PCTTY is a TTY (text teletype) computer program that sends and receives baudot code over the telephone. It has SMS, WAP, Applet, and Text to Speech components.
People having troubles installing modems and wave modem drivers are encouraged to look at the Voice Modem FAQ available at http://www.kengolf.com/en/voice-modem.htm
You need a Data/Fax/Voice modem for PCTTY, not a Data/Fax modem, How can you tell if you have such a modem?What is PCTTY?
What is a Text Teletype (TTY)
You can make and receive phone calls on Vista but no sound comes through the phoneline!
You unzip the download file but cannot run SETUP.EXE on your XP WINDOWS Box
You need a Wave Modem Driver on Your Sound Device!
What is Baud Rate (45 baud vs 50 baud)
Australians need to set the TTY Type switch to 50 baud(OFF) in the Properties Box
The DTMF predictive text does not work
How do I get the DTMF predictive text to work
What is the DTMF Predictive text
How do I get the Text To Speech to work
How do I make PCTTY talk on the phone
What does PCTTY do?
What modems do I use?
Can I run PCTTY on WINDOWS/NT
Can I run PCTTY on WIN2k, or WIN/ME?
Can I run PCTTY on WIN/XP?
Can I run PCTTY on Vista?
Can I run PCTTY on WIN95
Can I run PCTTY on a laptop
How do I install PCTTY?
How do I record Phone Calls?
Remember the WINDOWS Help
How do I set the greeting message
What do I need to run PCTTY
How do I set up the SMS (Short Message) service?
How do I set up the Chat Applet?
How do I set up passwords for the applet? What's this text to speech
How does a touchtone phone "type" a message to PCTTY
PCTTY and Firewalls
How do I select between different modems and/or Tapi Devices?
What is the "Save Sound/Sve No Snd" button?
What is the Phone Warning button?
What is the Echo On/Off button?
Legal Aspects to recording phone conversations in Australia
How do I issue DTMF tones (to interact with an Interactive Voice Response (IVR) System?
Why doesn't the HELP work in Vista?
Bugs
Other Web Sites by the Author
The SATCH Computer Program
Credits
Go to the Properties Dialog Box (hit the Properties Button on the main
screen), and type in the Greeting edit box. This greeting will be
typed back to the TTY caller when they call. Thus, PCTTY is also a
answering machine. Look at the History button for previous messages.
There are two greetings, the greeting that you wish to give when you will answer the call
yourself. And the greeting that you wish to give when you are not going to answer the call,
ie., when the PCTTY is functioning as an answering machine.
The Instant Reply button ensures that the immediate greeting be played, while the Overnight
Reply button plays the response when PCTTY is functioning as an answering machine.
How do I set the Greeting Message
Credits
Author: Paul Cheffers
Chat Applet Author: Michael Kohn,
modifications by Paul Cheffers
Testers: Shane Adams, Steve Robeano
Thanks to Graeme Chinnery and Starwon Internet
for support, beta testing, and use
of this product.
Other thanks: Ian Walker for buying me the phone used to test initial PCTTY
calls on.
Tony Praed: for phoning me up when noone else would
Codeguru provided various C++ classes
that significantly helped the writing of this program. This site is recommended
for all good C++ Windows programmers.
Chris Ward for inspiration on the recording thread C++ class.
Thanks to Tim Smith for permission to use
his Bach choral midi file. This file is played on browsers to announce the
arrival of a TTY message at the Server.
Thanks to Stefan Budenbender for permission
to use his English words compiled in the QuickDic German/English computer
dictionary.
Thanks to Michael C Amundsen for use of his published source code in
"MAPI, SAPI, & TAPI Developer's Guide" (SAMS Publishing). The original CTapiConnection class, based on Amundsen's work, was provided from codeguru by M. Mukntii
Thanks to Microsoft Corporation for the
Text To Speech component of the program. Much thanks also to the Visual C++
crew for designing such a nice and easy to use interface to write the program.
The Window API C class is a nice and even powerful set of API calls
to achieve work on an Intel chipset computer. Particular thanks to the
designers of the Process and Thread communication control set (semaphore,
mutex and event handles). This is a very nice API set for a program that
now starts at around fifteen threads.
Thanks to Mr Richter for his very comprehensive and informative books on Windows programming.
They were enjoyable to read and the source code was very useful.
A special thanks to Al Smith, the author of a large number of C programming books in the 1980s,
with absolutely great source code and good explanations. Al, your great books made my love of
programming come alive again, after I had not programmed for several years. Thanks
for the oodles of great source, the concise explanations of the DOS operating system, and
the useful source that was great to read. I even read those Dr Dobbs columns on your
vacations with enjoyment as well.
Thanks to all of the above for help in writing the program.
What Modems do I use?
Most voice modems will work, except sometimes it is difficult to install the wave modem driver the program needs. Plug and Play voice modems on XP install easily. The wave modem driver on 98 can be difficult to install. Non plug and play modems usually do not install the audio device correctly on XP. Plug and Play modems do.
The internal LTWIN modem works, if the wave modem driver is installed, and this modem only costs 60 or so dollars.
The program was tested with NetComm (Banksia) and Maestro modems. The NetComm Wave SP56 modem works well.
The program has been tested and does work on Netcomm Internal PCI modems, specifically the P3142 modem, which has a Lucent chip set. The model
The program works well with an external Dynalink (black) V1456VQE model. Unfortunately, their wave modem did not install correctly. The hardware is good, but the modem driver has lousy registry settings. If you have this modem, then install a Rockwell PCMCIA 28800 modem driver instead of the provided driver by the modem manufacturer. This modem driver will come with windows98 and will be in the C:\windows\inf directory. Then go into the registry and change the following registry values:
Figure out which directory relates to your voice modem (they will be numbers 0000 or 0001, etc.) Go to StopPlay directory, delete variables 1 and 2. Then insert a binary value with the name of "1". This binary value shal be 1003.
Go to StopRecord directory, delete variables 1 and 2. Then insert a character value of "1". This character value should be !, the exclaimation mark.
PCTTY and Firewalls
If you install PCTTY in any medium to large corporation office you will have to deal with firewalls. The following rules should be noted:
How do I run PCTTY on NT?
NT is a problem for all voice applications since UNIMODEM doesn't appear on NT. Currently, it is not possible without contacting the author to run on windows/NT.
How does a touchtone phone "type" a message to PCTTY
With the text to speech engine installed then the
deaf person can "talk" to a hearing friend on a touchtone phone, and the
hearing person can "type" back to the deaf person from a touchtone phone.
PCTTY simultaneously allows both "predictive text" and "SMS syntax" at the
same time. Basically, this patented technique works like this:
Please go here to see how to install the DTMF Predicative Text feature.
What's this text to speech
If the Microsoft Text To Speech Engine is
installed, then it is possible to have what is typed on the screen "spoken"
through the phone. Even text sent by the applet can be spoken through the phone.
Thus, all browsers can "speak" to all phones.
Please remember to end your sentences with a "ga" or a period ("."). The
Text to Speech interface speaks sentences so you need to delimit your sentences in the above two ways.
Consult here for instructions on how to install the Text To Speech Component and the DTMF Predictive Text.
What is PCTTY
PCTTY is a windows C++ computer program which makes and receives Baudot voice phone calls.
The program has a strong Internet content which allows WAP phone conversations
and SMS messages (sending and receiving). It has a Java Chat Applet and also
a Text to Speech component.
What is this SMS stuff
You need to be on the Internet and to have the mobile
phone you wish to communicate with registered with an SMS/Internet gateway
(such as blueskyfrog.com). Go to the "SMS -- OFF" button and then to the
SETTINGS button. In the dialog that appears put the mail server you
usually send email to (or mail.pcsms.com.au for example). In the next box
put the return email address you wish the mobile phone to reply to. It
may be your normal email address (in which you will have to use your email
program to read) or it may be a email address pointing to your actual machine.
(If your machine was called bacchus.bob.com.au any email address like
jackie@bacchus.bob.com.au will actually allow the mobile phone to send
SMS to you in real time. The PCTTY program will receive the mail and show it
to you in real time.)
For businesses it is probably that firewalls will need to be worked on to enable this feature.
Remember that a mobile phone is basically an email address, so you will have to add "email addresses" not "mobile phone numbers" in the SMS list box. Thus, if you wanted to send an SMS to mobile phone "0419456890" and your SMS/Internet gateway was blueskyfrog.com your email address to speak with the mobile phone would be "0419456890@pcsms.com.au".
Remember you are communicating with an email address that masquerades as a mobile phone
How do I set up the WAP Internet files?
PCTTY has, recently, become a simple web server, so there is no longer a need to
set up the WAP Internet feature. On your WAP phone go to the URL
http://yourdnsname/chat.cgi
However, if you do not wish PCTTY to be a web server goto to the Properities
page and hit Internet Settings. Then turn off "Make PCTTY a web server.
Wap phones should call the URL "http://yourdnsname/chat.cgi".
Also the current WAP configuration works on the Australian Telstra Phone.Com WAP network.
Currently, the WAP phone must call the URL. Work is on the way to enable PCTTY to notify the WAP phone, but this is not done yet.
How do I set up passwords for the applet?
Go to the Properties dialog box, then
hit the "edit password file" button. Basically password entries are of
the form:
You will be in NOTEPAD at this time. Put in any passwords and accounts you wish to use. Remove any of the testers accounts that automatically come with the product. Save the file. Now these passwords are available to the web applet.
How do I set up the Chat Applet?
PCTTY has a simple web server within it if you turn it on.
It should work while PCTTY is running by the URL:
http://yourDNSaddress/chatclient.html
You will have to edit the chatclient.html file to put in the IP address or DNS
name of the computer hosting the PCTTY computer program in the host parameter
to the applet. It is necessary to have the applet reside on the same machine
as the PCTTY computer program.
After you have dwelt with the IP address other machines can access the chat applet via
the URL:
http://yourdnsname/chatclient.html
The chat applet has recently become a free feature of PCTTY. After you edit the chatclient.html file you need to activate the PCTTY web server.
To activate the PCTTY web server
- Hit the Properties Button
- Hit the "Internet Settings" button
- Click OFF the "Disable PCTTY Internet Interface".
- Click ON the "Make PCTTY an Internet Server"
- Click ON the "Make PCTTY a web server"
In order to create supervisory accounts that can control the PCTTY server through the chat applet (such as dialing a phone number from the web browser)
- Hit the Properties button
- Hit the "Edit Password File" button
-
This will put you in NOTEPAD with a simple
text file. Put in your accounts and passwords you wish to allow full use
of the web applet. Accounts and passwords are of the following:
account:password
Now save the file. The accounts and passwords are now available to PCTTY.
What do I need to run PCTTY
Mostly, you need
In order to run the Text To Speech component you need to download from the web site and execute
In order to run the Predictive DTMF you need to install the Text to Speech component and then download the 100,000 English word dictionary here. The is a 4 mb file.
Remember the WINDOWS Help
Remember the extensive WINDOWS help provided with the program. It has answers to many questions that might be asked here. Just execute the program and hit HELP.
How do I install PCTTY?
Simply download the install file,
unzip it using winzip.
Go to the directory created by the winzip program
and execute either
setup.exe or Install.exe, whichever is in your unzipped directory. This will run the standard install (installshield) program.
You may also install the Text To Speech aspects of the program so that you can 'speak' at the other end of the phone what you type on your PCTTY console. See here for more information on these features.
What does PCTTY do?
PCTTY does the following:
Why is the download zip file 6 megabytes?
There are heaps of goodies in this zip file.
Some of them are:
How do I get PCTTY
You can download PCTTY currently from
here. This is a 1.5 megabyte zip file. Download and unzip the file and
then run setup.exe as in a normal windows install.
What is PCTTY?
The TTY is a device used by the deaf to "type" to each
other on the phone. It is a small robust device that deaf people enthusiastically
use between each other. Deaf-business TTY use is much less common, but it is
hoped that programs like PCTTY will change that.
Can I run PCTTY on WIN95
Yes, you can but you must understand that UNIMODEM5 is needed to run TAPI applications through modems with WIN95. This driver comes installed with win98 and win2K, but you have to install it yourself in win95. You can download the win95 unimodem file here Execute the file and look in the directory that is created by it. Right click on "unimodv.inf" and left click in install. DO NOT DO THIS IF YOUR OPERATING SYSTEM IS NOT WIN95!
You need a Wave Modem Driver on Your Sound Device!
If you are running win95, win98, or winME you need a wave modem driver to be installed as well as your ordinary modem driver. On windows 2K and XP this modem audio device is normally installed when you install a Plug and Play modem.
On windows98 and ME you can verify that this wave modem driver is installed by clicking on Multimedia Devices on Control Panel. Click on Audio Tab and check to see if an extra recording and playback device is installed. This device (Click on the two combo boxes to found out) should look something like "voice modem device #01" or the like.
On windows XP to check if you have the modem audio device installed, go to Control Panel then click on Sounds, Speech and Audio Devices. Then click on Sounds and Audio Devices. On the Sounds and Audio Devices Properties Dialog box, click on the Audio tab. Click on the combo box for Sound Playback and Sound Recording and see if "Modem No. 1 Line Playback" or "Modem No. 1 Line Record" devices are there.
If you have this device installed then you can run PCTTY.
The wave modem driver is normally installed when you install the ordinary driver for your modem. On windows 98 and ME there will be a second installation process after you have installed the main modem driver that is the wave modem driver installation. The wave modem driver effectively makes your modem a sound recording/playback device.
How do I select a Modem to use as an audio phone line
Go to Properties Box and look at the tapi device/Modems combo box. You can now set the default TAPI device you wish to use. Sometimes this is necessary because you have modems you want to use for data calls and you do not want PCTTY to use them. Also the VPN module available with windows sometimes conflicts with the TAPI, so you can block this out by setting the preferred TAPI devices.How do I Record Phone Calls
As of V1.53 PCTTY can now record phone calls for the hearing as well as being a baudot server for the deaf.
Recording phone calls is sometimes desirable.
IT IS ILLEGAL IN AUSTRALIA, and other countries, to record phone conversations unless the other party knows the conversation is being recorded. In Australia, and other countries, in order not to commit an illegal act, you must alert the other party that you are recording the phone conversation!. Use the Phone Warning Button on the main program window to alert the other party the phone call is being recorded.
Legal Aspects to recording phone conversations in Australia
IT IS ILLEGAL IN AUSTRALIA to record phone conversations unless the other party knows the conversation is being recorded. In Australia, in order not to commit an illegal act, you must alert the other party that you are recording the phone conversation!. You need the "Save Sound" button on in order to record phone calls. By default this button is OFF ("Sve No Snds").
Use the Phone Warning Button on the main program window to alert the other party the phone call is being recorded.
It is slow to answer and a voice speaks a message
You have the text to speech installed and the program is tied up trying to "speak" a message about leaving a hearing message as well as a TTY message. Download the latest executable and place the latest executable in the install directory -- which will usually be "c:\Program Files\Nantes Enterprises". The spoken message is generated much faster so this delay is no longer an annoyance. Click here to get the latest executable.
How do I make the DTMF Predictive Text work
You must do three things to make the DTMF Predictive Text work. Because the dictionary needed for the DTMF predictive text is 3 megabytes long, it is no longer included in the install zip file. Because of different character number mappings on English language phonepads around the world, there are two different dictionaries available:
-
(1) Click here to get the dictionary file for Australia (where the 7 key has the letters 'pqrs' on it, and the 9 key has the letters 'wxyz' on it. This file must then be placed in the install directory, normally, "c:\Program Files\Nantes Enterprises". This is a 3.7 megabyte file.
You must set the "Aussie phone keys" ON in the Properties Dialog box. This setting was the default setting prior to the tty20080919.zip file. From September 19 2008, the American phone keys is the default setting.
-
(1) Click here to get the dictionary file for America (where the 7 key has the letters 'pqr' on it, and the 9 key has the letters 'uwx' on it, and the 1 key has the letters 'yz' on it. This file must then be placed in the install directory, normally, "c:\Program Files\Nantes Enterprises". This is a 3.7 megabyte file.
You must set the "Aussie phone keys" OFF in the Properties Dialog box. This setting is the default setting as of the tty20080919.zip file. Before September 19 2008, the Aussie phone keys are the default setting.
Americans, in order to use the American phone pad you must download the American dictionary and use the PCTTY install file from the September 19 2008 date, ie., tty20080919a.zip
You must also install the Microsoft Speech API and the Microsoft Voices. These are two executables available on this web site. Simply download the two files and execute them. This will install the Microsoft Speech API Version 4, and also install the voice file that PCTTY needs.
(2)Click here to download the Microsoft Speech API. This is a one megabyte file.
(3)Click here to download the appropriate voices. (This file is a five megabyte file.)
It is possible to simply install the Speech API and the voices (2 and 3) and be able to 'speak' to the other end of the phone what you type.
Normally, in the predictive text SMS scheme for the touchtone phone, any place name or word that would not be in the dictionary is typed using ordinary SMS syntax. However, you can enter local words that you would use often (like your family name and hometown) in the typehelp.dic file in the PCTTY directory (c:\Program Files\Nantes Enterprises). To update this dictionary file, simply go to the Properties Dialog box and hit the "EDIT PRIVATE DICTIONARY" button. This will take you into Notepad and you can enter any word you wish. Remember to save the file after you have finished editing it.
When typing the same number key twice (for two different letters, such as 'collar' -- '265527') In the example given, 'll' has to be entered. In order to type in 'll' (or 55 on the phone), place some time between the first 5 and the second 5, 2 seconds or so. This will prevent PCTTY from interpreting you 55 as the SMS letter 'k'. In general when you wish to type SMS syntax (as opposed to predictive text syntax) quickly type double or triple keys (for 'l' 3 quick 5's), but leave a second or two between duplicate numeric keys for two letters (for instance, 'll' is best done 555 quickly, then wait 2 seconds, then type 555 again quickly).
If you wish to know more about the syntax of PCTTY predictive text (such as how you finish a word, when it is spoke to you, how you delete a wrong entry, and how you can type in a number), then go go here.
Can I run PCTTY on WIN2k, or WIN/ME?
You must install the wave modem driver for PCTTY to work on WIN98, and WIN/ME. The modem audio device should install automatically with windows 2K and windows XP.
What is the DTMF Predictive text
This is a feature whereby whatever the PCTTY user types at the keyboard (in sentences, now, type a sentence and end it with a period) is 'spoken' at the other end of the phone. As well, people on touchtone phones, in phone calls with the PCTTY computer program, can 'type' a message back. You can type SMS syntax with a '*' (key under the 7) being the end of the word. OR YOU CAN TYPE IN PREDICTIVE TEXT, AS IN MOBILE PHONES, that is, one phone key for a letter. The PCTTY computer program will guess what the person at the other end of the phone meant. This is a way for a deaf PCTTY user to 'talk' to his/her hearing friend, and to have the hearing friend 'type' a message back to the PCTTY user from a touchtone phone.
Please go here to see how to install the DTMF Predicative Text feature.
For people wishing to try this you can consult the HELP in the PCTTY program, but clicking here will take you to a full explanation of the technique.
Can I run PCTTY on a laptop
It is normally hard to run on a laptop, since most laptop modems are data/fax instead of being data/fax/voice. The TTY call is a voice call and is not a data call. But if you have a data/fax/voice USB modem and install this on your laptop, you can usually run. The Netcomm USB Roadster V92 modem has been tested on a WIN2k laptop successfully.
Vista Laptops do often seem to have data/fax/voice modems as standard features within them. So if the installed modem is also a voice modem then you can run PCTTY without the usb voice modem most other laptops require.
How do I get the Text To Speech to work
You must also install the Microsoft Speech API(1) and the Microsoft Voices(2). These are two executables available on this web site. Simply download the two files and execute them. This will install the Microsoft Speech API Version 4, and also install the voice file that PCTTY needs.
(1)Click here to download the Microsoft Speech API. This is a one megabyte file.
(2)Click here to download the appropriate voices. (This
file is a five megabyte file.
From here on, you will find two new radio buttons in the middle of the PCTTY
window, after the text to speech is installed. They will be labelled
If you click on the Speech button then the sentences you type on the PCTTY screen are 'spoken' in computer speech on the other end of the phone. Thus, mute people can use TTY to communicate with people on the phone. They can use the Echo button to hear the other end of the phone conversation.
Sentences are spoken, not words. You must type a sentence and end it with a period (".") or with a ga token.
Can I run PCTTY on WIN/XP?
PCTTY has recently (October 2004) been tested on win/XP and functions well there. If you have problems with an earlier installation then upgrade to the latest executable of October 25 2004. The modem audio device installs automatically on XP upon modem installation time, if the modem is Plug and Play.
What is the "Save Sound/Sve No Snd" button?
The button determines whether a wave file is created of the sound of your phone call. This is an option for hearing people. It effectively saves the phone call in a wav file which can be viewed in the History dialog box (double click on the wav file you wish to listen to).
Click here to see how to record both ends of your phone calls.
Use the "Phone Warning" button to alert the other side of the phone call that you are recording their phone call.
This button is usually set to NOT save sound ("Sve No Snd").
What is the Phone Warning button?
This is an option for hearing people. If you are saving the sound of your phone call
you need to alert the other party that you are recording them. This button plays a sound
file that alerts the other party they are being recorded. It is illegal in Australia and other
countries to record a phone conversation without alerting the other party you are doing so.
What is the Echo On/Off button?
The Echo ON button plays the other side of the phone call to the computer speakers.
This is useful for hearing people who wish to know what is happening on the other side of the
phone, whether it is ringing or busy or whether a TTY or person answers the other end.
Other Web Sites by the Author
My page of very short stories, and children stories.My page of humorous poems.
The author's father's web site here
SecureCottage Ecommerce Systems, the author's ecommerce business: click here
Australians, English and South Africans need to set the TTY Type switch to 50 Baud (OFF) in the Properties Box
Because the baud setting for TTYs is slightly different in American from Australia or England, Australians may need to set the "TTY Type" switch in the Properties box to OFF (50 baud). If you can receive okay from the other side of the phone but all they get is garble from you, then you should set this switch.
Bugs
Recent Bugs that have been fixed are:-
Bugs fixed in the 20061216 version (V1.72) are:
- Playback of recorded sound for debugging purposes including decompression of ADPCM wav file.
- Stronger algorithm for recognition of baudot tones to take account of time for better tolerance of ASCII tones and Turbo Chirp.
- SMS processing made non default option
- Sending SMSs and receiving them made to work again.
- stripping of original message from received SMS
- SMS dialog box fixed up, specifically adding email addresses
- SMTP sending and receiving tested much better.
- Bugs fixed in the 20061106 version (V1.70) are:
- ignoring of Ultratec's auto id feature, which broke up the display.
- ignoring the CR CR LF automatic sequence that Ultratec tty's emitted after 80 or so characters
- better handling of 45.5 baud, and also the resetting of the default to be 45.5 baud instead of 50 baud as it was before.
- disabling any attempt to click inside the message edit box.
- more rigorous handling of DTMF characters when MS Text To Speech is NOT installed.
- 20060401: Bug fixed whereby, under certain windows systems, that the first character typed in a tty phone call, fills up screen. This was probably happening because the WM_CHAR behavior changed in different versions of the MFC system DLL that comes with windows. Thanks to the two users who reported this bug.
- 20060401: Bug fixed whereby printing of message did not work if message window was maximized.
The SATCH Computer Program
The SATCH computer program -- named after Satch Sanders, a Boston Celtic basketball player -- is also the work of the author, Paul Cheffers. It was a pattern matcher (based on VM/CMS FILEDEF patterns) that allowed a mask to be constructed containing subpatterns of the match, akin to tagged regular expressions of today. This mask could then be output to a file, the printer, or to the operating system as a command. It was then named AWK, in honor of the famous UNIX utility, but changed its name to PAW in 1986, when it became a semi-official program of the VPS/VM operating system. In 1991 it was rewritten in C and took the same SATCH, which it holds today. As SATCH it was archived on DECUS, the Digital software archive of yesteryear.
Since SATCH was made to parse through a file or output stream of a program, it could 'match' lines in that stream, rearrange the input in a powerful manner, and output an operating system command for each match. Thus, for each line typed at the terminal -- it was a command line program -- it could output hundreds of operating system commands or programs. It was, in effect, a machine gun in the hands of the system programmer, who could execute hundreds of programs with one line typed in at the terminal.
SATCH was used, with profit, by the author, as late as 2002, at Starwon Internet, on UNIX boxes there. The author, as a system programmer, found the ability to issue several dozen commands at once, to be very useful at times when the systems were in trouble and needed to be repaired quickly. Issuing several dozen IPCONFIG commands, with the correct IP addresses, with one typed line, by scanning the rc.local file, was a snap for SATCH, and, several times, this considerably sped up system repairs in extraordinary situations.
Although formerly available on the web for download, SATCH has, due to time, disappeared from the web. A new SATCH will appear, for download, and use on UNIX and DOS systems, in the near future.
What is Baud Rate (45 baud vs 50 baud)
Americans and Canadians use 45.5 baud in their ttys, while Australians, English and South Africans use 50 baud. The default setting for pre PCTTY V1.70 was 50 baud, but as of PCTTY V1.70 the default setting is 45.5 baud. Thus, if you downloaded before November 2006 and you are American you may need to set the TTY Type setting in the Properties Box to ON(American).However, if you downloaded during or after 6th November 2006, the default baud setting is 45.5(American). Thus, Australians, South Africans, and English people need to set the TTY Type setting to OFF (50 baud) in the Property Box.
You unzip the download file but cannot run SETUP.EXE on your XP WINDOWS Box
It seems sometimes that XP requires an administrative account WITH a password before it will let you install packages like PCTTY. You may have to add a password to your administrator's account.Can I run PCTTY on Vista?
You can run PCTTY Version 1.80 and above on Vista. Version 1.80 is a beta version. Please report bugs.
PCTTY v1.84 will run on Vista with the following provisos:
- Most voice modems don't have drivers for Vista. The only voice modem I have seen work on PCTTY and Vista is the Hiro 50113 USB External Data/Fax modem. I bought this from Amazon.
- Unless you have Vista SP 2 you need to apply this hotfix which is described here quite well. I have Vista SP 1 (x64) and I had to apply the (x64) version of this hotfix before I could run PCTTY successfully on Vista. (Please remember to apply the hotfix for your flavor of Vista (x86(32 bits) or x64(64 bits))
- Note: One person has reported that the above Microsoft Hotfix does not solve his problem. He has Vista Ultimate 32 SP2 bit OS. Please report your experiences with this hotfix via the "Report Bugs" link at the top of the webpage.
How do I issue DTMF tones (to interact with an Interactive Voice Response (IVR) System?
PCTTY for Vista as of the tty20080720.zip download file also has DTMF tone capability for interaction with Interactive Voice Response (IVR) systems. Simply hold down the CONTROL key and strike a number key (or # and *) at the same time, and a DTMF tone will be issued from the PCTTY program.
Normally you will be listening for baudot tones from the other phone when you issue a DTMF tone. For the rare times when you are issuing baudot tones and you queue up a DTMF tone, the DTMF tone may not fully emanate from the voice modem. If this is a problem then simply let the baudot tones finish playing (the OUT meter on the right top of the screen goes blank and the IN meter next to it goes red) and then issue the DTMF tone command (CONTROL-1 etc). The DTMF tone will fully play when you do this.
Why doesn't the HELP work in Vista?
Vista doesn't run 16 bit programs and the HELP version is very old in PCTTY and is actually a 16 bit program. Sorry.
You need a Data/Fax/Voice modem for PCTTY, not a Data/Fax modem, How can you tell if you have such a modem?
PCTTY needs a data/fax/voice modem! not a data/fax modem. A data/fax/voice modem can send an analogue call (like you and I make) in addition to a high pitched data/fax call which computers use to talk to each other. Many modems are data/fax/voice modems but not all are.
To see whether your modem is a data/fax/voice modem do the following in PCTTY:
- Hit the Properties Button on the main PCTTY window. This will bring up the Properties Dialog box.
- Look in the Tapi Device/Modem combo box. It will often read 'any Tapi Device'. Look in the combo box dropdown list for your modem. Often there will be entries in this list such as H323 Line. These are TAPI devices that windows recognises but they are not your modem. Your modem will have your modem manufacturers name in its name. If your modem is in the list, please select it and make it the default Tapi Device for PCTTY. If it is not there then you probably don't have a data/fax/voice modem on your PC.
If you think you may not have the drivers correctly installed for your data/fax/voice modem you can look at the Voice Modem FAQ. This is helpful in telling you how to detect voice modems and installing drivers for them. In my experience you usually need to install the voice modem with the exe install file that the manufacturer provides on his website. Sometimes when Windows installs the voice modem it will not properly install the voice devices of that modem.
An external USB voice modem is recommended. Internal voice modems will often bust when the phone voltage spikes. With an external USB voice modem you can use PCTTY on a laptop as well.
You can make and receive phone calls on Vista but no sound comes through the phoneline!
PCTTY v1.84 will run on Vista with the following provisos:
- Most voice modems don't have drivers for Vista. The only voice modem I have seen work on PCTTY and Vista is the Hiro 50113 USB External Data/Fax modem. I bought this from Amazon.
- Unless you have Vista SP 2 you need to apply this hotfix which is described here quite well. I have Vista SP 1 (x64) and I had to apply the (x64) version of this hotfix before I could run PCTTY successfully on Vista. (Please remember to apply the hotfix for your flavor of Vista (x86(32 bits) or x64(64 bits))
- Note: One person has reported that the above Microsoft Hotfix does not solve his problem. He has Vista Ultimate 32 SP2 bit OS. Please report your experiences with this hotfix via the "Report Bugs" link at the top of the webpage.