Support for PCA Personal Communications Attendant

Questions	Answers
Q: What is a voice-capable modem?	A: A voice-capable modem is a modem that has an additional set of hardware chips that enable it to act as an audio device, equivalent to the sound card in your computer. However, unlike your sound card that provides audio through a microphone and speakers, the voice-capable modem provides audio through the telephone line.
Q: I have a voice-capable modem, but PCA says it can't find any voice-capable modems on my system. What's wrong?	A: You need to set up the multimedia wave drivers for your modem. Check with the manufacturer of your modem and ask them how to install the wave drivers for your modem.
Q: Will PCA work with Lotus Notes?	A: No, Lotus Notes does not support MAPI messaging. PCA will work with Microsoft Outlook Express, Microsoft Outlook, and Microsoft Exchange Client (Also known as the Windows Messaging System). While Netscape Communicator and Eudora both claim to provide MAPI support, Concierge Technologies cannot guarantee that their implementation is fully MAPI-compliant.
Q: Is PCA compatible with DSL, i.e. if the email message is received on a machine connected to the Internet via DSL, is it possible to dial into that computer over DSL to use the PCA software?	A: PCA is compatible with DSL for retrieving e-mail messages from your ISP. You cannot "dial into" a DSL line. For calling into PCA, and using AutoPage notification, you need a voice-capable modem.
Q: What about a cable modem?	A: Yes, PCA is also compatible with cable modems. However, you still must have a voice-capable modem to call into PCA and to use AutoPage notification.
Q: PCA confuses my commands. When I say, "Yes", it thought I said "No", and vice versa.	A: There are a number of things you may try: This is often a result of using a poor quality microphone to train PCA. To determine how well your microphone works, run the Microsoft Sound Recorder application (usually found on the Start menu under Programs -> Accessories -> Multimedia) and record some audio with the microphone. When you play this back, if the audio does not sound good, you should consider buying a better microphone. If the microphone quality sounds good, you may try retraining PCA and see if the recognition results are better. If neither of these improves the recognition performance, then you may be experiencing a bad telephone connection or a bad telephone line, in which case you may wish to have your telephone company test your line quality.
Q: Does PCA work with e-mail clients other than Outlook Express and Outlook?	A: Only PC-based e-mail clients that fully support the Microsoft Messaging (MAPI) standard are compatible with PCA. There are two key issues in this statement: There are Internet-based e-mail services such as Microsoft Hotmail or Yahoo! Mail that do not run on your own PC. Consequently, PCA does not have access to the messages stored on these services. Netscape Messenger and Eudora both support MAPI. However, they are "MAPI-compatible", and do not comply strictly to the Microsoft MAPI standards. As a result, if you are using either of these e-mail clients, we cannot guarantee that PCA will be able to function properly.
Q: Does my e-mail program have to be running in order to use PCA?	A: No, PCA performs the same basic functions of retrieving new messages from your e-mail service, and providing you with the means to read these messages over the telephone.
Q: When my PC goes into power-saving mode, PCA does not respond when I dial in.	A: In order for any application to continue running, your PC must not shut itself down. The purpose of the power-saving mode is to automatically put the PC into a hibernation state in order to reduce power consumption and monitor wear. However, when this occurs, all applications such as PCA, your e-mail program, or any other programs you may be running are suspended and can no longer respond to events such as a call into PCA.
Q: PCA works fine when I'm testing it at home, but when I call from somewhere else, its responses are very sluggish.	A: You probably have a screen-saver set up that is putting a heavy load on the system when it activates. If you are planning on using PCA, you should use a screen-saver that does not require system resources, such as the Blank Screen screen-saver.
Q: When running the Settings Manager, when I switch to the E-Mail tab, I get a message that says, "Either there is no default mail client or the current client cannot fulfill the messaging request. Please run Microsoft Outlook and set it as the default mail client."	A: You have installed Microsoft Outlook, but have switched to use Outlook Express as your default e-mail client. If you do not intend to use Outlook in the future, you should uninstall it from your system. If you do intend to use Outlook in the future, or you still use Outlook for other mail messaging purposes, you may ignore this message. However, the message will continue to notify you of this inconsistency as long as both mail clients are co-resident on your computer.
Q: When I run the speech trainer, it doesn't hear my commands and the indicator remains at "Listening".	A: Your microphone is not active. If you have an on/off switch on your microphone, make sure it is in the On position. The microphone may also be muted in the Windows multimedia settings. To check this: Run the Windows Control Panel and open the Multimedia icon. Make sure you have selected the Audio properties tab. If you are running Windows 98: Make sure the checkbox near the bottom of the properties page labeled, "Show volume control on the taskbar" is checked. Click on the icon with the microphone on it, just under the group name "Recording". A control panel should appear, titled "Recording Control". Make sure that the "Mute All" checkbox is not checked, and that the Microphone Select checkbox is checked. You may now close the Recording Control window. If you are running Windows 95: a. Make sure the checkbox near the bottom of the Playback properties group labeled, "Show volume control on the taskbar" is checked. You may now close the Multimedia Control Panel window. You should see an icon in the system tray (the group of small icons on the right side of the taskbar at the bottom of your screen) that looks like a speaker. Double-click the left mouse button on this icon. A control panel should appear, titled "Volume Control". If you do not see a control for Microphone on this control panel, then: Click on the Options menu item, then choose Properties. A properties panel should appear. In the list near the bottom labeled, "Show the following volume controls:", scroll down until you see the Microphone control. Set the checkmark to enable this control. Click the OK button to return to the Volume Control panel. You should now see a Microphone volume control on this panel. Make sure the Microphone control volume is all the way up, and that the Mute checkbox is not checked. You may now close the Volume Control window.
Q: The audio sounds fine on my PC when I train PCA, but when I call in on the telephone, it sounds garbled.	A: This is the result of using either a poor quality voice-modem, or perhaps an external modem. Refer to the Modem Recommendation List for recommendations for voice-capable modems.
Q: After passing the PIN and/or voice password checking, PCA stalls for a long time before telling me I have messages to read.	A: If you have a lot of messages in your Inbox, it will take some time for PCA to load and sort them by date and time. It is recommended that you try to keep the number of messages in your Inbox to a minimum by moving them to other message folders. Doing so will not only help PCA load the new messages more quickly, but will also help you keep your messages organized.
Q: PCA automatically calls my ISP to check for new mail, but doesn't automatically disconnect afterwards.	A: You need to make sure your dialup settings are set properly. For Outlook Express, be sure you have set the dialup connection to "Dial whenever a network connection is not present", and in the dialing status window, make sure the "Hang up when finished" checkbox is checked.

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