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Table of Contents
ClearphoneProPPC™ is a user friendly video conferencing program for Mac OS computers using system 8.1 and above. Users can send and receive audio, video, files, graphics, sounds, movies, share documents, and view shared WEB pages in real time via the Internet and local area networks. All data audio and video transmissions are always perfect quality with no data loss as is the case with other similar products. The minimum requirments for ClearphoneProPPC™ is system OS 8.1. Note: If you are using System 8.1 ClearPhoneProPPC 6 requires that you install the Navigation Services extension. We no longer supply Navigation services with the ClearphoneProPPC 6 download since most everyone has it. Navigation services is not included with os 8.1. It is in system 8.5 & 8.6 and up. We have put it on our WEB site if you need it, but I strongly recommend using a newer system or clearphone performance will suffer do to the outdated networking in OS 8.1.
ClearphoneProPPC™ uses the WEB to locate and call other active users online in "PUB's", which are meeting places containing list of active users with name, picture and note fields. Each PUB provides a real time updating server page that updates every 5 minutes so that all users can view each other before a direct call is made. Each PUB can be viewed directly using either an Internet browser (Netscape or Internet Explorer) or by using the ClearphoneProPPC™ "Internet User List". A General use "Main PUB #1" is available for all Demo users connected via the Internet. A separate "Appletalk Active user list" is provided for local area networks when using Appletalk or Ethernet to locate other online users. An online phone book of registered ClearphoneProPPC™ users wishing to be listed is available to contact users that may not be active or that may be active and are currently logged on to different PUBs. A new feature of version 6 allows AIM users to make Calls through AOL's Instant Messenger™ while they are online.
The ClearPhone program may be registered by purchasing a unique registration code. Select the "Register ClearPhone" under the "Apple™" logo inside the Clearphone program. After installing the registration code you will be able to access additional private Internet PUB's and can list there personal info in the online phone book.
ClearphoneProPPC™ 6.1 features:
ClearPhone Minimum Operating System Requirements
Mac OS system: Min. Requirement Mac OS-8.1 Note: ClearPhone
Version 4.6.1 works with the older MAC OS systems but there are many
problems when using these early MAC OS Operating systems. We no
longer recommend using any operating system software older than MAC
OS 8.1 with Clearphone. Minimum Macintosh hardware: Macintosh
with Plain talk or built in Microphone capability. To send Video
requires an internal A/V card and video camera or camcorder. The
Connectix black and white or color camera may be used via the serial
port to send video. The recommended system for use with
ClearPhonePro™ is MAC OS 8.5.1 or higher.Note:
Quicktime 4.0 is required reguardless of
what MAC OS system you are running.If you do not have it yet you can
get
it here.
For best results never use virtual
memory or Ram Doubler while using ClearPhone!
If you do not already have a copy of the ClearPhone or the ClearphoneProPPC™ version 6.1 program then check your version here and download the latest version of ClearphoneProPPC™ (http://www.clearphone.com/dlclear.html) from the Internet. You will be downloading the file named "ClearPhone.hqx" or ClearphoneProPPC™.hqx which is a compressed binhex (.hqx) format. Most browsers use helper programs that will automatically de-compress the file. After the file is de-compressed, you should see the ClearphoneProPPC™ Install Icon, then follow these steps:
Note: Apple™ Education Series users please read your registration card for details on using the Education Series Private PUB.
You must enter a valid registration code to register ClearPhone. Pull down the "About ClearPhone" menu under the Apple logo, then select "Register Software". Paste or type in the supplied registration code. Be sure you are not using a duplicate code and the code you are using was obtained legally from Engineering Consulting or from an Apple ™ authorized distributor. Do not use the same registration code on more that one MAC or your program will revert to a demo. Each ClearPhone user has a unique serial number which is contained in the numeric portion of your code. Duplicate registrations and illegal registrations will terminate ClearPhone. You can verify which registration code was used on your Mac by looking at the "About ClearPhone" menu. The serial number indicates which registration code was used to register this computer.
If you have obtained Clearphone as part of an Apple™ Education Series bundle you do not need to download the program but you do need to install the registration code into the Clearphone program. Your ClearPhone registration code is located on the "Apple Education Series" Clearphone registration card. You should verify that you have the latest version of Clearphone from the ClearPhone home page. If a later version is indicated, then download the latest online version of the ClearPhone program. Please fill out and return the user registration form inculded with your Apple™ Education Series bundle. Unstuff the program using Stuffit Expander or allow your browser to unstuff it. Double click the Installer and once installed you will see the blue Icon of the program named ClearPhone". Next connect your computer to the Internet and launch the ClearPhone program. ClearPhone will log on to the Engineering Consulting Main redundant server and you will be asked to set your Microphone levels by using an "Audio Auto-Configure" selection button. Once you are logged on you should see the "Main Server List PUB #1". Your name (as you entered it when first signing onto the PUB) should appear on the list of names of active users. Active users are displayed with a black dot next to there names. To call another person on line, with ClearPhone, double click or press return while pointing to any active user. To change your login name, use the "Myinfo" button located on the ClearPhone control window.
Check your Microphone. One of the most common mistakes is the use of the older "Apple computer" mics. They do not work on the new Power Macs. Be sure that you are using a "Plaintalk" mic. This mic has the very long (3/4" mic plug). Some clones are not sold with microphones. You can purchase a microphone and a low cost preamplifier that will allow you to plug into the Mac's microphone input a small stereo mic jack rather than the Plaintalk microphone. When you do this the output drive from the amplified mic must be line level audio. In all cases, be sure that you have selected the "Microphone" as your sound input device using the "Audio In" button on the ClearPhone control window. A Microphone preamplifier is available that will adapt the plaintalk input on the Mac to allow the use of various low cost generic microphones is Griffin Technology http://www.griffintechnology.com.
Problem: My audio level bar bounces but when I call someone they cannot hear me.Make sure the person you are talking to has Quicktime 3.0. If they do not have Quicktime 3.0 then you will need to switch off your HI Fi Qualcom Compressor and change it to MACE 3. (Re-install Quicktime 3.0). Model 6300 Power Macs are too slow for Qualcom and you MUST set the compressor to MACE 3. Some early Power MACs like the 6360 for example (113 Mhz processor) MUST use the MACE 3 audio compressor or they will not send or receive audio correctly.You can change this in the audio set up panel of ClearphoneProPPC™. If you experience any problems then use ClearPhone version 4.6.1 . This is a MUST in most cases if your MAC processor speed is less than 150 Mhz.
Another Solution: If your RED talk Icon does not turn bright RED when you are taking during a call, then no audio will be sent. Re-install your Quicktime 3.0 after checking your hard disk with disk aid or Norton utilities. Many users have had to install QT 3.0 twice to get it to work correctly.
If you are using a Global Village or Geoport internal modem you may not be able to transmit audio unless you make some changes. A conflict exists on Macs using Global Village or Geoport Internal modems that does not allow any microphone audio to be transmitted while the modem is in use. Check with Apple and ask about prompt # 0019265. Certain extensions conflict with the ability of the Mac Performa to send audio when using the Global Village or Geoport brand of modem. Problem extensions include "megaphone"," Cyprus, and possibly "Teleport". The sound perfs will have to be trashed and you will need to restart to get this modem to work. If this does not work, another way we know of to fix the problem is to use an external modem on the printer port and remove extensions associated with the internal modem. To get use of the second serial port back, remove the internal modem, by opening the back of the computer and unplugging the modem. Then remove the cover over the serial port connector and you will have a second serial port suitable for an external modem. If you remove the internal modem, turn off all modem software and remove extensions used with the Global Village modem. Important Note: Performers models that use internal modems will experience slower audio transfer and significant data throughput delays. For faster throughput (less delay) use an external modem as they do not use valuable processor time. Switching to an external modem will in most cases dramatically improve performance.
**Another solution is to use FreePPP version 2.5. This PPP will replace Apple PPP and it has a Performa selection option in the "modem setup" that will turn off the audio during dial up and eliminate the internal modem problem of no transmit audio. This may be the best solution so far as it allows you to use all of the conflicting extensions mentioned above. This solution has been tested on MAC OS8.
**No send audio can also be the result of a problem with the "PRAM" in your computer. To reset the PRAM restart your MAC while you hold down the "Command, Option, P and R keys" until you hear the restart tone for the second time. This problem has shown up as a -229 error when closing the "Audio In" dialog on a Centris 660A/V and possibly other models.
No transmit audio will result if you get a -223 error. It means that a codec (compressor) or part of Quicktime 3.0 cannot be found. Re-install Quicktime 3.0 and try again.
To prevent a crash when sending video while using the model G3 with 6 megs of RAM installed, select "Video Pfs" from the ClearPhone control menu and check the "Update/Refresh digitizer in Real time" box. Apple has a audio/video tuneup extension program for system 8.1 users that should fix these problems.
The G3 has a very sensitive audio mic gain preamp. For best results, reduce the "Mic" level from the default setting of "7" to a lower setting so that when you talk the Red mic level display does not go over 200. There are various Audio control settings for the speaker audio play-through located under the system "monitor and sounds" control panel and on the Control Strip. To eliminate audio feedback from your speakers you will need to shut off the "listen" mode by selecting "None" as the Control strip listen selection. Select "Sound In" using the Audio Input selector located on the "Audio In" window.
The ClearPhoneProPPC 6 audio functions in either full or half duplex modes with optional simultaneous video transfer (an exception is the early MACs above). Multiple connections are supported and in addition to speech and video the user can send and receive files graphics, pictures, text and sounds, via the white board. The "paste and send" white board command sends and receives information stored on the Mac system Clipboard. Call window Dialog buttons are used to activate many functions including live text chat and the transferring of files directly between callers by using the "Send File" menu command. When a file is sent, the person receiving the file can select "Automatic document processing" to make the file transfer follow the standard Internet config File mappings. The file will open the appropriate application after transfer is completed.
When using the ClearPhone program to converse over the Internet , the data throughput (available bandwidth) of the Internet varies with each packet and the audio delays are not always constant. Under all conditions ClearPhone transfers 100% of the data, resulting in clear audio and video. When the bandwidth is limited, ClearPhone buffers the data until it can be sent. Sometimes the data transfer will experience variations in the transfer delay time. These variations never affect the quality of the speech or video. If the network is slow due to data overload, data will get through although it may take a little longer. ClearPhone uses data buffering to guarantee that you will hear and see clearly all data sent .
A talk (send) delay indicator bar is located in each active call connection window. It shows how well your data is being sent to each call while you are speaking. If your connection is encountering too much delay, the red "delay" indicator bar will light showing the relative backlog or buffer size. This indicates the number of voice packets waiting to be sent. To reduce the delay, you can stop talking or slow down your video send frame rate or reduce your audio sampling rate. You can talk and listen to others while ClearPhone is running in the background. Other programs and browsers can function at the same time. You can talk and listen while surfing the Internet. ClearPhone takes up a relatively small amount of memory (about 3 Megs). ClearPhone can maintain a PPP connection to the Internet. this allows you to receive calls while you are running other programs.
Duplex Mode reduces time delays but requires headphones
Duplex is the Preferred audio mode because it results in the fastest throughput or least delays. When Full duplex is on (checked) and you are using a headphones you can continue to talk even when the other persons voice is being heard. Duplex mode gets the data flowing much faster and smoother because you are not waiting to hear everything before you speak as you must do when duplex is off. When duplex is off your Mic is automatically muted while you are hearing incoming audio. If you speak during incoming speech, the spoken message will be lost. When duplex is off, the incoming audio data is stored in a memory buffer while you are speaking, and as soon as you pause (red light goes out) you will hear the incoming audio when duplex is not enabled. When duplex is on the incoming audio is heard as soon as it is available and it is not necessary to buffer the received audio even if you are hearing the other persons audio. Because of the continuous audio send and receive transmissions, full duplex is much faster and it eliminates many seconds of delay that would be caused by having to wait to hear the other persons full message.
Minimum Talk Delay -The talk turn around
time can be less than 1 second of total delay, when you are connected
with a solid connection between parties. Ethernet and AppleTalk and
good Internet 28.8 or faster connections will work. This fast turn
around can now be achieved by setting the packet size to zero (0) and
using headphones. The default is 2 seconds for ClearPhoneProPPC 6.
If you have been using an
earlier version of Clearphone you must manually set the packet delay
to 2 seconds.The old default value was 3
seconds. For quick conversations, put on the
duplex mode which allows you to talk while the other person is being
heard. Note: If any breakup of audio is heard by the receiving side,
then ask the person you are speaking with to increase their packet
size until the speech heard becomes smooth.
No PORN or Profane language is allowed to appear on the ClearPhone PUBs at any time. The PUB pictures can be viewed by all age groups as the PUB area is open to the general public. Users displaying PORN or using Profane language or offending other users will be terminated. The ClearPhone online PUB and WEB cam is not the place for this kind of activity and it will not be tolerated. Users may report the log-on URL (observable in your browser) and the name of any person violating these rules to Engineering Consulting Clearphone management. Note this Exception: Private voice conversations between individuals using ClearPhone cannot be monitored. (It is more secure than the telephone!) When you turn off the automatic log-on feature, your pictures will not be sent to the PUB user list for the general public to see. When in this mode your conversations and pictures are completely private and therefore you are not subject to the decency rules pertaining to the general PUB as long as you are not offending the person you are talking to. What you do in private is your business but what you do in public while using ClearPhone is our business. Each user of ClearPhone has unique ID code. If you violate ClearPhone decency rules your ClearPhone program, whether in the demo or registered mode, will be terminated by Engineering Consulting.
Use of pirated access Codes or Hacked versions of ClearPhone result in immediate user termination.
Do not use unauthorized or
pirated access codes. All ClearPhone registration codes must
be obtained directly from Engineering Consulting. If you enter
illegally obtained access codes, your ClearPhone program will be
terminated. Illegal access attempts are fully documented and if
you enter illegally obtained access codes you are subject to
copyright (C) infringement with fines of $10,000 or more and
your attempts will be reported to authorities. Do not use your
demo past the 30 day trial period.
Answering an Incoming
Call- Once a call is answered this "Call Menu" is added to the
ClearPhone Menu Bar. It provides functions that are available to each
incoming call. Each call window will display the same menu however
when you use this menu it will function for the call window that is
highlighted or active at the time.
When an incoming ClearPhone call is announced, you
will hear a text to speech voice speaking the name or a telephone
ringing tone. The call may be answered using the "answer" button
inside the caller's window that is displaying the "ringing" ICON.
You can answer more than one call at a time if the "Allow multiple
Calls" box is checked on the "control window". Once a call is
answered and the "connect" message is displayed, the ClearPhone VOX
audio detection will trigger when you speak into your microphone and
the red talk indicator will be on during speech. Audio is sent to the
other party as you speak. There are several parameters which are
under your control which will help maintain a smooth conversation.
You may choose to use the full or half duplex audio modes. In the
duplex mode you can talk and listen to someone speak at the same
time, but this can cause echoes if your Mic picks up the incoming
audio. Therefore we recommend using earphones whenever the duplex
mode is on. When duplex is off, the mic audio will mute while the
incoming audio is present, this prevents audio feedback. Keep
duplex off unless you are using an earphone to listen. Or keep
the received speaker audio low enough so that the VOX (Red Sending
light) does not turn on while incoming audio is being heard. The
headphone will keep the incoming audio from activating the VOX and
this will eliminate feedback which can slow down the conversation
with unnecessary return audio data transmissions. The Audio In
Preferences window allows you to adjust your send transmission
bandwidth and packet size.(these settings are just for sending and
have no affect on reception). These variables can be changed at any
time. Values selected are saved automatically in the ClearPhone
preferences file when you quit the ClearPhone program. The quality
and frequency response of the transmitted audio is controlled
by the Audio sampling Rate selection. The lower sampling rates of 3.7
and 4.4 Khz will result in faster throughput because they take up
less bandwidth, but the sound will have reduced voice quality on the
receiving side. You cannot control the way that your received
audio sounds with any preference settings. You can run the
audio through an external speaker with tone controls that will give
better sounds quality than the internal speaker. You can ask the
person who talking to you, to send audio at a higher sampling rate if
you want to hear better quality audio. The quality of the transmitted
audio improves as the sampling rate increases with 11khz being the
highest quality supported. When using a 28.8khz modem connection 3.7,
4.4, 5, & 7 khz audio rates are transmitted in real time
depending upon network conditions. When using a 14.4 k baud modem if
real time results are desired use either 3.6 or 4.4 Khz audio
selection.
The connected call (example: TV test broadcast) window appears when a call is incoming or outgoing. It displays the name of the calling party as the name of the window, and the EMAIL address, IP address, audio sampling rate and ClearPhone version number of the caller. The byte size of the incoming white board data and video receive frame size are also shown on each call window. Each call connection produces a call window that displays the current connection status and the data transfer, mic and video channel status, of this call. When a call is active, you can toggle on and off the video channel and mute your Mic to individual callers, by clicking on the camera or mic Icons in the call window. The Hold and Mute button puts individual calls on hold, stopping send data. This function can be reset from either side by clicking on the Icon which will toggle the function. This allows you to unmute the Mic and turn off the Hold and mute function remotely by toggling the Hold & Mute control from either side of the call.
The Answer button will establish the connection when your phone rings. Once answered the button becomes a "redial" button to make it easier to redial a call. The Hang Up button will disconnect the call. The buttons at the button of the call window allows selection of call related functions for each person you are speaking to. You can send via the white-board the following: text, sound, graphics or files to each caller independently. The "Send file" button allows transfer of any file on your MAC to any caller. (You can do multiple file transfers). Note: hanging up the call will not interrupt an in progress file transfer. The Call (name of person at top) window and the Control windows can be reduced in size by using the size box located in the upper right corner, when the window is visible in the foreground. If the person you are talking to has a personal web server that is active, you can view the server pages in your browser while you are connected and talking by clicking on the PWS (Personal Web Server) buttons if they are active. Both HTTP and FTP access from your browser or ftp client will activate when you click on the associated button. The client program selected to view the call window server will depend upon your Internet Config file mapping selections. The call window also supports "Hotline servers" and eliminates the need for a tracker, but you must have the Hotline Client program to use this function.
Sending files directly to persons you are connected to
The "Send files" menu on the current active Call window makes it possible to send and receive files to anyone while you are talking to them. The Send file command requires that a "Receive folder" be defined using ClearPhone 's helper menu before you can receive a file. You must first save the Internet Config setting before receiving a file. To send a file select the Call window of the person you wish to send the file to. You must have an active connection before this will work. The "Control menu" will appear. Use the "Send File" command from the control menu and select the file you wish to send. You will see a progress bar that will appear on both the sender and receiver's screen. This progress bar will disappear once the file transfer is complete. The received file will be located in the folder you selected using the Internet Config setup. If you check the box named "Post-Process file" during the File transfer, when the transfer is completed, the file will open the preselected application as determined by the Internet Config preferences settings located in the Internet Preferences file named "file mappings". Post processing is useful if you are sharing documents or want you r files to decompress automatically after the transfer takes place.
Receiving calls behind a Firewall
In general a firewall prevents receiving incoming ClearPhone calls unless you have set up the Firewall first. Incoming calls to you from other ClearPhone users require a "Port" connection. These requests are blocked and are rejected by a firewall unless the firewall NAT address table has been changed to allow passage of the incoming request for a Port assignment for your computer. ClearPhone can be configured to listen using any port address. You can advise your network administrator to program your firewall to accept calls behind the firewall using the ClearPhone default port #2008. You must program a minimum of 4 consecutive ports to each Mac using ClearPhonePro6 behind the firewall. The default consecutive Port begins with 2008 and 2010 and 2011, 2012. You can configure ClearPhone Ports to receive calls on any group of 4 ports. Just enter the first Port # you wish to use into ClearPhone. Use the Control window shortcut "Network" button to select the Port.
Here is an example using the application IPnetrouter which installs a firewall. Settings starting with a new Port # 2000. Note: The fifth http port is assigned only when WEB sharing files using a WEB server are required. Use consecutive Port numbers between 1050 and 2048 to be safe from interfering with other Port assignments.
Note: ClearPhone's Macintosh file transfer (button on incoming call window) is not supported behind a firewall between Macintosh computers. To share files behind firewalls and with users running a Macintosh or when talking to someone who is running the "Windows version of ClearPhoneProWin™ you must turn on your personal WEB sharing and "check" your "server" preference shortcut (found in the controls window) to indicate that your personal WEB server is active.
If you are behind a firewall you will not be able
to receive calls until you program the firewall ports. Calls made
using the standard method of clicking the listed names on the browser
PUB page or from the "Main server list PUB" may not work if the
person you are calling is behind a firewall. If you are behind a
firewall you can make outgoing calls, as long as the person you are
calling is not also behind a firewall. If the person calling you is
behind a firewall certain "Port" request functions will only work
when they are activated by the person behind the firewall. In other
words, these functions will only work in one direction. Typically,
the person behind the firewall can send but cannot receive a white
board or video. Once you program your firewall/router NAT table for
each Mac running ClearPhone behind the firewall all functions will
work correctly. You should be able to receive and make calls with
other Clearphone users who are also behind the firewall by directing
your calls via the internet.
ClearPhone Main Control Window
The ClearPhone Control window displays the
status of the Network connections including AppleTalk, PPP and your
current Log on status on the server PUB. You can toggle the size of
the control window using the size button. The Preferences Shortcuts
provides direct access to all preference selections that affect
ClearPhone operation. The Control Icons A-Talk, Internet and
PUB are click able and can be used to turn on the functions as
the Icon will be grayed out when the feature is inactive When
connected and talking to someone, the Microphone (send) level is
indicated as a black (not sending) or red (sending) level bar in the
Control window. The mic level numbers correspond to the numbers used
for setting the "Rec start" and "Rec Stop" trigger points. These
values can be set manually or automatically using the automatic Mic
level command available under the "Audio In" Preference.
Edit Menu
Control Window Selections
Most of the Preferences menu selections are also accessible as Shortcuts when using the "ClearPhone control" menu window. The "Save Preferences" command will save the current settings of all ClearPhone parameters except those that are saved under Internet Config. Multiple Preference file configurations can be saved and they can be opened using the ClearPhone "Open file" command under the File menu. Any preference file can be saved as "Default" which that will load with ClearPhone on startup.
ClearPhone and ClearphoneProPPC™ 6.1 audio set up
The "Audio In" button on the control window opens the Audio In Preferences dialog where you can set the Mic levels and other transmit parameters which determines how your voice is transmitted when you make a connection with another party. The mic level bar will be active when you are connected to someone or when this menu is open . When using the Apple Plaintalk microphone, do not get too close to the mic or severe distortion will result. Try to keep at least 8 inches from the microphone while producing sufficient audio level to cause the audio bar to peak near 200 when talking. When you are connected and talking to someone the red "talk" display Icon should remain on in each call window, except during a speech pause. The talk red display icon must go off when you are not talking or you will be sending all the time and may not hear incoming audio. The VOX record start and stop parameters affect the way your voice will sound at the receiving end. The "Rec start" VOX level is the trigger point at which your voice will begin to start recording the "Rec stop" level is the trigger level that the recording will shut off. The Rec start and stop level trip points must both be set above any background noise. The Rec start and stop levels must be set higher in noisy environments or when using power books that have loud disk drives that can be heard by the internal mic. You do not want background noises to cause the Red Send light to come on. If the "Rec stop" is not set above the background noise then the audio (Red light) will not turn off during speech pauses and the recorder will not shut off. Experiment with these settings by connecting to yourself and listening to your voice come back to see that it is smooth and not broken up. Audio settings using the ClearphoneProPPC™ 6.1 version use the Quictime audio settings panels. These panels are not used in ClearPhone 4.6.1 version.
Automatic and manual VOX (record start stop) setting
Select the Microphone as the sound input device by using the Input Source selector. The AUTO-configure Vox start/stop command (not used in Pro version) will automatically set your VOX (mic) audio Rec and Stop trigger points (Based upon you mic gain). You should use the AUTO-configure command for the first setup to preset the audio input start stop VOX thresholds. The Pro version requires setting these levels manually. When the test is running, it will listen to your background noise and adjust the Rec start and stop thresholds depending upon the ambient noise while running the test. When you quit ClearPhone your choice will be stored as a default for ClearPhone operation. The Mac Control Panel "Sound" or "Monitors & Sound" selection can also be used to preselect the Input Source before running ClearPhone. Set the microphone gain first (0 through 7) audio levels (7 is maximum) or alternately a fixed AGC setting (automatic gain control). Do not use AGC unless your Mac will only work with it on or you will have too much background noise. Some of these settings are not available on all MAC's. Some only support AGC, while others support both. When the item is not supported, it may be "grayed out". Your audio level control should be used to set the Microphone level high enough to make the level bar peak into the red area during normal speech. BE SURE THAT THE RED TALK LIGHT GOES OUT WHEN YOU ARE NOT TALKING. If you have high background noise you must raise the "record start and stop settings" to keep the Red light off when you are not speaking.
Hi-Fi audio transmission using Qualcom Compressor
When this selection is checked you will be sending audio that is very high quality even at a "send quality" bandwidth setting of 5 khz. We recommend that you do not increase the "send quality" bandwidth above 5 khz when Qualcom compressor is active as it will only increase the data slowing down the call and with normal speech it will not improve the recieved audio (at the other end) by much. Your MAC must have at least a 100 Mhz Power Mac processor to use the Qualcom Compressor. If your MAC is does not have a processor that is fast enough, then do not turn Qualcom on. You will still receive Hi Fi quality but you cannot send it. If you turn it on using a Slow processor MAC, then it will either slow down the call and delay the audio or crash when this compressor is active. If your MAC is fast enough then this Compressor should be left on to improve the send audio and speed the transmission as it requires less data to send the speech. Version 4.6.0 stores the Qualcom preference settings. For best result Be sure you are not using virtual memory or ram doubler with ClearPhone active!
"My Info" button (My Profile Information)
This window allows you to enter your logon
information including Name, EMail address, Home page name, Home page
URL (if any), and a Note to other users. Logon information can be
used from Internet Config settings or can be stored as an independent
default by placing a copy of the Inernet Config preferences inside
the ClearPhone folder when running Clearphone it will check the
folder first for Internet Config settings and default to them.
Bookmarks
& Streams Menu- Stores URL's from your browser that can be
launched from the Clearphone program.
Use this menu to add bookmarks. When a bookmark is selected it automatically launches the browser defined in the "Helpers" Control menu. To remove a URL, drag the bookmark name out of the Bookmarks folder. To add your URL's as bookmarks, open your browser to the desired page URL and then use the "Add URL from "browser". The current browser selections available are Internet Explorer 4.6 or Netscape Navigator 4.6.1.
Expert user Note: The menu URL selections
originate from Scripts located in the ClearPhone Support folder
inside the system preferences folder . The scripts can be changed by
using the "Script Editor". Once the browser name is changed in the
Script command it can be used with another browser, but the actual
name of the Script must not be changed.
The Options Preferences configures the ClearPhone program to enable the appropriate automated incoming call functions. You can default the video channel to turn on automatically when answering an incoming call. The Whiteboard can be defaulted to send its contents automatically after you select a file or graphic after selecting a file for sending via the whiteboard. The Auto answer incoming calls can only be used if the "Answering Machine" script is turned off (using the Edit preferences incoming call alert menu). Enable unattended operation is used when sending TV feeds while automatically answering calls. It will purge the call windows automatically after a caller hangs up.
Automatic Open Digitizer forces ClearPhone to open the digitizer window when you launch the program. The "Update/Refresh digitizer window in realtime" selection will make your digitizer react in real time on your screen showing all frames captured. The "stop sending video while send talk delay is on" will keep your audio and video transmissions in sync so that audio delays will be at a minimum because the video transmission of data will stop until the delay is gone. When "Continue sending video when ClearPhone is in background is active it will force the digitizer to send video while ClearPhone is not in the foreground. Use this option with caution as it could cause a crash in earlier systems and with certain 3rd party video drivers. When you "Override the video compression defaults" the video compressor can be changed from the default "Photo JPEG". We do not recommend switching compressors but it may be useful with future versions of Quicktime.
The number of Secs. (seconds) between frames box determines the maximum video frame rate that you wish to send. The fastest video frame send rate is 0 sec. between frames. We recommend starting with about 15 seconds and gradually going faster (smaller number of seconds) if your connection permits without increasing the voice delay. Settings of less than 10 seconds may be to fast for some connections and may interfere with smooth audio reception unless you have a fast MAC and a fast connection like Ethernet. The fastest speed that you can send video is 0 sec. between frames which actually defaults to about .25 sec. This speed is too fast for most connections and should be avoided as it will send frames as fast as the receiving end can accept them. You can select a default size for the digitizer and remote video windows. To change the size while the window is active, click on the window and hold down the mouse until the Pop up window allows the change size selection menu.
ClearPhone always sends the picture clearly. Unlike other programs which have poor quality picture transmission. When sending video remember that the smaller the digitizer window is, the less resolution is sent, but the frames can update faster (0 sec between frames is the fastest). You can control the quality of the picture that will be received but you cannot control the size of the picture that the person receiving the image will want to look at. If the receiving person says that the picture is low resolution it may be because you are sending with a small size digitizer window.
When the Video Digitizer is open you can send a video snapshot using the white board. This is more efficient than sending repeated video frames. Use the Edit menu selection to "Read White Board Data from the digitizer Video" to send a single camera shot via the white board. When the digitizer is open and you open the "video connection" real time video will be sent according to the frame rate selected under the connection preference. The received frame rate may be less than what you have selected if there is too much audio being sent at the same time. The receiving side determines when it needs more frames within the frame rate that you have selected.
Helper (Personal) Information Window
This window selects various ClearPhone helper
Applications using "Internet Config" Network preferences. Note: You
can use a copy of the Internet config preferences file named
"Internet Preferences" (located in the System Preferences folder) to
provide a pre-configured set of helpers for ClearPhone that may be
different than those used by other programs. Place a copy of these
Network preferences inside the ClearPhone folder. When launching
ClearPhone from this folder ClearPhone will use the local Internet
config preferences file to set up the Internet Config preferences for
ClearPhone. The HTTP helper should be your preferred Internet
browser. The FTP helper can be the browser or another FTP program
such as Fetch. The E-Mail helper can be any program that you use to
handle your E-Mail. The Receive file folder is any folder you wish to
store files transferred to you while using ClearPhone's file
transfers.
When "Auto Initialize Internet Network Receiver " is selected" your ClearPhone will launch the "Active Chat Pub #1" (or the PUB that you have selected before you last quit the program) and automatically log your name, EMAIL address and a camera snapshot (if the digitizer is open) or a graphic (photo) picture to the "Internet User List" where you will find other ClearPhone users to talk to. Use the "logon Image source" to select either a photo from a file (JPEG or PICT) or use your live camera as a source for your logon picture. When you Log on the selected image will be sent to the current PUB internet user list you are logging on to.
The "Auto Initialize AppleTalk Network Receiver" provides a list of all ClearPhone users on your AppleTalk or Ethernet. The list can display local zones (*) or all zones (=). You can call one or more active ClearPhone users via the Internet or AppleTalk at the same time. The PUB pages are displayed as a list within ClearPhone or they are displayed automatically using your browser (Netscape, Cyberdog etc.). We recommend Netscape because it obeys our "meta" commands that will cause your page to update every 5 minutes. When you use the browser, you will see new users log on automatically. To call a person you can click on their picture or name. You can log off with the "Log off PUB" network menu command.
New Call by Address selection (AppleTalk, Internet name/address calling)
Testing ClearPhone audio and video by connecting to yourself
After connecting to your PPP server your local IP address can be seen under "Window" select "user info". Enter this IP address into the "Connect to IP" box using the Internet selection. Click on "Connect" to make a test connection to yourself for testing your audio and system. (Turn off duplex mode and be sure that call waiting is enabled) Your ClearPhone should Ring and you can then answer the call. Use your mouse to point to the "Answer Call" under the options menu which will be high-lighted. If the "auto answer" is checked before you make the call then the call will automatically be answered after one ring. To test your connection speak into your microphone. You will hear your voice twice because you are hearing both sides of the conversation in this test mode only. The Input level bar will jump to the right, displaying your voice level.When you send your voice you will hear your voice echo back a short time later
Use the Internet user list or AppleTalk/Ethernet user list to call someone. You can talk to others on the Internet and via Local Networks at the same time as both are running. To call via AppleTalk or Ethernet, simply select the AppleTalk network address selection on the above menu (File menu- "New call by Address). Enter the exact Logon user's name (found using My Info button on the control menu). Enter the name exactly as it is spelled on the Macintosh that you wish to connect to. You must know the (My Info) name before you can place a local network call. If you know the IP address (or name when using AppleTalk) of the person you are calling and you know that he is running the ClearPhone program then do the following: Either enter the IP address or name of the person you wish to call on the appropriate network by pulling down the "File" menu and select "Enter Network address to connect to", enter the address of the person you wish to call click on the "connect" button and wait for the party to answer the phone. If ClearPhone can connect to the person you will hear a ring tone just like a telephone. The IP address can have two forms. One is (xxx. xxx. xxx. xxx). These are numbers which correspond to the parties PPP connection. This will always work. The modified EMAIL address method may also work on some servers. If ClearPhone finds the person you are calling, his phone will be "ringing" and you will see the "ringing" Icon display in your "connection status" box and you will hear a telephone type ringing tone. If the other party cannot be located, then the status box will continue to say "dialing" or display a "hang up" Icon. Once your party answers the call, you will see the message "connect" at this time you may begin the conversation.
Once you make a call using ClearPhone the last number (address) you dialed will be stored in the "Connection" box for instant redial. You can create a bookmark for each person you speak with using the "Save" or the "Save As" command from the File menu. Enter the name of the person (if it is not already there) as the file name. These files can be used to make a personal phone book that can contain both Internet and local intranet phone numbers, names and EMAIL addresses.
Once you are connected you will see the Call
Status window. When this window is active you will be talking to that
person. The ClearPhone connection window will appear whenever you
receive or make a call. You can connect to more than one person at a
time via the Internet and Local Networks. You can talk to each person
at the same time or switch between callers by muting the mic on the
window of the person you do not want to send your voice to. You will
hear audio from both parties even if you are talking to the unmuted
party. You can put the person on "full mute" if you also do not want
to hear them, but want to remain connected. When you are using the
full duplex mode and if audio is being heard by your microphone then
it will feed back to the caller unless you are using a headphones (or
the incoming audio is low). To answer an incoming call click on
answer when ringing. To hang up or terminate the call in progress
close the window or click on "hang-up".
ClearPhone Server Support Preferences (including Hotline™)
ClearPhone supports http/ftp and Hotline Servers and Clients and it supports other Personal WEB servers including Net presence and many others. The ClearPhone program now supports Hotline servers and clients by providing an active Hotline or http or ftp button on each user's incoming call window and at the same time a clickable URL in our online server which can be accessed from our PUB WEB page using any browser or from the within ClearPhone, for each person running ClearPhone. This allows a person using the ClearPhone program to access another user's server and to call each user to speak and send audio and video directly to that person (if he is available) while looking at any online server in a client or browser all at the same time. Hotline server support requires that each user have the Hotline Client program to access the Hotline servers, but it eliminates the need for an online Tracker. The ClearPhone program uses Internet Config to automatically select the correct application program Client when a ClearPhone user clicks on the "Hotline" button of another user or clicks on the URL of that user as displayed in any browser. This ClearPhone feature eliminates the need for using the "Tracker" and may prove very useful since the trackers are always going off and you sometimes cannot find a tracker. You can also allow callers to connect to your personal servers such as those supplied with Mac OS8 or Internet Explorer. When they click the server button or URL they will be accessing and looking at your server.
The ClearPhone main servers named PUB, like
the beer pub where people meet, are operational 24hrs a day. These
independent servers are on different computers at two different
locations. When you run the ClearPhone program, it will display each
logged on user, including the user's current dynamic IP. This is the
same IP address used for their Hotline server providing click able
access to the Hotline servers as long as they are running the
ClearPhone program they will be logged on to the ClearPhone server
every 3 minutes. This will update the IP address even if the PPP
drops once Internet access is
reestablished.To share files
with Windows users while running ClearPhone over the internet you
must enable your personal "WEB sharing" (see Apple Control Panel
menu). You must "click" the "server" shortcut preference button
(Clearphone controls window) and check the box named "pws server" to
indicate that your personal WEB sharing is active. This will allow
incoming callers to click on their "pws" button in your call window
to open your WEB sharing folder. Be sure to select a folder using the
Apple WEB sharing control panel to select a folder that you want
callers to use that will have access to your
files.
The Video Input Preferences allows adjustment of all send video parameters and can only be used when the Live digitizer window is open and you have a video card installed or you are using a Connectix or similar camera. The preferences allows selection of A/V input sources including video cards and video Camera input selections like the Connectix, video codex. compression variables, and picture quality settings. You can select the size of the Live digitizer window where you will see your transmitted picture. To change the size of the video digitizer or the Remote Video window, point the mouse at the picture portion of the window and hold down the mouse button until the size menu appears. The largest window size is "Normal" size which sends the highest transmitted camera resolution. The smaller "live digitizer" windows sizes (1/2 and 1/4) send smaller pictures containing less data and therefore less resolution. The lower resolution frames allow you to send more frames per minute. Note: The Clearphone "Frames per second" rate is NOT set using this menu. The Frame video send rate is set using the "Window" menu. At the receiving end the "Remote Video" window in which your transmitted video camera image will appear, can be displayed in 4 sizes regardless of the size window that was sent. When receiving video, your remote video window should not be set too large or the picture can become fuzzy. The clarity of the received video depends upon the size and (Quality) resolution of the sender's live digitizer transmitted image. The resolution is affected by the size of the senders digitizer window and the amount and type of compression (Quality setting) being used. The larger the sender's digitizer window size is, the more resolution will be sent and the sharper the received image will be. To send higher resolution video you can also increase the Quality (reduce compression) to about 25 % rather than the default of "0" setting. Higher Quality increases the file size you will be sending. Note: Compression settings will not be available until you check the "Override Video Compression defaults" button located in the Video Pfs Menu. We recommend using Photo JPEG at all times with a "0" Quality setting.
This menu determines what actions ClearPhone will take when a call comes in. You can play system sounds, speak a text-to-speech voice and perform script actions including a 6 ring (software programmable) Answering Machine. You can choose the words and/or sounds that will be spoken or heard when the call is announced.
The ClearPhone (software) answering machine is implemented using a user programmable Apple Script which is located in the "ClearPhone Support" folder inside the system preferences folder. The answering machine defaults to it's "On" or active mode when you first run ClearPhone. Here is how it works. After 6 incoming rings, if you do not answer the incoming call, the caller will receive a text message from you on his white board (which will be spoken to him as text to speech) and the caller will be asked to leave a message for you as either a voice (recording) or text. Once the return message is sent it will be awaiting your return. The message will be found on your white board as either a "Sound" message or as a text message. Each caller can leave you a message that will be attached to their call window. To play back the message, use the "Play White board" button found on the bottom of the call window. Each call you received while you were away can have a message (if the caller leaves one) that you can listen to or read. The script that performs this function is easy to modify and you can change the number of rings or the outgoing message by using the Apple "Script editor" found in MAC OS/8 Launcher. To modify the outgoing message, open the Script named "6 ring Answering Machine". By saving copies of this script you can have various messages and different ring counts as desired. Do not change the name of the script.
Note: Auto answer (options menu selection) will be grayed when the "Answering Machine Script" is active. If you wish to select auto-Answer using the Options menu, on an incoming call, ClearPhone will ring (or speak) once and then answer the call. To use "Auto-Answer" turn off the "Answering Machine Script" select the Edit menu Preferences "Incoming call actions" and uncheck "Perform Script" control. Then go to the Options menu and you will be able to select "Auto Answer". If "Auto-connect Video when answering" is checked, ClearPhone will open the video connection as soon as a connection is made.
The "Network" Menu can be used to Reset the AppleTalk Local Network. You can store call addresses of people that you have called on the local network with the "Save AppleTalk Phone file menu command". The stored Phone file can later be used to call the person back without entering the name or call address. Note: This Phone file may not work if the person has a dynamic IP or his address changes for some reason. The "Reset Internet Receiver and AppleTalk" receiver menu commands are duplicate functions which are the same as clicking on the same named ICON located in the ClearPhone Control window.The "Switch PUB" menu command is the same as clicking on the PUB ICON in the ClearPhone Control window. Only Registered users may switch PUB's and Registered users may use the private company or group PUBs. Some corporate PUBs will have a unique PUB number and Password. "The Log on to Pub" menu will force a Log On to the current PUB. This is the same function as clicking on the Internet ICON in the ClearPhone Control window. The "Send voice message to PUB" menu will allow selection of a voice message that you may have prerecorded and saved as a file that you wish to store on the PUB. PUB messages will be available as long as your are logged on to any PUB and will remain visible on the PUB list if you do not log off the PUB. The Log off from Pub will remove your name from the PUB. This is the same function as when you quit ClearPhone. A cancel button allows you to quit without logging off. This will leave your name visible for several hours.
Network Menu used to Log onto the "Internet user list" PUB (numbers indicate which PUB)
The "Internet User List" for the PUB #1 through #5 and private PUBs
The Main Server List locates other ClearPhone users and it allows you to call them directly by double clicking (or pressing return) on the name of the person you wish to call. The black circle to the left of the User name, indicates that the person is an active user and is standing by for calls. If a picture is available you will see it when you select the user. If the user has a live camera and their digitizer is open, the picture will update every five minutes. You can send EMAIL or check out a home page by double clicking on button or EMAIL address for each user. Note: to activate this feature you must define your EMAIL address and your browser by using the Helper button located on the Control window. This button sets up the Internet Config preferences under the ClearPhone Preferences "Internet Config" selection menu. For example, you may select Netscape for your browser and Claris EMAILER for EMAIL. To record a voice message you may press the "REC" button. This will open a record dialog box. Record a short (less than 30 sec) message. When you press the "Done" button, the voice recording will automatically be sent to the PUB you are currently logged on to. Anyone looking at your picture or your name will see the "Play" button become active and can press it to receive your current voice message. The voice message will remain active as long as you are logged on to the PUB. If you wish to leave the PUB but want your message to remain active, then you must turn off your automatic log on/off preference. This will allow you to quit ClearPhone without logging off and your message will remain active for up to 12 hours. A "redundant" PUB List server eliminates down time of the ClearPhone PUB's. ClearPhone users are not affected if the "Main" server goes down. If the primary server (ClearPhone.com) fails all log on to the PUB will automaticallyswitch to the back up server (transparently to the user) until the primary server is back on line.
This list displays all Clearphone users that are connected via AppleTalk and/or Ethernet. The "=" equal sign makes all zones list at the same time. You can list your local zone by changing the "=" to an "*". This list will only display when AppleTalk is active and when the Network preferences menu selection for this window is "ON".
The "PUBs" also can be displayed from your browser or they may be viewed using the ClearPhone "PUB Server List". The browser user lists may be accessed directly from the ClearPhone program by using the "View PUB in Browser" button located on the "PUB server list". PUBs #2 through #5 and corporate PUBs are available only to registered users. The ClearPhone program will attempt to Log on to the PUB every 5 minutes unless you turn this feature off using the Network menu. The log on will keep your PPP connection active. The Log on info lets the server know that your ClearPhone is active. The procedure will update your PUB logon time and picture if your digitizer is open. The "Main Server PUB #1" page can be seen using most WEB browsers like Netscape. As ClearPhone users throughout the world launch the ClearPhone program they will automatically log onto the Main Server PUB list page and shortly you will see their name and personal info and picture appear on the page. You may click on the person's name or picture to call them.
Private Corporate PUBs and group registration
The ClearPhone program accommodates Corporate users with Private PUBs that may be used as worldwide meeting places for management, sales and other groups within the company for the purpose of video conferencing via the Internet without allowing incoming calls from the general public. If you have purchased ClearPhone through Apple's Internet bundle then there is a private PUB already set up for you. Check your access code documentation for the Private PUB number and for the PUB password.
The private PUBs are enabled for each member of your company or group, by using a private access code. Excellent company security is maintained on the private PUB at all times. The highly reliable PUB is located on Clearphone's 24 hour a day, independent redundant servers. The general PUBs user lists are also available t corporate private users and may be accessed directly when they are not using the private PUB for log on. Video Conferencing between members of a company are completely private and therefore only those individuals with valid access codes are allowed to log on to be seen on the list and to call users within the private group. Individuals with the correct access code may log on at any time for group conferencing. Other uses of Clearphone not part of the company group may be brought into the group discussion by furnishing them with the current IP address of parties within the group that wish to communicate with that person. The ClearPhone uses a proprietary data format that cannot be decoded by a third party unless they are connected to that person directly while using the Clearphone program.
The Clearphone server PUB has several security features. A person in charge within your company can remove any individuals that violate the rules of PUB, or when it is necessary to terminated employees that may still have access to the private PUB. A banner or company logo can be installed on the server PUB for your company or private group. Special group prices are available for group registrations and for private PUB usage and installed company Logo banner. Please contact Robert Blumenkranz at Engineering Consulting Tel: 714-671-2009 directly for more information relating to the cost and setup of these special features. General PUB pricing information for group licensing is available here.
The Extras Menu provides special functions
The Extras Menu-
Show
Error messages will bring up a message box indicating any errors
that Clearphone encounters. When this is on you will have to cancel
the error message dialog to allow Clearphone to continue. Normally
this function is left off. The Duplex (headphone) and Allow Multiple
Calls are also available in the Control menu. When duplex is on, all
calls will be full duplex audio. You will be able to talk and listen
at the same time. When the Allow Multiple calls is active then you
can receive more calls while a call is active. When "Enable Remote
URLs to browser" is active and when connected with an active
call, you will be able to allow your browser to be controlled
remotely. Your browser will respond to the incoming command "Send My
browser to all calls command". When this function is not enabled, the
incoming URL will be displayed on the Whiteboard without activating
your browser.
Copy HTML "Call Me" link (Extra Menu command)
The "call me" button can be used to allow other Macintosh users to contact you directly while they are looking at your home page whether or not they know your current IP address and as long as you are logged on to the PUB server and they are running ClearPhone.
The easy way to install the ClearPhone's "Call Me" button on your home page is to use the Preferences command "copy HTML Call ME link" command. Use this command only after your ClearPhone's Internet Config preferences are set up and you are able to log on and off the PUB #1 site automatically. Your EMAIL address name will be used to create the correct HTML text command which will contain the proper HTML code that will now be on your MAC's clipboard. You can copy this code from the clipboard and past it directly into your "home page" WEB page creator program. The format is HTML and it will create a "call me" URL for your home page, that will be correct whenever you are logged onto the ClearPhone active updating PUB.
If the calling party does not have the ClearPhone program you can point them to the Engineering Consulting ClearPhone Home page. Here they can obtain a Demo copy which will allow them to call you.
Extras Menu- "Set phone book directory" command brings up the phonebook entry form. Fill out the form and click on OK to send the information to the server. To view the phone book use the Bookmark menu "ClearphoneProPPC™ Phonebook" menu to open the browser to the phone book.
Extras Menu
View current PUB in browser menu command opens the browser to the PUB page that you are logged on to.
Calling ClearPhone users directly from your browser requires the correct MIME settings. Here is an example of the correct MIME setting for Netscape 4.0.4. All browsers need the correct MIME setup for ClearPhone to be able to use the browser direct dial feature. Select "New" to enter a new MIME and enter a Description which can be any name, like "telephone", then enter MIME type which must be "application/ClearPhone". If this is not right then our server will not recognize the call. Note: The MIME is case sensitive! The file type is "®OTA". You can allow the browser to "choose" ClearPhone as your helper for the new MIME. All browsers have a similar MIME setup and you will need to set up each one unless they configure themselves automatically. To test your MIME setting, try clicking on a person's name or their picture in your browser. ClearPhone should automatically dial that person if the MIME is set up correctly. If you get a message to "choose application" then the browser MIME is not set and the call will not be sent. If the browser tries to save the file the MIME is incorrect. Be sure and delete any previous MIME settings relating to ClearPhone before you attempt to enter a new one. After entering a MIME correctly you should quit the browser and reboot the browser, then try to make a call using the browser.
Extras Menu- Open voice E-Mail and PUB recorder
ClearPhone Recorders can be used to make Voice and Video E-MAIL, and WEB page movies, that are "Quicktime" and cross platform compatible. Use the "Extras" menu selections to record and save the movie files. The files created are automatically "flattened and highly compressed", resulting in cross-platform Quicktime compatible files. These files can be sent as EMAIL attachments and they can be run by anyone using Netscape or other Quicktime movie players and compatible browsers. These compressed Quicktime files can be placed directly on your WEB page as voice messages or movies. Movies can be "Opened" by ClearPhone or any browser. To send a Voice message to the PUB log on page, use ClearPhone's Network menu command "Send voice message to PUB 1". Your WEB browser can now be used to click on the flashing "Voice message" indicator located in the Active user PUB, next to your logged information. A compressed voice file quicktime movie symbol will have been placed next to your Picture. When you click on Quicktime sound bar the voice message will be heard (when running Netscape). The voice message is stored on Engineering Consulting's ClearPhone server and remains active while you are logged on for up to 24 hrs. The voice is a compressed and flattened Quicktime playable file that anyone running Netscape or similar browsers may listen to. In addition, by clicking on your EMAIL address anyone can send E-MAIL plus VOICE and Video EMAIL as a file attachment.
Here is a sample ClearPhone movie made with Clearphone Movie recorder. It is only 240k but it plays for about 45 seconds.
To record a movie use the "Open Quicktime Movie Recorder" selection from the Extras menu. The recorder has separate audio and video Preference settings and you can adjust the frame rate and sampling rate for the size file that you want to save. Use less frames per second, a small frame size and 5 khz sampling rate to achieve a small file size when you save the movies after you record it . The smaller file sizes are easier to download and are better suited for EMail or WEB page usage.
Extras menu -Three Vaice and Video Recorder dialogs are available: 1-(Web Movies & Video E-Mail) 2- (Whiteboard sound files) 3-(Voice E-Mail) The Movie Recorder can be used for both Movie and Video E-Mail. Once you record a movie you will have the option to save it as a cross platform movie. This is the correct format to be used when you are making the movie to be used on the WEB or if you want to send it as a Video E-Mail.
Shown below are the Whiteboard sound recorder and the Voice E-Mail recorder
These voice recorders are available from the Extras menu and they can both be used to make voice files suitable for attachment to an EMAIL message or for use as a WEB page movie. Note: On some model MACs you may not get record audio level indication. If this happens try using your Control strip Mic selector to turn on the (play-through) Microphone. You may have to turn down your speaker volume or use a headset if you hear feedback.
The Extras Menu-Send my Internet Explorer 4.5 URL to all callers (and Netscape 4.6)
The "Send my Internet URL to all callers" command is used to automatically control the browser page selection of the people you are connected to. As long as the person receiving the call has checked the "Enable Remote URL's to browser" in the Extras menu.
The Extras Menu "Open Downloads folder" will open
the folder that contains files sent to you while you were connected
to other callers. To launch a file that was sent to you, open the
downloads folder and double click the name of the file. If you want
Clearphone to automatically Open the file upon receipt the while the
file is transferring check the "Post processing" box on the file
transfer window.
Open the
digitizer with the "Window" Menu which can also be used to
launch the Internet Config program (it comes with OS/8). The
video digitizer will only open if you have a video card or other
source of video such as a Connectix camera connected. The "Window"
Menu can also be used to select windows that may have disappeared
behind other windows. You can select the Internet user list or the
AppleTalk user list and the Clearphone Info window. Use the Send
speed commands to change the video speed. The Maximum for this menu
is 1 sec per frame.
"Show Clearphone info' menu selection will bring up the info Window that displays your current Preferences and default Helpers. This info is also sent when the caller's "Get Info" button is pressed during a call.
Performance Enhancement (Reducing talk delays)
Talk Delays can be caused by modem problems, outdated system software, Internet data load, downloading or using other programs during a conversation, your choice of voice sampling rate, large packet delay settings (preference), the number of video frames and size of the video frames, and the route your data takes to get to the person you are speaking to. Since there are many variables, they can all add up to produce delays that are noticable. ClearPhone will always transfer all of the data so if you give it enough time it will work under all conditions. If you are seeing the RED bar to the right of the talk indicator increasing, then your data is being buffered because the amount of data you are sending exceeds the connection bandwith for the moment. It is an indication that you may want to stop talking or turn off the video until the data path improves.
If you are using an Internal modem you will most likely experience degraded performance when using Clearphone. The only thing that will fix this problem is to use an external modem. In general if your modem is internal and it requires driver software to function then it is using up the processor speed. This is most common when using internal modems like the Geoport and Global village brands. You will notice a significant reduction is delays by switching to an external modem.
Long Talk Delays Can be caused by slow Internet data throughput. If the Internet cannot support the data transmissions on a continuous basis due to traffic load or if you are using a slow modem or your ISP is overloaded, then the ClearPhone program will automatically store (buffer) the data, still sending all of the voice data without any packet loss. This eliminates problems that are common with other Internet Phone products. Under adverse Internet conditions you may at times experience some delays, however even under poor network conditions you should eventually hear everything clearly that is said by the other person unless your connection is broken. If you suspect that this is the case, then you can try to disconnect (close your connect window) and reconnect your call. The last number redial feature will always allow you to call the person whose window was selected last. Just tell ClearPhone to "Connect" and you will redial the last parties IP address to call them again. You can always hang up and redial the connection to try to get a better path with less delays. If you loose your PPP connection, be sure to reset the Internet receiver under the Network menu. This will reset the PPP and log on your new IP address and allow the ClearPhone to receive calls.
The VOX (Rec hang delay) setting is critical to smooth audio transmission and this setting will vary depending upon your MAC's speed and the actual audio hardware. In general, the the VOX delay should be set to a value greater than 100 msec, and the the packet length should be greater than 2 seconds to allow smooth voice reception. The RED "Sending" lamp must cycle on and off during speech. It should stay on while you are talking and turn off momentarily during speech pauses. The packet size (0.1,2.3 or greater seconds) determines the maximum size of the continuous audio phrase that can be sent without any break up. Although the voice data is sent as soon as you begin to speak, when it arrives at the destination, it is the packet size (# of seconds) that determines the maximum length of the phrase and thus how much data will be received before the voice will begin to speak. Shorter packet sizes will reduce the delay for the first phrase to begin speaking at the received site but if the packet size is set too short it may cause words to break up on a slow connection. In general faster modem speeds, smaller packet sizes, and lower speech quality settings, all will result in the least amount of talk delay.
There are two VOX (voice operated transmit) level control settings that affect the way your voice audio is sent, these are the (record) REC stop and REC start trigger levels. These are defaulted to an average setting, but they can be changed if necessary. The REC start level sets the VOX record trigger point. This level setting triggers the voice recording and starts sending the audio data when your voice goes above the REC threshold setting. The "Sending" box will be glowing red during this time indicating that the data is flowing. The "Receiving" green bar will glow when data is being received. If the duplex mode is off, you must wait for the green bar to turn off before speaking to the other party. When you are in the "full duplex" speech mode you can speak at any time. The full duplex mode reduces time delays but it can cause echoes that will slow down the conversation unlesss you keep the speaker volume low, or use headphones. When in the full duplex mode you may speak at any time and your voice will be sent even while the other person is being heard. When in the half duplex or simplex mode (duplex off) your voice will not be transmitted while you are hearing audio. You must wait for the audio to stop before you begin to speak unless you are using full duplex mode.
Audio and video can be selectively transmitted by ClearPhone to each person that you are connected to. An excess of too much audio or video can slow down the connection and induce delays. Audio and video are sent in measured fashion but if you are talking allot you may be sending fewer video frames then the current frame send rate, because the voice uses up some of the available bandwidth. If the receiving person is not getting your transmitted voice portion of the send data, you will see the "Talk delay" red light come on in the call window of the connection experiencing the delay. This means that your audio is being delayed to that person. When this happens the audio data remaining to be sent will begin to fill the ClearPhone send buffer (memory) and the black delay bar display will begin to show an increase in size. This is a audio delay warning indication that your talk data is slowing down (being buffered). If the delay keeps growing and never decreases then most likely the person is no longer receiving the data at all and you may want to disconnect and redial his number. This can happen when the receiving party looses connection to the Internet without first disconnecting (hang-up).
You have several options to reduce the send talk delay time. You can stop talking until the delay bar disappears or decrease the transmitted audio bandwidth to a lower setting (5khz is default) or slow down the video repetition rate, or turn off the video by closing the video connection. You can try reducing the video Quality setting if it is set above "0". Be sure that the Duplex mode is turned off if there is any chance that audio coming from your speaker is being picked up by the Mic and being rebroadcast. If this happens it will cause excessive audio bandwidth to be used up on each transmission. Be sure to use headphones if you are using the duplex mode. All of these transmissions conditions can cause the audio delay message to appear. The best results are obtained when you reduce your audio send bandwidth or stop talking until the "talk delay" message disappears. If you keep sending video and talking while the "talk delay" display is on, the delay bar (the audio talk delay buffer) will continue to grow. ClearPhone will continue to try and send the back logged data as fast as the network connection will allow. Usually during "Talk delays' there will be some data that will flow allowing your voice to eventually get through. This is where ClearPhone differs from other Internet phones that rely on the continuous availability of some narrow bandwidth to push their data through. These products all fail when packets are lost due to poor network conditions. ClearPhone will get through with clear audio no matter what but you may experience time delays when the network is overcrowded or slow for any reason. When this happens be patient because the data will get through unless the connection has dropped on either end. Sometimes redialing can establish a better path with less delay. You can always click on the redial button to call the person you are speaking to.
ClearPhone can remotely activate script commands that are directly sent to other applications which control external devices. Each active call can have remote control devices. When a remote device is present, each active call window will display the scripts available on the Call menu (Remote control sub menu) which can be used to enable these script commands. Several programs that can be used to control external devices are available directly from Engineering Consulting that can be used with ClearPhone. When remote contol programs with script commands are active, ClearPhone will control these scripts from the Call menu while the call is active provided that the scripts are located in ClearPhone's "Remote Scripts" folder on the called Mac. Script commands can be sent using the Call menu remote control option to control products remotely such as an ADB I/O remote relay and analog control interface box, BSR X-10 home automation power line controlled devices and pan/tilt remotely controlled cameras. To obtain additional information about these controllable external devices which can enhance your remote learning experience please contact Engineering Consulting for details and pricing. Script commands used by these products can be placed in a folder named "Scripts" inside the ClearPhone folder for local control. Remote control can be accomplished by placing the scripts inside the folder named "Remote Scripts" which is located inside the ClearPhone support folder which is located inside the system preferences folder.There must be a hardward device to control that the remote scripts will be used to activate or the Scrips commands will not function. For example to control an ADB I/O box you must have the box or device to be controlled connected to the computer when the scripts are activated from a local or remote call.The various devices that ClearPhone can control are listed in our Products catalog.These products can be remotely controlled using script commands while connected to a MAC running ClearPhone.
ADB I/O $199.95 made by Beehive Technology Inc. and available from Engineering Consulting
X-10
Home automation control (cable & program) $99.95 Sand
Hill
Remote
Control pan/tilt Sony Camera Reardon
Technology
Purchase/Register
ClearPhone
(http://www.ClearPhone.com/CPreg.html)
The ClearPhone program is a fully functional 30 day demo. If you like the ClearPhone program and wish to continue to use it, you need to register. The cost of registration is $99.95 for the first registration and $89.95 for additional registration licenses. Each Mac that will use Clearphone needs to be registered. To register, fill out the online registration form or FAX or Phone in your order. Once we confirm payment, we will EMAIL your personal "registration code" which you can then enter into the "About ClearPhone" registration input menu. This will unlock the program and enable all features and all restrictions will be automatically removed. You can pay and register by credit card or by sending a check or money order. You can telephone (or call Engineering Consulting using the ClearPhone program. You must have a registered version of ClearPhone to allow full functioning of the program past the demo expiration date. We accept MasterCard, Visa, Discover and American Express credit cards, Money Orders and company Purchase orders. Additional remote contol products will be available in future releases of Clearphone. Please check for these control options as they are released.