Talkaphone ETP-TAL User Manual

Talk-A-Lert 3.31 Emergency Phone System

For Windows XP/7

Installation/Operation Manual

Talk-A-Phone Co. Rev. 2/3/2014

7530 North Natchez Avenue Niles, Illinois 60714-3804
Phone: [phone] Fax: [phone]
e-mail: [e-mail] http:/ / www.talkaphone.com

All Specifications and other information are subject to change without notice. © 2014 Talk-A-Phone Co. All rights reserved.

Talk-A-Phone, Talk-A-Lert, Scream Alert and WEBS are registered trademarks of Talk-A-Phone Co. Windows is a registered

trademark of Microsoft Corporation. All other trademarks are the property of th eir respective owners.

IMPORTANT NOTE: All programming, diagnostics, and identification of the ETP-400 Series
Phones are accomplished through the transmitting and receiving of DTMF signals. Cellular
transmissions and cellular networks may interfere with and distort these tones. As a result of these
irregularities, model ETP-TAL Talk-A-Lert Polling may not function as intended and, therefore, may
not be appropriate in that application or environment; ETP-TAL Talk-A-Lert Base Station will not
function at all.

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CONTENTS

1. Introduction ......................................................................................................................... 3

2. Pre-Installation Checklist .................................................................................................. 4

3. Installation ........................................................................................................................... 5

4. Getting Started .................................................................................................................... 7

5. Poller .................................................................................................................................... 10

6. Listener ................................................................................................................................ 12

7. Preferences ......................................................................................................................... 13

8. Reports ................................................................................................................................ 20

9. Frequently Asked Questions .......................................................................................... 21

10. Troubleshooting ................................................................................................................ 22

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1. Introduction

The software, designed to run on Windows 95/ 98/ NT/ 2000/ XP/7, is divided into
three separate programs:

1. Base Station — This handles the configuration of the phones, administrative options,

reports, and answers incoming calls from the Listener.

2. Listener — This listens on a COM port for incoming data from an emergency phone.

When a call comes in, a message is sent to the base station (if the base station is not
running, it is started). The base station then displays the call on the alert screen.

3. Poller — The poller wakes up every so many seconds (see 8C, Status Timer) and

checks to see if there are any phones to poll. If there are, the system inserts them
into a queue and polls.

Notice how the column headers in many of the windows look like buttons?
Press one of these buttons to sort your data by that column. Press it again to sort in
reverse order.

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2. Pre-Installation Checklist

Please read this entire manual before installation.

Your Talk-A-Lert package should include the following:

 External Voice/ Data Modem*
 EB -300 Base Station with power supply*
 Software CD
 Security Key
 Installation/ Operation Manual
 2 Serial Cables: Modem-Computer and Base Station-Computer*
 Digital Phone Splitter Cable *
 Registration Card

If anything is missing, please notify Talk-A-Phone Co. immediately.

Before installing, please make sure you meet the following requirements:

 PC: Pentium 166MHz or better
 Operating System: Windows 95, 98, 2000, NT 4 (Service Pack 5) or XP Pro.
 BUS mouse
 32 MB RAM for Windows 95/ 98
 64 MB RAM for Windows NT/ 2000/ XP
 35 MB Hard Drive space minimum (100MB recommended)
 Printer connected to the printer port (only needed for reports)
 2 native COM ports (1 COM port if polling only)
 1 native USB port
 2 dedicated phone lines (1 line if polling only)

Make sure the two COM ports you intend to use are not being used by any other
devices.

NOTE: BE SURE TO REGISTER YOUR TALK-A-LERT PACKAGE IN ORDER TO
RECEIVE THE LATEST UPDATES

*These items not included with a Talk-A-Lert Upgrade

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3. Installation

A. Hardware

Using the supplied modem cable, connect the external modem* to an available COM
port on your computer. By default the application will look for the modem on COM 2,
but this can easily be changed (see Preferences). Once the modem has been installed,
connect a telephone line to the modem jack labeled LINE. (If you are using an SC-96 or
SC-24 Super Consolidator, be sure to read the instructions for that model for connecting
to Talk-A-Lert).

Connect the USB security key to the printer port on your computer. This key MUST
remain in your USB port at all times or the application will shut down.

Using the cable provided, connect the EB-300 Base Station to a serial COM port on your
computer. By default the application will look to COM 1, but this can easily be changed
(see Preferences). Now connect a telephone line to the jack labeled LINE on the EB-300
Base Station. Connect the telephone that will receive incoming calls to the jack labeled
PHONE on the EB-300. If you are using a digital phone line, be sure to read the special
section below.

Finally, connect the EB-300 power supply to a 120VAC outlet and to the Base Station
itself. You are now ready to turn on your computer and install the software.

B. Software

Insert the CD into the CD ROM drive. Make sure there are no other applications
running, th en select RUN from the START men u . Typ e “D:\ setup.exe” and then follow
the installation programs instructions. If your CD drive is not D, type the appropriate
path.

Be sure to register your copy of Talk-A-Lert in order to be eligible for free updates.

C. Digital Phone Lines

If you are using a digital phone line, you must connect the Base Station (EB-300) in
parallel with the phone handset using the included splitter cable (see Figure 1).

1. Plug the included male RJ11 splitter into the LINE port in the Base Station.

2. Unplug the RJ10 phone cord from your digital phone base and plug it into

one of the female ports on the included RJ11 splitter.

3. Plug another RJ10 cord into the second port of the splitter with the other

end going into the handset.

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4. The splitter will allow the EB-300 to capture the DTMF tones, but will

reduce the volume of the handset as well as the EB-300 base station. For
proper functionality of Talk-A-Lert, the handset volume MUST BE SET TO
MAXIMUM. Please program the attendant phone station to the highest
volume setting. If you are using the EB-300 in conjunction with a Talk-A­Phone/ Iwatsu PBX system, please call Talk-A-Phone’s Technical Su pport
line at [phone].

5. Once the rest of the installation is complete, test out the EB-300 to see if the

LED's light when you receive a call.

Figure 1. Connecting the Base Station to a digital phone handset

D. Talk-A-Lert Special Options (OASIS, Multiple Pollers, etc.)

If you have purchased Talk-A-Lert with one of the special options, such as the Oasis
Security Integration System, you will need to call Talk-A-Phone to have a Talk-A-Lert
specialist activate these options. First complete the normal installation of Talk-A-Lert,
then call [phone] and ask for a Talk-A-Lert specialist.

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4. Getting Started

A. Logging In

Once you have completed installation and have restarted your computer, select
Talk-A-Lert Base Station from the Start -> Programs menu. When you start the
Talk-A-Lert base station you are prompted for a user ID. The default user ID is Admin
with no password. Your first time logging in, you will be asked to change the Admin
password for security purposes.

After logging in, w e stron gly recomm ended that you create user ID’s for the other users
of the system and set their security permissions appropriately (see administration).

B. Conversion

In order to convert your database from Talk-A-Lert 2.5.3 or earlier, the file must be
named tapdata.dbf. If it is not so named, rename the file.

Under the Administration menu, select Conversion. Either type the path of your old
database, or browse to find the location. When you have the correct path entered, hit
the Convert button.

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C. Entering New Data

From the View menu select Telephone Information. Press the Add button in the
Navigation area to clear out all fields, then enter the appropriate information:

 Phone ID is the 6-digit unique ID programmed into your emergency phone.
 Group is for organizational purposes only.
 Phone Number is the number that must be dialed to reach the emergency phone.

To achieve a pause use a comma.

 Authorized Entry List is for storing a list of names and information associated with

an emergency phone (typically used for access control).

1. Verify Complete ID Match is used only if you need to confirm the ID of the phone

number you are polling.

The required fields are: Phone ID, Phone Number, and Instructions.

To add a polling time to an emergency phone, enter a time in the Poll Times window,
then press the Add button. At this time you may add as many poll times as you desire.
When you are done entering the information for an emergency phone, press the save
button. Then enter any additional emergency phones by repeating the procedure.

Here's a short cut when adding multiple phones with similar information:

1) Enter all the information for the first phone, including poll times, and press Save

2) Now change the Phone ID and Phone Number fields and any other information that
is unique and press Save

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