Business Communicator Window - TAPI (Microsoft Telephony API)
The TAPI gateway allows HansaWorld Enterprise to connect to a switchboard via the Microsoft Telephony API (TAPI).
To call a Contact using this method, first open the 'Business Communicator' window:
Click on the Contact in the Contact list and then click on their telephone or mobile number in the Contact Method list. Alternatively, enter a number in the Dial field. Then, click the [Switchboard] button. The number must be one that can be understood by the switchboard: for example, if you need to dial 9 to get an outside line, include 9 in the number. This means including 9 in every telephone and mobile number in the Contact register.
A call will be established between you and the Contact. First, your telephone (i.e. the telephone with the extension number in your Contact record) will ring. When you answer, the Contact's telephone will ring.
Communication through a switchboard via TAPI requires a TAPI gateway which must be on a Windows computer. This can be your HansaWorld Enterprise server (an "internal" gateway) or a separate machine (an "external" gateway). The switchboard must have "TAPI 2.0 (or later) with third-party support" enabled. This will allow the TAPI gateway to initiate new calls and monitor existing ones for every extension. Without third-party support, the gateway would only be able to do this for one specific user.
The provider of your switchboard will have supplied a TAPI Telephone Service Provider (driver) that must be installed on the internal or external gateway. To install this new driver and to see those already installed, open the Phone and Modem Options control panel in Windows and go to the 'Advanced' card.
To configure an internal gateway, follow these steps:
- Log in to your HansaWorld Enterprise system as a system administrator with access to the Technics module, as described here.
- Open the TAPI Gateway setting in the Technics module:
In the TAPI Service Provider field, use 'Paste Special' to specify the service provider of your TAPI service. 'Paste Special' will list the Telephone Service Providers (drivers) installed in Windows.
If your TAPI driver is not included in the 'Paste Special' list, the probable reason is that "TAPI 2.0 (or later) with third-party support" has not been enabled on your switchboard. Alternatively, the driver might not be supported by the switchboard. Please refer to the provider of your switchboard for more assistance.
Leave the Username and Password empty.
- Open the Configuration setting in the System module and make sure that the TAPI Gateway option on the 'Technical' card is checked.
- Restart the server.
- Create records in the Contact register for each member of staff, containing their extension numbers. Connect these Contact records to the relevant Person or Global User records using the Contact Code field on the 'Access' card.
To configure an external gateway, follow these steps:
- Log in to your main HansaWorld Enterprise system and create a record in the Person register to allow the external gateway to log in. This Person should belong to an Access Group that only has full access to the TAPI Gateway module. Remember to specify a Password for this Person.
If you have several Companies in your database, enter this Person in the first Company.
- Open the Configuration setting in the System module and make sure that the TAPI Gateway option on the 'Technical' card is checked.
- Create records in the Contact register for each member of staff, containing their extension numbers. Connect these Contact records to the relevant Person or Global User records using the Contact Code field on the 'Access' card.
- Change to the gateway machine and install the standard Windows Vista/XP/2003/2000 application. When you launch the "HansaWorld.exe" application, a new database ("HANSA.HDB" file) will be created. Proceed as follows:
- When the 'Welcome to HansaWorld' window appears, do not click any buttons. Instead, close the window by clicking the close box.
- An empty 'Companies: Inspect' window will appear: enter the Company Code and Name of the Company on the main server in which you created the Person in step i. Click the [Save] button.
- Open the TAPI Gateway setting in the Technics module. Specify the service provider of your TAPI service as described in step 2 above. In the Username and Password fields, enter the Signature and Password of the Person that you created in step i.
- Return to the 'Companies: Inspect' inspect window by opening the Company register in the System module. Enter the IP address of the main server. In the Port field, enter the Server Port entered in the Program Mode register in the Technics module in the main database (illustrated on the Progam Mode page). By default, this will be 1200. When you click the [Save] button, the application will quit automatically.
- The Windows Vista/XP/2003/2000 installer in step iv will have installed a slave version of the application ("HansaWorld-Slave.exe") as well as the standard application. Start the slave version of the application using one of the following methods:
- Create a "parameters.txt" file as described in the 'Launching the Server with Parameters ' section on the Loading an Existing Database and Company page. This file should contain the parameter --gateway. Launch the slave application by double-clicking.
- Open the command line and launch the slave application by typing:
- hansaworld-slave --gateway
The slave application will log in to your HansaWorld Enterprise server automatically using the log in details contained in the Company register and the TAPI Gateway setting.
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