VON@Link SoloRecord
v1.2 for Mac OS X
VON@Link SoloRecord
v1.2 for Mac OS X
Last updated: Feb. 6, 2008
1 Introduction
1.1 System requirements
1.2 Install
1.3 Uninstall2 Setup
2.1 Analog Telephone Adapter
2.1.1 Analog Telephone Adapter with built-in router
2.2 Soft phone
2.3 Hard phone3 Using SoloRecord
3.1 Tool buttons
3.1 Network
3.2.1 Phone
3.2.1.1 Discover phone
3.2.1.2 Specify phone
3.2.2 Rejects
3.2.3 Launch
3.2.3.1 Pop window
3.2.3.2 Overlay screen
3.2.3.3 Speak
3.2.3.4 Show Address Book
3.2.3.5 Custom application
3.2.4 Record
3.2.5 License
3.2.5.1 Hardware ID
3.2.6 About
3.2 Calls
3.2.1 Click to call for Vonage
3.2.2 Watermark
3.2.3 Voice mail waitingAppendix A Interfacing to custom applications
A.1 File extensions
A.2 Examples
A.3 Adding an applicationAppendix B Setting sound quality
B.1 Vonage
B.2 AT&T CallVantageAppendix C Capturing a network trace
VONaLink is a suite of software products to enhance the functionality of your VoIP phone by integrating it with your computer.
*A hub is not needed if VONaLink is running on the same computer as the soft phone. For hard phones or analog telephone adapters, a hub is needed.
To install SoloRecord::
VONaLink works by unobtrusively monitoring network packets as they travel between your phone and VoIP provider. The network setup depends on the type of VoIP phone that you have.
If your computer has 2 network adapters, VONaLink will monitor both of them.
Analog Telephone Adapters (ATA) are usually used to provide VoIP service to residential or small business customers by companies such as Vonage.
VONaLink works by monitoring network packets. A network hub is a "dumb" device that allows computers connected to the same hub to read all packets that flow through the hub. Because of this, VONaLink running on one computer can read the network packets destined for a phone plugged into the same hub. In contrast, a network switch is a "smart" device that improves performance by allowing packets between the specified sender and receiver only, so packet monitoring is not possible, so network monitoring is not possible.
The price of a hub is less than that of a switch. Because the cost difference between a hub and switch is small, and most people prefer the performance of a switch, most computer stores stock switches. You will need to shop at a store that carry a wide range of network devices to find a hub. Some models are listed on the Support page.
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If your Analog Telephone Adapter has a built-in router, then you need a new
broadband router, in addition to a hub, and configure as follows:
A soft phone is a software program that runs on your computer and uses the connected microphone and headset.
If VONaLink and the soft phone run on the same computer, VONaLink can read the network packets flowing to and from the soft phone. It is possible to use a soft phone with VONaLink on a wireless network.
If VONaLink and the soft phone are running on separate computers, the use of a network hub is needed. A network hub is a "dumb" device that allows computers connected to the same hub to read all packets that flow through the hub. Because of this, VONaLink running on one computer can read the network packets destined for a phone plugged into the same hub. In contrast, a network switch is a "smart" device that improves performance by allowing packets between the specified sender and receiver only, so network monitoring is not possible.
The price of a hub is less than that of a switch. Because the cost difference between a hub and switch is small, and most people prefer the performance of a switch, most computer stores stock switches. You will need to shop at a store that carry a wide range of network devices to find a hub.
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A hard phone resembles the typical home phone, but connects to a network.
VONaLink works by monitoring network packets. A network hub is a "dumb" device that allows computers connected to the same hub to read all packets that flow through the hub. Because of this, VONaLink running on one computer can read the network packets destined for a phone plugged into the same hub. In contrast, a network switch is a "smart" device that improves performance by allowing packets between the specified sender and receiver only, so network monitoring is not possible.
The price of a hub is less than that of a switch. Because the cost difference between a hub and switch is small, and most people prefer the performance of a switch, most computer stores stock switches. You will need to shop at a store that carry a wide range of network devices to find a hub.
Some phones, such as the Grandstream BudgeTone 102, have a built-in hub, so a separate hub is not necessary. Some high-end phones have built-in network switches. Again, the switch cannot be used, so a separate hub is needed.
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To start SoloRecord from the Finder, click on the VONaLink SoloRecord icon.
If SoloRecord is already running, the icon is found in the Dock.
When SoloRecord is started for the first time, it will prompt you for your evaluation serial number. Enter the serial number and click on Activate.
If your computer has more than one Ethernet interface, you can specify which interface to use for monitoring the phone. Click on the Network tool button.
The interface built into the computer main board is named en0. If your computer has built-in wireless, the interface name is en1 (do not use wireless for monitoring).
Click on the Phone tool button to specify up to 2 phone numbers.
The exact phone identifier format used by your VoIP provider varies between providers. To assist you in determining your phone ID, click on Discover phone button. Make an outgoing call and receive an incoming call to see your phone ID appear. Select the phone ID and click on This is line 1 or This is line 2.
In most cases, it should
be sufficient to make an outgoing call or receive an incoming call to
detect the phone ID, but VoIP provider Packet8 uses one phone ID for outgoing
and another ID for incoming.
Enter the phone number and select the provider. If your VoIP provider is not listed, choose Other (numbers Only).
Your VoIP provider may include the country code before the phone number. For example:
| AT&T CallVantage | Do not include a 1 before the 10 digit phone number |
| Packet8 | Packet8 does not use your phone number as the phone ID in the network packets for outgoing calls. Use Discover phone to determine the IDs used. |
| Voip.com | Voip.com does not use your phone number as the phone ID in the network packets. Use Discover phone to determine the IDs used. |
| Vonage | In North America include a 1 before the 10 digit phone number |
Other options
| Ignore calls with numbers shorter than ... digits | If SoloRecord is used in an office with internal extension numbers, select this checkbox and specify the phone number length so that only external calls are monitored. |
| Phone number display format | Format mask for display phone numbers. Each # represent a digit.
Other valid characters are space, period, hyphen, and brackets. For
example: # (###) ###-#### |
Add the phone numbers of any caller from whom you do wish to receive calls. When one of these calls arrive, you will hear your phone start to ring, but VONaLink will then send a network message to cancel the call, and your phone will stop ringing.
The Reject callers list contain the phone numbers from whom you do not wish to accept. When one of these calls arrive, you will hear your phone start to ring, but VONaLink will then send a network message to cancel the call, and your phone will stop ringing. The caller may encounter one the following call treatments:
Call reject
is not available with PowerPC Mac OS X v10.3 or v10.4.
Click on the Rejects tool button to show the Reject window. You may enter a phone number or a name. To reject based on starting digits, specify an asterisk after the starting digits. For example: 1800*. This will reject all numbers that start with 1800.
You can also add callers to the reject list from the calls list.
Click on the Launch tool button to show the Launch window. The Launch window allows you to specify the actions to take when an incoming call rings.
If a caller
dials *67 before your phone number, the caller ID does not display on your
analog phone. However, at the network level, the originating phone number may be present.
If the phone number is not there, the IP address of the calling network will be
used.
Select the Pop window checkbox to have a popup window appear when a call rings.
Click on Test to see how the pop window looks.
Select the Overlay screen checkbox to have the incoming phone number displayed as a screen overlay. To choose text color, size, position, and display duration, click on the Settings button.
Click on the Test buttons to see how the screen overlay looks.
Select the Speak checkbox to have a voice read out the phone number when a call rings. To choose a female or male voice, click on the Settings button.
Click on Test to hear how the voices sound.
Select the Show Address Book checkbox to display the Mac Address Book when a call rings. To choose options, click on the Settings button.
To test, enter a phone number and click on Test to search the Address Book.
One of the unique and powerful features of SoloRecord is the ability to launch up to 3 custom applications. For example, the applications could do a reverse lookup of the caller and connect to your customer database.
For more information on how to add your custom applications to the list, see Appendix A.
To test, enter a phone number, an optional name, and click on Test to run the specified application.
Click on the Record tool button to show the Record window.
| Record incoming calls | Select this checkbox to record incoming calls. |
| Record outgoing calls | Select this checkbox to record outgoing calls. |
| Add verification watermark | Select this checkbox to add a piece of information to the file,
which can be used to verify if the file has been altered in any way. The watermark does
not affect the sound quality. Click on Verify recording to select a file previously recorded with VONaLink to verify its watermark. |
| Formats |
Choose between WAV or a compressed audio format. Recordings are in stereo, with each caller on separate channels. This allows you to open the audio file in a sound editor such as Audacity and listen to the channels separately. |
| Maximum call duration | Specify the maximum duration of a recorded call in minutes. |
| Retention | Specify the number of days that recordings are to be retained. Leave blank for indefinite. |
| Local folder | Specify the local folder where recordings will be saved. By default, this folder is under your Documents folder, for security reasons. You may wish to specify a folder on another local disk drive with more free space. |
| Save a copy to server | Select this checkbox to have a copy of the recording saved to a server for archival purposes. |
Click on Settings to specify the location of the server.
| Network folder or File Transfer Protocol | Select Network folder to copy the recording to a network shared folder. Select File Transfer Protocol (FTP) to copy the file to a FTP server. |
| Network folder | Specify the network shared folder where recordings will be copied. |
| Server domain or IP address | Specify the FTP server address. |
| Port | Specify the FTP port. The standard port is 21. |
| SSL | Select this checkbox to use Secure Socket Layer encryption. This requires that the FTP server support SSL also. |
| Login | Specify the FTP server login. |
| Password | Specify the FTP server password. |
Click on Test to check access to the server.
To see the number of days remaining in the evaluation, click on the About tool button.
A license is in the form of a unique serial number. To purchase a license, click on the License tool button. Click on Buy Now. It will take you to the Buy page of www.vonalink.com
When purchasing a license, you will be asked for the Hardware ID generated by VONaLink.
Copy the Hardware ID by clicking on Copy to clipboard. Paste the Hardware ID in the web order form.
After purchasing, you will be given a permanent serial number that is unique to your computer hardware. Replace the evaluation serial number with the permanent one.
Click on the About tool button to show the About window.
The main window shows a list of calls for each day.
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Go to previous folder |
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Go to next folder |
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Listen to the recording by opening your default media player |
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Attach a note to the selected recording. After editing the note,
click on 
to refresh . |
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Open the Finder with the file selected. You might use this to select the file for attaching to an e-mail, or to open the file in a sound editor. |
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Find remote party in Address Book |
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Select all rows (Command+A) |
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Delete the selected row(s). If there are no rows, the folder is deleted. |
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Add caller to the reject list. Available with Mac OS X v10.4. |
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Refresh the list of folders and calls |
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Copy selected recordings to the server |
You can also Control+Click or right mouse click to show a popup menu. The menu item Click to call is enabled only if the provider of the local number is Vonage.
From the calls list, right click on a call and select the menu item Click to call. If the Click to call menu item is disabled, wait 1-2 minutes so the VONaLink can detect the IP address of your phone. If you make an outgoing call, VONaLink will detect the IP address right away. Once the IP address is detected, the Click to call menu item will be enabled.
Enter the username and password for your account at the Vonage web site.
Click on OK. When your Vonage phone rings, pick up the handset, and Vonage will connect you to the target phone number.
If the watermark option was enabled, an icon is displayed in the time column showing the status of file.
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File is unchanged |
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File has been changed |
If there are messages in your voice mailbox, an envelope icon will appear on the bottom right corner of SoloRecord.
The limitation of the voice mail indicator is that if SoloRecord is closed and opened again, the indicator is cleared.
VONaLink supports the launching of AppleScript and shell script.
VONaLink passes 3 environment variables to the scripts:
VL_LOCAL VL_REMOTE VL_NAME
Examples are found in /Library/Application Support/vonalink/app/examples
To add a script so that it appears in the Custom applications window, place the file in /Library/Application Support/vonalink/app. The file name must have either .scpt or .sh extension.
1. Login to your Vonage web account
2. Click on Features
3. Locate Bandwidth Saver, click on Configure
4. Select 90 Kbps - Highest Sound Quality and click on Submit
5. You may need to reboot your Vonage box for the setting to take effect.
If the Highest Sound Quality is not set at the Vonage web site (above
screenshot), you can set an outgoing call to the Highest Sound Quality
by
adding *99 before the phone number.
Turn fax and modem support on. See:
http://www.usa.att.com/callvantage/faqs/using_service.jsp#fax_support
The procedure is performed only if requested by VONaLink technical support.
1. Use the Finder to navigate to /Library/Application Support/vonalink/log/trace
2. Double click on trace.command
3. Enter you Mac OS (root) password
4. Talk on the VoIP phone for one call. Hang up.
5. To stop the trace, press the ctrl and c key together in the Terminal window
6. The file /Library/Application Support/vonalink/log/trace/trace.pcap
is created. Send the file to technical support.
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