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Call Recording
Dialing
Fax
Integration
Miscellaneous
Orders
Phonebook
Requirements
VOIP
VoiceMail
iPhone
Call Recording
- Can PhoneValet record the audio of a phone call?
Yes! PhoneValet Message Center has the ability to
record your telephone conversations either manually or automatically.
Automatic volume ("gain") control ensures great audio quality
even for long-distance calls. Click here for more information.
Dialing
- Can I dial from within my existing contact manager or other software?
PhoneValet provides a dialing service via the Apple Services Menu
to any program that supports it. Simply select the phone number
text and click the dialing items in the Services menu (or use the
hotkeys). Dialing is provided directly in Apple's Address Book by
simply clicking on a phone number. For other applications including
Mac OS "Classic" applications, our pasteboard dialing works by simple
copy-and-paste.
PhoneValet also has support for dialing via AppleScripts and Apple
Events, which can be used to bring dialing into custom FileMaker
applications.
Developers that wish to add direct dialing support into their software
are encouraged to contact
us regarding integration possibilities. Our goal is to be the
gold standard for telephone integration on the Macintosh platform.
- How does PhoneValet handle my calling card or long-distance access numbers?
PhoneValet allows you to enter one or more rules for controlling
how it will dial long-distance numbers. You can enter rules for
calling cards, long-distance access numbers, and "10-10"
numbers. These simple rules let you make best use of the various
long-distance options available to consumers these days. You are
able to pick the right method for each number in your phonebook.
Fax
- How does PhoneValet's Voice Mail interact with faxes?
PhoneValet's Voice Mail is highly compatible with fax solutions.
If you have a shared-line fax machine, PhoneValet will stop the
voice mail process when it detects an incoming fax, and let the
fax machine pick up and receive it.
PhoneValet is also completely compatible with the fax features built
into Mac OS 10.3 "Panther", and can direct fax calls to
your computer's modem via Apple's fax software. For a superior fax
experience, PhoneValet also integrates with the pagesender fax software and your computer's modem to receive faxes.
Integration
- Can PhoneValet integrate with my FileMaker Pro database?
Yes. PhoneValet's AppleScript features can be used for many FileMaker related tasks
- Automatically display a customer record as they call
- Dial from within FileMaker Pro
- Automatically add incoming calls, voice mail, and call recordings to a customer record.
- Play voice mail and recordings from within FileMaker Pro
Some development work in your FileMaker Pro database will be required by the owner of the database. Parliant cannot do this part for you. However, Parliant's support staff can provide you with necessary information to get the data from PhoneValet.
Miscellaneous
- Can PhoneValet transfer a call to my cell phone or another number?
Yes, if you have call transfer service on your phone line. You simply create a transfer mailbox choice in your call tree for the caller to choose. When the caller accesses the transfer mailbox, PhoneValet will transfer the call to the number you have set in the voice mail preferences. You can configure as many different transfer choices as you like.
PhoneValet transfers a call by flashing the line, dialing the new number, and hanging up. This is sometimes known as Centrex-style or blind transfer. Many telephone companies provide this service but it is often not advertised. If you wish to use call transfer, please contact your phone company to ask for this service.
- Does PhoneValet let you talk on the telephone through your Mac?
Currently, no. PhoneValet is aimed at letting you get the most out
of your existing telephones. PhoneValet can help you dial, and can
take messages, but it does not currently let you take
a phone call using a microphone and speakers on the computer.
Some excellent telephone headsets (both wired and wireless) are
available to help you make phone calls. PhoneValet is compatible
with all normal telephone gear, such as headsets, and will still
log, dial and record your calls as needed.
- Does PhoneValet support call waiting?
PhoneValet does not support call waiting. PhoneValet will log the first call, but if you switch to the second call, PhoneValet will consider the first call over and will not log the second call. - Does PhoneValet support distinctive ring?
PhoneValet will treat either ring pattern equally - it will not distinguish distinctive ring patterns. If you do not want PhoneValet to answer a specific ring pattern, you can purchase a distinctive ring filter to place on the phone line connected to PhoneValet. If you choose to do this, make sure you purchase a filter that will pass through caller ID signals.
- I have more than one phone line — will PhoneValet work on all my lines?
The basic PhoneValet product provides all the call features for
a single phone line. You can seamlessly extend the features (dialing,
logging, talking Caller ID, call actions) to more lines by simply
adding an additional PhoneValet unit for each additional line. You
may need to use a USB hub to add additional USB ports to your computer
— PhoneValet's telephony adapter requires a self-powered USB
hub or a direct connection to your computer.
Orders
- I have PhoneValet Message Center version 3 or 4 and PhoneValet Anywhere and wish to upgrade to PhoneValet 5. Do I need to upgrade PhoneValet Anywhere as well?
No. Your version 3 or 4 license for PhoneValet Anywhere will continue to function in PhoneValet Message Center version 5. You only need to purchase an upgrade to PhoneValet Message Center 5.
Phonebook
- Can I import my numbers from other contact managers/address books?
We support a simple direct import from Apple's Address Book, and
you don't need to do an export first.
PhoneValet permits importing from text files that are exported
from other programs. We accept tab or comma separated data files,
which are common in contact manager and address book programs,
and we can import multiple phone numbers for each person/record.
So far we have tested our import with the following programs' exports:
Our import system will probably work with exports from many other
programs. If you're working with a file format that doesn't import
into PhoneValet, please contact our support
department for assistance.
- Why does PhoneValet use its own phonebook? Why not use Apple's Address Book?
Unlike many contact managers (including Apple's Address Book) PhoneValet
is a multi-user product. It can log calls and send emails, when
no users are logged into your Macintosh, or another user is using your Mac. PhoneValet's centralized data store means phone numbers and call logs are always available — no matter who is logged in.
However, PhoneValet also offers Address Book integration, so if you are logged in, PhoneValet can integrate with and access your Address Book information
You can also dial directly from within Apple's Address Book by simply
clicking on the phone numbers
Requirements
- Are Parliant's products compatible with DSL Internet services?
Yes, Parliant's telephony products will work fine on a phone line that also has "High-Speed"
DSL Internet service on it. PhoneValet's USB Telephone Adapter connects
to the phone line just like a telephone — so it requires a
DSL filter device in between it and the phone jack.
- Can I use PhoneValet with my PBX or KSU Phone System?
PhoneValet can work with PBX and KSU telephone systems. Depending on how it must connect, some features may not be usable. See our page on connecting to a PBX or KSU for more information.
- Do I need a modem to use PhoneValet?
A modem is not required to use PhoneValet. The PhoneValet
package includes a USB
Telephone Adapter hardware device as well as the software, and
that's all you need to use the features of PhoneValet. A modem is
required if you wish to send and receive faxes on your Macintosh
or if you intend to use a modem for other purposes. PhoneValet
will not interfere with the operation of any modem you may have.
- Do I need to rewire my phones to use PhoneValet?
PhoneValet's USB Telephone Adapter connects to the phone line just
like any regular telephone — simply plug it into a wall jack
and it's ready to dial and monitor activity on the phone line. There's
no need for special wiring. A phone-jack splitter is included with
PhoneValet; you can connect both our device and an existing telephone
to the same wall jack.
- Does PhoneValet work with Vonage's Voice-over-IP (VOIP) services?
PhoneValet works well with Vonage's services and equipment —
allowing all of PhoneValet's features to work with your Vonage phone
calls. Simply connect to the Vonage-provided digital phone
adapter hardware like you would a phone jack. PhoneValet should also work with other VOIP services
that operate in a similar manner to Vonage.
VOIP
- Does Parliant's products work with Skype or other VOIP services?
PhoneValet and PhoneHerald work with VOIP services that provide a gateway box that simulates a traditional analog phone line. Vonage is one such provider. Any VOIP service that allows you to use a standard telephone should work with PhoneValet or PhoneHerald.
Software-only services such as Skype to not provide an interface to connect to PhoneValet or PhoneHerald. These services will not work.
VoiceMail
- Can I be notified of voicemail via email, mobile phone, text message, or pager?
PhoneValet can email your voicemail on a per mailbox basis or all voicemail to one or more email addresses. The message can be included as an attachment.
If you have an email-to-phone SMS gateway product such as MacSMS, PhoneValet can be configured to send a text message to a cell phone or pager. Also, if your cell phone or pager accepts messages via email, then PhoneValet can send messages to these devices.
PhoneValet currently cannot call a pager or cellphone to notify you of voice mail.
- Can I call in from elsewhere to check voice mail messages?
Absolutely. You can assign a code to call in to check all messages on the system, or you can assign codes for
individual mailboxes. When someone calls in with that code, only the voice mail for that mailbox is accessible.
- Can PhoneValet Message Center answer with different greetings on each phone line?
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Absolutely, PhoneValet Message Center can have entirely different call trees on a per line basis.
In the Voice Mail preferences simply make one call tree per phone line. Then make an override for all but one of your lines. Assign each override to a line, and to the call tree for that line. For the line that you didn't make an override for, set that tree to be the default call tree.
- Can PhoneValet answer with different greetings based on the time of day?
Yes! As of version 5, PhoneValet Message Center can answer with different call trees based on the time of day, or day of week.
Here is how to set up a different greeting for evenings and weekends:
Open the Voice Mail preferences and do the following:
- In the Call Trees section, make a new call tree - make the type a menu. Record your evening (or off hours) greeting.
- If you have multiple mailboxes in your main greeting, create new choices beneath your new evening tree - one for each of
the mailboxes in your main tree. Set the digit to press to be the same.
- But instead of making these "Take a Message" type mailboxes, make them a "Go to" mailbox type and have them go to the
corresponding mailboxes in the main tree. That way callers can access the same mailboxes but hear a different menu.
- Now add an Override in the Overrides section. In the new override, set the tree to be your new evening tree, and set the times
to be your evening/weekend hours.
Now if someone calls outside of business hours, they will be greeted with your new call tree!
- Can PhoneValet take a message while I am on the phone?
If you have a single phone line, answering a second call while a call is in place is a technological impossibility. Even with call waiting, you can not talk to both callers at the same time. You can only switch back and forth between them. There would be no way for PhoneValet to connect and record a message from caller 2 because you are still using your phone line to talk to caller 1.
Phone company's voice mail can do this because the second call never actually reaches your line. The phone company reroutes it to their voice mail lines if you don't answer. PhoneValet cannot do that because it is connected to your phone line, not the phone company's internal switches.
If you have more than one line configured to roll over to each other when they are busy, and have a PhoneValet adapter answering each line, then PhoneValet can take a message on the other line while you are on the phone.
- What audio formats are supported for voice mails and call recordings?
PhoneValet supports two versions of 3GPP, two versions of AAC, and WAV file
formats for audio recordings and messages. The 3GPP file formats
offer excellent quality and very small size (76 KB/minute). That
means you could store over 191 days of 3GPP call recordings on a
20GB hard disk! The "3GPP Optimized for Treo" format is similar to regular 3GPP but is slightly larger. It is for compatibility with Treo smartphones and may work on other mobile phones as well.
With the AAC format you get easy compatibility with Apple's iTunes
— you can carry your call recordings and voice mails with
you on your iPod! The "AAC Optimized for iPhone" format is half the size of regular AAC, has slightly less audio quality, but is for faster downloading over EDGE networks.
The WAV format gives you easy access to source
audio data for those who want to process their recordings, WAV is
compatible with virtually any Windows PC without any added software.
If you are sending calls to a Windows PC and want to use 3GPP and/or AAC files, the Windows PC should have
QuickTime
for Windows installed.
iPhone
- Can I access my voice mail from my iPhone or iPod Touch?
Yes! If you have an iPhone you can also have your voice mail emailed to you and play it back in the Mail application. If you have purchased the PhoneValet Anywhere add-on, you can use Safari on the iPhone or iPod touch to access your voicemail, in a compact, efficient interface.
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