A GSM Modem connects to the TopView
computer (USB, RS-232) and has an antenna that connects the GSM
modem to a cellular network. Connecting to a cellular network
requires an agreement with a cellular carrier that supports GSM
(example: AT&T and T-Mobile in the US, but not Verizon). This
agreement gives you a SIM card which gets inserted into the GSM
modem, giving the GSM modem a cellular phone number. If the cellular
agreement includes SMS/text messaging (required), TopView can then use this GSM
modem to send/receive SMS text messages to/from cellular phones. You
should make sure that the cellular plan includes unlimited SMS text
messaging to avoid additional charges.
Bands:You must select a GSM modem that supports the frequency band(s) of your
country and carrier.
Modems: There are many GSM
modems on the market and most will work with TopView. For operation
with TopView,
the modem should be ETSI 07.05 compliant and support sending and
receiving of SMS in PDU mode.
We suggest using
MultiTech GPRS external wireless USB modems for SMS notification
in TopView. The available models support the bands available in most countries.
In our office (United States), we currently use the MultiTech
MTCBA-G-U-F4 modem with TopView.
TAPI (Voice notification and Remote
dial-in)
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.
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.
Phone line modem tips:
-
Do not install the modem
through Remote Desktop. User have reported problems when
installing TAPI voice modems through Remote Desktop. The symptom
is that the modem installs and will work for non-voice
applications, but the voice drivers are not installed. If you
must install through Remote Desktop, you should connect to the
console of the host computer and turn off the routing of sound
to the Remote Desktop session. Contact Exele support for
assistance or if you have questions.
-
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.
Recommended TopView phone line modems:
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. We do not guarantee that a particular modem or device will
work properly on your system.
Summary:
-
Internal:
-
External:
-
Multitech: The
MT5656ZDX-V
did not work for Voice functions (Voice Notification and Remote Dial-in) in
Windows Vista, while the MT5600ZDXV worked across all tested
operating systems. The voice quality of the MT5656ZDX-V
modem appeared slightly better than the MT5600ZDXV, yet both are acceptable.
-
Hi-Phone: Desktop Lite (other
Hi-Phone models may also work but were not tested)
Recommended TopView phone line modems:
-
Windows 2000, XP, 2003:
Internal: Multi-Tech MT5634ZPX-PCI-U
External: Multi-Tech
MT5656ZDX-V
or Hi-phone
-
Vista and later:
Internal: Multi-Tech MT5634ZPX-PCI-U
External: Multi-Tech MT5600ZDXV or Hi-phone
More information:
-
Where to buy:
-
MultiTech:
MT5634ZPX-PCI-U Voice/Data/Fax Modem
Internal PCI
interface. Vista SP1 recognized the
modem and did not require us to install any drivers.
Comments:
-
TAPI and TAP
(alphanumeric page) support: yes
-
Pros: Modem worked well
with TopView on multiple operating systems
including Vista. Loud volume and clear speech.
-
Cons: Internal modem.
May need to reboot the computer to reset the modem. Yet,
this modem seems to be very reliable so this should not be
an issue.
-
MultiTech
: MT5656ZDX-V Voice/Data/Fax Modem
External Serial interface
You
can use a
Serial PCI card if no serial ports are available on your computer.
See above for more information.
Comments:
-
TAPI and TAP
(alphanumeric page) support: yes
-
Pros: Modem worked well
with TopView on multiple operating systems (except Vista).
Great volume for TAPI
voice
applications in TopView (Voice Notification and Remote Dial-in).
-
Cons: In Vista, Voice
Notification and Remote Dial-in did not work properly. If using
Vista, try model
MT5600ZDXV
-
MultiTech
: MT5600ZDXV
V.90 Voice/Data/Fax Modem
External Serial interface
You
can use a
Serial PCI card if no serial ports are available on your computer.
See above for more information.
Comments:
-
TAPI and TAP
(alphanumeric page) support: yes
-
Pros: Modem worked well
with TopView on multiple operating systems
-
Cons: The volume
for dial-in support may appear low to the caller. For this
reason, we recommend the external MT5656ZDX-V unless you are using
Vista
-
Hi-Phone: Desktop Lite (USB)
TAPI device
USB device
Comments:
-
TAPI device
-
We tested a particular model
(HD00LTGR01) on Vista. In general customers appear to like the
Hi-Phone devices for TAPI functions in TopView (Voice
Notification).
-
Test notes:
-
We installed latest drivers and
firmware before testing on Vista 32-bit OS. We had to reboot
after device was installed before it was recognized as an
available TAPI device.
-
Way2Call has a test program (nice
to test the dial function) and TAPI setup program (lets you
fine-tune the device).
-
In order for this device to make
outgoing calls on our internal office analog phone line, we
needed to uncheck the option "Wait for dial tone" in the TAPI
setup program.
-
Pros: Very nice sound if
you use high-quality voices in TopView.
USB-powered.
-
Cons: Had to uncheck "Wait
for dial tone" in their configuration program before the device
would work for outgoing calls in our office. This particular
model did not detect incoming calls (TopView Remote Dial-in) in
our office with the default configuration settings.
More expensive than some other TAPI devices.
