Complying with the telemarketing sales rule

FTC has the following document Complying with the telemarketing sales rule explaining the telemarketing rules.

Posted in General |

Windows vista folder virtualization

I cannot save my gateway settings. Everytime I change it, it always come back with the old value when I reopen the gateway. I have been using Voicent on other computers and never have any problem. The only difference is that this is a Windows Vista Computer, and the others are Windows XP computer.

[If you installed release 7.2.3 or later, you normally do not have to worry about the folder virtualization issue. But some saved audio files maybe stored in the virtual store of your user account.]

Windows Vista has a “feature” called folder virtualization, which will be explanined later. To work around the problem, all you need to do is install Voicent programs under a folder that is NOT under C:\Program Files. The following are the steps:

1. Run the Voicent installer, and uninstall all Voicent programs. You should see the Uninstall button under the program name, just click on it to run the uninstall program.

2. Once the program is uninstalled, the button should change to Install. Click to install the program again. Please make sure you select Custom instead of typical. Change the default installation folder from under “C:\Program Files\Voicent” to “C:\Voicent”. For example if you are installing Voicent Gateway, change the default installation path from “C:\Program Files\Voicent\Gateway” to “C:\Voicent\Gateway”

3. Reinstall your license key again

Once you done that, Voicent program should run the same as on Windows XP.

Folder Virtualization

Before Windows Vista, data written to system folders like “C:\Program Files” are shared by different user accounts on the computer. Now this is changed due to the new security restrictions on Vista. For Voicent Gateway, it is run as a system service and it must be run by the SYSTEM account. System services under windows Vista cannot have user interface and cannot communicate with users directly. So Voicent Gateway has a user interface program (the green eyeball) run under the current user. When you change settings of the gateway, it is saved in the gateway configuration file.

The gateway service that is run under the SYSTEM account, however, cannot see the changed configuration file. Because it is “virtualized” – Vista saves the old copy in the virtual store and will always use the old copy for the system service program. The virtual store is usually under C:\Users\{user account}\AppData\local\Virtual Store\Program Files. If you do not see AppData under the user account folder, you may need to change your folder options that will show hidden system folders and files. You may also just search your computer for “AppData” folder.

Posted in Gateway, Installation |

Configure RingCentral VOIP service

If you have RingCentral Office or not a Ringcentral customer, please see Configure RingCentral Office for Voicent instead.

The following information refers to older ringcentral calling plan.

For Ring Central customers, there are good news and bad news. The good news is that RingCentral VOIP is SIP based and you can configure Voicent software to use that. The bad news is that it does not support DTMF tones (Some customers report that the DTMF tone problem is fixed by RingCentral, but we have not verified that). Without DTMF tones, Voicent software cannot know whether a key is pressed. So if you use autodialing and expect callees to press a key to transfer, for example, ringcentral is not the service for you. However, you could use the service for predictive dialing, since no key press is required.

To setup a none-ringcentral softphone, such as X-Lite or Voicent program, you must collect the following information. The following are the one you should use for Voicent Gateway (Setup main menu > Options > Sip):

ID: sip:1(your ring central main number)*(your ringcentral extension)@sip.ringcentral.com
proxy: sip.ringcentral.com
user name: (7 digit ringcentral user name)
password: (use your password)

For example, if your main number is 8001234567, and you have an extension 101, use this for your SIP ID:
sip:18001234567*101@sip.ringcentral.com

For most ringcentral subscriptions, you can get that information from your ringcentral account. When you add an outbound call line, you should be able to see the above information for that line. If you do, skip the rest of this article.

The trouble is the 7 digit user name for some accounts, it is somehow hidden from you. If you use RingCentral softphone, they will somehow get that information. In order to get that information, you can:

1. Call RingCentral support and find that information. Simply ask them that you want to use a third party softphone, like X-Lite and need that information.

If they do not know or refuse to give you that information, you need to do some technical work as shown below. This is not that easy for most people. The following is just a guide. You may need some help from your IT friends.

2. Download and run a free program called “WireShark”.

After WireShark is running, click Start to start capture. Type “sip” in the filter.

Run RingCentral’s softphone, and wait till it started completely.

Now stop capture from WireShark program. Look for a SIP message labelled “INVITE”. Open to see the details of the message, somewhere in the message you should see “Username” and followed by a 7 digit number. That number is your User name to use.

3. Or use a different VOIP service that does not hide your user name.

Posted in Gateway, Installation, VOIP |