In the ChurchReg main window and the Inventory Records, Family Tree, and Staff Records there are edit boxes which allow entries for telephone numbers, email addresses, or website addresses. ChurchReg can quickly dial a phone number and time the call, or use your email program to send an email message, or open your browser to go to a website. Before using the Phone Dialer your modem has to be correctly configured as outlined in the following section. MODEM SETUP Your Modem is used only for telephone dialing in ChurchReg. Telephone numbers will be found throughout the program in Member files, Staff records, Inventory, and Family Tree functions. The menus for each of these functions provides an option to dial a telephone number. ChurchReg directly accesses the Modem and Serial communication port to dial a telephone number. On some computer systems, accessing the serial port (COM) is NOT permitted or you may not have a modem and on these systems you will not be able to use the telephone dialing feature. Before you can dial a telephone number you will need to set the Modem properties. Select the MODEM SETUP option under PHONE or under HELP | SETUP in the main menu. The Modem Setup dialog appears as shown in Fig. 1. Fig. 1 - Modem Setup MODEM INITIALIZATION STRING The first box at the top of the Modem Setup dialog allows entry of a Modem initialization string. The initialization string is used to initialize the Modem so that it can receive commands, set the speed of dialing, and set the type of dialing (tone/pulse). If you experience problems dialing, check with your Modem User's Manual for the correct initialization string for your modem. Usually the default code string supplied with ChurchReg works on most systems. MODEM SERIAL PORT Following the Modem initialization string is a section to choose the correct SERIAL PORT for your computer. You can try each one to see which port is available or just select AUTODETECT. MODEM HANGUP TIME Under Hangup Time choose a time period to hangup the modem after the telephone number has been dialed. Usually 6 seconds is sufficient time. Normally you would pick up the telephone receiver and then use ChurchReg to dial the number. After the number has been dialed, ChurchReg closes the modem connection (disconnects) so that you can continue speaking using the telephone receiver. Although the modem closes the connection, you will continue to be connected since the telephone receiver (in your hand) is still on line. MODEM PREDIAL NUMBER Under the PREDIAL NUMBER section you can leave the box BLANK or type in one or more predial numbers. A predial number is a number you use to reach a long distance service provider before dialing the actual number. It can also be a number sequence to reach an outside line from your office. You can type in different numbers and then select the correct one from the dropdown box. The program automatically remembers the current number you use every time you start the program. The Predial number can also include commas (,) which represent a 1 second delay in dialing the number. For example in the number: 1-123-456-7890,,,345 there is a 3 second delay in dialing the extension 345 at the end of the number. When you are satisfied with all settings, click on ACCEPT to save the settings and exit the Modem Setup function. PHONE DIALER To use the Phone Dialer in the ChurchReg program, select PHONE | DIAL A NUMBER from the main menu and a dialog window appears as shown in Fig. 2 below. Fig. 2 - Phone Dialer Before opening the Phone Dialer - if you left click an edit box that displays a telephone number, the number will automatically appear in the telephone number entry box as the number to dial. The currently active serial communication port (e.g. Com1 ) is displayed at the top right corner of the telephone number entry box. If the port is not displayed or appears wrong be sure to correctly configure the Modem as mentioned in the section above. While the Phone Dialer dialog is opened, you can quickly go to the Modem Setup by pressing ALT+M or by clicking the word MODEM above the telephone number entry box. After you have typed in a telephone number in the Phone Dialer or you want to use the displayed number, click the DIAL button. The Dial button then displays the telephone number being dialed as shown at the top of Fig.3 and after a short pause the button displays the message PICKUP PHONE NOW as shown at the bottom of Fig. 3. Fig. 3 - Dialing Message DISCONNECT PERIOD After the telephone number has been dialed and you have the telephone receiver in your hand ready to speak with the other party, the modem will hang up so that you can continue speaking. The modem hangs up in the amount of time specified in the Modem Setup. See the Modem Setup Section above to learn how to change the hangup time. Before the Modem hangs up, the DIAL button will display the message ONE MOMENT PLEASE to signal that it is about to disconnect. At any time you can press ESC to cancel dialing and disconnect. TIMER As soon as the Modem has dialed the telephone number, the TIMER begins a one second incremental count and continues even after the Modem hangs up. The only way to stop the timer is to click the STOP button. Use the Timer to time your long distance calls or for any purpose. You can start the Timer without dialing a telephone number. Just click the START button to start and the STOP button to stop. ZEROING THE TIMER You can restart the Timer while it is counting by clicking the ZERO button. Use this when you want to time a call that has already started but the party at the other end has not answered yet. Click the ZERO button as soon as the other party picks up and the Timer will begin counting from zero. PREDIAL NUMBER You may be required to dial a long distance Service provider's telephone number before dialing a telephone number in the Phone Dialer - or to dial a code to access an outside line in your office before dialing a telephone number. The Modem Setup section above describes how to enter a Predial Number so that the number will be dialed in advance when you use the Phone Dialer. You can quickly go to the Modem Setup to change or clear the Predial Number by pressing ALT+M in the Phone Dialer or by clicking the word MODEM above the telephone number entry box. To discontinue using a Predial Number be sure the Predial Number box is blank in the Modem Setup. MEMBER TELEPHONE DIRECTORY In the ChurchReg main menu under PHONE there is a selection for MEMBER DIRECTORY. If you select PHONE | MEMBER DIRECTORY the Sort Dialog appears with the names of all Members. At the bottom of the Sort Dialog there is a button named PHONE DIRECTORY as shown in Fig. 4 below. Fig. 4 - Phone Directory Button Click the Phone Directory button and all telephone numbers of all Members will appear in the list. The currently highlighted Member Name appears in a green shaded area below the list as shown in Fig.5. Fig. 5 - Member Phone Directory Click the DIAL button in the Sort Dialog and the currently highlighted number corresponding to the Member shown in the green shaded area below the list is dialed. The Dial features in the Sort Dialog are identical to the Phone Dialer features except that you cannot time your calls. If you need to time your calls use the Phone Dialer described in the sections above. Press ESC at any time to disconnect the line or click the Dial button a second time. WEB ADDRESSES YOUR DEFAULT WEB BROWSER To go to a website address which appears in the ChurchReg program, left click the address then select GO TO WEBSITE from the FILE menu or just press CTRL+W. ChurchReg will then call your system's default Web Browser to connect to the internet and go to the website. YOUR DEFAULT EMAIL PROGRAM To go to an email address which appears in the ChurchReg program, left click the address then select SEND EMAIL from the FILE menu or just press CTRL+E. ChurchReg will then call your system's default Email program and the address will appear in the mail program's NEW MESSAGE window.