Hi, I want to set up a wake up calling service for my customers and I’ve set up AutoReminder as advised in the help guide. However, I have a few questions: When AutoReminder dials out and the phone is picked up, it takes quite a few seconds before the software starts playing a message – can this be adjusted? (I’m using Skype, would using a phone modem be any different?) Also is it possible to customise the call message to just say “This is your xxxx o’clock wake up call” instead of an appointment reminder? Thanks, your help is most appreciated. I’m trialing your software at the moment and I think it does everything that I’m looking for.

The issue with Skype is that the skype instance may not transfer audio to Voicent program immediately, so Voicent program may miss the first “hello” in some cases, causing a few seconds delay. To setup a service, we recommend you use SIP based VOIP services for making phone calls. There are two major advantages: 1). it offers the shortest initial delays, and 2) it offers scalability. We do not recommend modem for setting up a service. First, it only works on Windows XP, and second, it is hard to scale up – the number of lines is limited by the number of PCI slots on a computer.

The normal initial delay is about 2-3 seconds. The sytem normally plays the message after says “hello”, or the second “hello”.

You can change the auto reminder message by using the built-in message designer. For details, please see the product walkthrough (under the program Help menu). For setting up a wake up call service, you may need more advanced features for the call application, in that case, check out Voicent IVR Studio, which is a graphical tool for creating almost all interactive voice applications. The tool is fully integrated with AutoReminder, and has built-in interface for database, email, web, and external programs.