an ad.  Answer "Yes" to have the system be more aggressive in ad completion, or "No" to leave the callers alone and let them bypass the menu.

The "Post credit card purchase credits?" field is used to restrict the posting of purchased credit before you authorize their credit card.  If you want the system to go ahead and give callers credit right away, answer "Yes".  If you want to wait and post the credit manually yourself after you have had a chance to charge their credit card, answer "No".  Some systems will want to give credit right away and simply remove it later if the card declines, creating a lot less work for you.  Other systems do not want to encourage fraudulent use of the service, and will elect to give credit only when a charge is approved.  In either case, the credit card information can be found in CCRECORDS.TXT in the Logs\ directory.  See the discussion in “Other Useful Information”.

The "800 and DID" surcharge fields can assess additional credit charges for "Per Minute" accounts if the individual channel a caller is on is set to use 800 or DID surcharges in the "Channels Screen".  These surcharges can be used to off-set the cost of 800 or DID service, or to use certain channels as "premium" channels.  NOTE: Callers not in the "per minute" billing class that call in on channels marked as 800 or DID will be disconnected right away.

The "Out-dial surcharge per minute" field can assess additional credit charges for "Per Minute" accounts while an out-dial call is in progress.  The surcharge does not apply until the two parties begin speaking.

The "Free credits posted to new signup accounts" field determines how many credits will be given to new signups.  Only those signups who have not received the reward before will get it.  Caller-ID is used to determine who has duplicate accounts.  If you are not using Caller-ID on your system, you should set this option to "0", as the system will not be able to prevent duplicate signups from getting additional credits.  In addition, if you are not placing new signups into the "Per Minute" or "Per Action" class, this option should be set to "0" as well.

The "Number of days new signup credits are good" field allows you to "expire" the free credits given at signup after a certain number of days. 

Hangup Tone 1, 2, 3 Tabs

NOTE: This section is highly technical.  If you are not familiar with the more complex details of how voice hardware works, you are encouraged to skip these tabs and leave them on "No" for disabling their use.  Contact support if you need assistance with this topic.

These tabs allow you to configure a combination of single or dual frequency tones, with or without cadence, with or without repetition and with LEADING or TRAILING edge detection.  

Hangup Tone 1 defines a dual-frequency, dual-cadence tone with repetition.

Hangup Tone 2 defines a dual frequency tone with LEADING or TRAILING edge detection.

Hangup Tone 3 defines a single frequency tone with LEADING or TRAILING edge detection.

If your local phone company provides "loop-drop" or "disconnect supervision", use it by enabling the "loop current" option in the "System" tab of the Wizard.  Most phone companies provide this service, but may require that you request it.  There is generally no charge for the service.  Different phone companies have different names for the service, and it may not be known as "loop-drop" or "disconnect supervision".  

Here is a simplistic description of what "loop-current" does when it is enabled: 

When a party hangs up during a telephone conversation, the phone company will lower or "drop" the current (power) on the line briefly.  This brief drop in current is detected by the voice hardware and interpreted as a "loop current" event, which is sent to the software.  The software receives the event and then hangs up the phone (on hook).

First try enabling the "loop current" option by setting it to "Yes" and making sure all the Hangup Tone tabs are set to "No".  When you call into the system, hangup after you start receiving the greeting.  If the phone company is providing you with "loop current", the system should detect your hangup within a few seconds and reset the channel.  After you are sure the hangup is not being detected, follow these steps to work with your phone company to receive the service:

Try the phone company's customer service first that handles their phone service change orders. 

If the person you speak with does not know what you are talking about, ask them to ask around with other persons there, or a manager.  It seems that only the more "experienced" or "veteran" people are familiar with the service, as it is a very infrequently requested service.

If you still can not find someone who knows what you are asking for, speak with their repair department.  Often, the repair department is responsible for adding the service to your phone.

Although not common, it is possible the phone company you use does not provide the service.  GTE, Ameritech, US WEST and other large phone companies do offer the service, although finding someone who knows what you want is sometimes the hardest part.

It is for those rare cases where the service is not available that the Hangup Tones 1, 2, 3 tabs come into play.  You will need to run Dialogic's PBXPERT application to detect the tones used in your area.  Based on the results of that application, you will know which of these tabs you will need to use.  If you need assistance with this, contact support.

Out-dial Tab

The "Out-dial prefix dial string" field is used to help you get outside of a PBX or other phone system where dialing "9" or some other digits are required.  You can use an ampersand "&" as a flash hook and a comma "," as a two (2) second pause.  If you do not need to dial anything to reach an outside line, leave this field blank. 

The exact sequence needed here is determined by your circumstances and may require some experimentation to get the exact timing or sequence correct. In many phone systems, for example, "&,9" places the originating caller on hold, waits 2 seconds and then dials "9" to get to an outside line.

The "Out-dial abort dial string" field is used when the out-dial service is unable to complete a call.  This string will be used to bring the originating caller back to the dating service.  You can use an ampersand "&" as a flash hook and a comma "," as a two (2) second pause.  The exact sequence needed here is determined by your circumstances and may require some experimentation to get the exact timing or sequence correct.  With many phone systems, for example, "&,&" briefly connects the two parties together, waits 2 seconds, and then returns the originating caller back to the dating service, disconnecting the called party. 

The "Out-dial connect dial string" field is used to "connect" or "conference" the originating party to the called party.  You can use an ampersand "&" as a flash hook and a comma "," as a two (2) second pause.  The exact sequence needed here is determined by your circumstances and may require some experimentation to get the exact timing or sequence correct.  With many phone systems, for example, "&" will "connect" or "conference" the two parties together.

The "Hangup on connect..." field can provide a "true" transfer capability during out-dial.  If you use a phone company service such as Centrex or CentraNet that allows "transfers", this option can be used to free up your phone line after the parties are connected.  The advantage of this is that your phone line is freed up to take another call.  The drawback of this is you are not able to bill the calling party per minute, because technically the person has hung up.  If you do not use a phone service that provides this functionality, you should answer "No".

The "Allow caller to record announcement greeting?" field determines if the originating party of an out-dial can record a message to be played for the "called party" before a request is accepted.  This allows the "called party" to screen the call based on what they hear.  Answer "No" if you do not want to use this feature.

System Tab

The "Max seconds to wait for caller to hit key" field determines the "overall" number of seconds allowed for a key to be pressed on the phone.  Note: There are some prompts in the system where more time is automatically allowed, such as when phone numbers or credit card numbers are being entered.  In those cases, this option will not override those prompts. 

The "Max seconds of silence waiting for key hit" field determines the number of seconds allowed between keys when more than one key is required at a prompt, such as entering a password. 

The "# of deleted messages to purge per hangup" field will set a limit on the number of deleted messages by a caller that will be "purged" from the database each time they hangup.  This option is important because the larger this number is, the more system resources are affected.  It is recommended that you leave this to the default unless your machine's circumstances allow for more processing. 

The "Ring count to answer on if callerid used" field determines the minimum number of rings required before answering a call when caller-id is used.  For most phone companies, a minimum of 2 rings are required to receive caller-id information.

The "Ring count to answer on if no callerid used" field determines the minimum number of rings required before answering a call when no caller-id is used.  If you are not using caller-id, there is no technical reason why you can not answer the phone on the first ring.  If you prefer to answer on a longer ring count, you can change this setting.

The "Use loop current to detect hangups?" field is discussed in the section "Hangup Tone 1,2,3 Tabs" in detail.

The "Verbally tell caller when credits deducted?" field will determine if the caller is told either verbally or with a sound or tone when a credit is deducted in "Per Action" accounts.  If you do not want them to be alerted, set this option to "No".

System-2 Tab

The "How many survey answers must match?" field should be set based on the overall number of survey questions you have on your system.  Each time a person completes a survey, their answers become possible matches for others who use "male" or "female" survey matching features.  When a "match" is found, their ad is played to the caller.  You could, for example, set this field to "5" to require 5 out of 6 survey answers to match in order to be included in played ads.  In other words, if you had this option set to "6" and you had 6 survey questions, callers would have to match up 100% of their answers with other callers to be considered a match.  You can leave this option set to the default until you become more familiar with the survey features and have a chance to add, change or remove questions.

The "Default signup class" field can be set to PERACTION (charges for each voice message, out-dial call, etc.), PERMINUTE, EXEMPT OR MONTHLY depending on how you want to set up your system.

The "Credit Card merchant id number" field will contain your merchant id # if you provide credit card charging privileges on your system.  This number will appear in the CCRECORDS.TXT file (see “Other Useful Information”).

The "# of seconds to pause for hardware" field allows you to "delay" the start of the system long enough for your Dialogic hardware to be initialized.  This value is in milliseconds.  For example, to set a one (1) second pause, enter 1000.  2 seconds = 2000, 3 seconds = 3000, etc.  You may need upwards of a 30, 45 or 60 second pause depending on how quickly/slowly your system boots and is able to initialize your hardware.  You will need to experiment with this.

The "Custom pause message for hardware" field is mostly for cosmetic (information) purposes.  What this says is up to you.

The "Reboot Sequence" and "Restart Sequence" fields should be well thought out and known only to those who "need to know".  When you call into your system, if you enter "0000" at the logon prompt, followed by one of those 4 digit sequences, you can either reboot or restart your system remotely.  These features can be very handy or very dangerous, depending on who uses them.

System-3 Tab

The "Cleanup Time (reboot)" field is in military time (see other discussions in this documentation on military time if you need help with this).  Unless you leave this field blank, your system will be rebooted automatically at the time indicated.  This allows you to "clean out" memory, provide the operating system with an opportunity to get a "fresh start", or run startup batch files for varies tasks (defrag hard-drive, etc).

The "Record data format", "Record samples" and "Record bits" fields will determine what .wav format will be used for recordings.  For most modern Dialogic hardware, the defaults should work fine.  If you do experience difficulty during recording or have different preferences, check with the Dialogic documentation for more information on alternate settings.  If you still experience difficulties, see the “Other Useful Information” section of this documentation and double-check that all the voice directories exist.

The "Max boards to init", "Starting board to init" and "Max channels to init" fields determine how many channels your system will use.  If you have more than one board in your system, for example, but only want to use channels from say boards 2 and 3, you could set the "Starting board" at 2 and "Max channels" at an appropriate number.

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