Call out Using TAPI Protocol

AlarmWorX Multimedia is add-on piece software that allows you to send out alarms through various agents. The agents include: Software and Hardware Marquee, Telephony, Pager, etc. Once configured, you can use any agent to send out alarms to anyone using the chosen method.

The Telephony agent can use TAPI protocol. This topic describes the steps to set up your phone agent to call out using the TAPI protocol. This means that you can use the call-out agent without any Dialogic card. However, since the Dialogic card has an onboard processor, calls that go through the card require little processing power from your machine. In contrast, the TAPI protocol will use a modem on your computer to call out. In past experiences, the call-out process may consume much of the resources on the host machine. You may want to monitor your computer performance if have chosen to use this method.

For dialing out with a TAPI modem, you must make sure that the following hardware has been tested. However, this is not a recommendation or endorsement of this or any other product:

Multitech MT9234ZPX-UPCI TAPI Modem

For more information about this modem, please go to

http://www.multitech.com/en_US/PRODUCTS/Families/MultiModemZPX

TAPI Agent Installation

During your AlarmWorX Multimedia installation, the software tries to find drivers for a Dialogic card. If the software does not find such hardware, the installation will silently install the TAPI phone agent.

Configuring the Call-out Agent

Before you begin, you should make sure that UAC is turned off on your computer.

Start the AlarmWorX Multimedia Configurator by click on Start -> Programs -> ICONICS AlarmWorX Multimedia -> Workbench.
In the tree-control on the left-hand pane, expand Alarm Configurations Multimedia Agents -> Telephony.
Enable lines for each physically connected phone line. PA Calls and Outgoing are mutually exclusive, thus you should only check a line for either.

Figure 1 - Phone Lines Reservation

NOTE: If you select a line for both Incoming and Outgoing calls, you can select which line has precedence over the other. By the fault, the incoming line has high priority than the outgoing line. You can override this in the Advanced Line Reservation Dialog. Please see Figure 2.

ICONICS implementation of TAPI only supports one phone line at this time. You can click on the More Settings button under the Advanced section for further TAPI settings. This will bring up the Advanced Phone Line Reservation window as shown in Figure 2, where you can do your configuration.

Figure 2 - Advanced Phone Line Reservation

NOTE: When using TAPI, the “TAPI Modem Name” field must be filled in; this name can be found by going to your Windows Control Panel under the Phone and Modem options.

In the tree control, on the left side, right-click on Call-Out Agent and select Add Multimedia Agent Setting.
In the right-hand pane, give your media item a name, select Default Telephone as Media Template, and fill in the phone number you want to call in the Phone Number To Call textbox.

Figure 3 - Callout Agent Settings

Click on the TEST button. You should hear designated phone ring. Pick up the phone and you should hear a default alarm text.
Your Call-Out agent is ready to use. You will now need to create and action set that uses this agent. For more information on how to create an action set, refer to the Creating an Alarm Action Set and AlarmWorX Multimedia Quick Start topics.