Exele TopView®
uses
modems/voice boards for
-
Modem Notification:
alphanumeric pager
notification using the TAP protocol (Modem)
-
Voice Notification: dial-out voice
calls (TAPI Modem or Voice board)
-
Remote Dial-in: dial-in voice menu (TAPI
Modem or Voice board)
TopView TAPI voice functions (voice notification and remote dial-in) can
be accomplished with Voice Telephony boards and Voice modems.
Voice
modems are more economical than telephony boards, although the selected
voice modem will affect the overall functionality and voice quality; all voice
modems are not created equal.
We believe that most TopView users
requiring TAPI functions will be
satisfied with the quality and function of the recommended TAPI voice modems below.
Although we cannot guarantee that a
particular device will work on your system, we try to compare
various devices to see how and if they work on different operating systems.
The information below is based on our own test results and feedback from
customers.
There are many brands of TAPI voice
modems on the market. Our recommended voice modems are listed below. A different TAPI voice
modem may work with TopView voice notification
and remote dial-in although we cannot guarantee the results. You
should thoroughly test your voice modem with TopView.
Modem tips:
-
External modems are easier to reset
than internal modems. Internal modems cannot be easily reset without rebooting.
Yet, there are some good internal TAPI modems that we recommend
below.
-
If available, download the latest drivers from the vendor's web
site instead of using the drivers on the included CD.
-
After installing the modem and with
the most recent drivers, reboot the computer once.
Serial ports:
Our recommended external modems (below) require a
9-pin serial port (COM port), yet many of today's computers do not ship
with built-in serial ports. There are options for adding COM ports to
your computer:
-
Serial PCI card: This is the
recommended solution for adding Serial ports to your computer.
You can purchase PCI cards that contain one or more serial ports.
These cards work well if you find one that works with your computer
and operating system. The Serial PCI card that we use and recommend
is StarTech's 2-port Serial Card Model PCI2S550. This card is
available from the vendor's web site (www.startech.com)
and from online retailers such as CDW. The downloaded drivers from
the vendor's web site support most operating systems including
Windows 2000, 2003, XP, and Vista. If you require Modem Notification
(TAP protocol) in TopView, you should use a Serial PCI card instead
of a USB-Serial Adapter.
-
USB-Serial Adapter: These
adapters provide a serial port through a USB connection to your
computer. They
contains electronics and will vary widely in both quality and
capabilities. Some will appear to work, but may crash your computer
or return errors when you attempt certain functions over the
serial modem. We do not recommend using
USB-Serial Adapters for your modem.
