[enochbenjamin]

I have placed a couple of greetings for specific phone numbers in the Phlink folder, however, it only plays greeting.mp3. I have formatted the messages such as 773 555-1212.mp3 but when i have that person call they get the basic caller id script.

any ideas why?
_________________
enoch benjamin
enochbenjamin@sbcglobal.net
http://www.websiteworx.com

[Alberto]

You should name them "greeting 773 555-1212.mp3", the "greeting" prefix should be present in the filename, otherwise Phlink won't know that you wish to use them as greetings.

Best,
Alberto.

[enochbenjamin]

ok - thanks! I will try it in a moment.

WORKED LIKE A CHARM!!!
_________________
enoch benjamin
enochbenjamin@sbcglobal.net
http://www.websiteworx.com

[Motorcycle Michael]

I'd like to trap "Out of Area" calls - especially those with no number - either by scripting or (preferably) using a top-level folder.
I have an analog modem on a second Mac (same line as DSL) with a callerID program onboard; it reports "Out of Area - [blank number] - 08/19/04 - 14:55.
For the same call, Phlink's log shows "Received caller ID: O / O / 08/19/04 14:55." (Private calls are logged as P / P / date / time.)
Those both look like the letter O, yes? So, can I trap for name = O and number = O? Something like:

[Alberto]

You are right, the "O" (or the "P") is what is sent by the phone network.
Phlink then translates this into a calling party whose name is "<unavailable>" or "<withheld>", respectively.

So, depending on what you wish to do, you can place a greeting named "greeting-withheld.mp3" or a script named "greeting-unavailable.scpt" that does what you want.

Alberto.

[Motorcycle Michael]

Hey, whaddaya know, lucky guess, eh?
So, I can trap for "<unavailable>" on no-number calls, but the second parameter - out of area _and_ an empty phone number - how do I trap for both?
Since the Phlink log shows Caller = "O" and CallerID = "<unavailable>" can I do something goofy like "greeting-O-unavailable.scpt" perhaps? Or do I have to do it within a script to catch both conditions?
(Here in Northern California, out-of-area calls with no numbers are almost always autodialers.)
Thank you, Alberto.
Mike

[Alberto]

If all you need to do is play a specific message to out-of-area callers, you only need to use a "greeting-unavailable.mp3" file.

If, on the other hand, you want to detect out-of-area callers in a script, because you are doing fancier stuff (such as answering immediately, hanging up on them, etc.), then this is a snippet of script that finds out whether the call is an out-of-area call:

tell the_call
if the phone of the calling party contains "unavailable" then
...
end if
end tell

Note that parties have the following properties, among others:
- the phone
- the name
- the caller id

For out of area calls, the phone will be set to "<unavailable>", the name will be empty (unless you have an entry in your address book with "unavailable" as the phone number, but I doubt it), and the caller id will be "O".

Hope this helps,
Alberto.

[Motorcycle Michael]

Okay, here's your ring.scpt modified to intercept no-number out-of-area calls:

[Alberto]

Mike,

I'm sure lots of people will find this useful.

Just a few questions - is this supposed to be a ring script or a greeting/enter script? I would imagine the latter, because it does stuff that makes sense if the call has been answered already, and not if the line is still ringing...
Note that there is a subtlety here. It may work even as a ring script, but it would not be reliable. The reason is that it would work if Phlink answers the call by the time the script has started... but I would place all this into a greeting or enter script to be sure.

Also, I would add a call to waitUntilDonePlaying() right before hanging up too, otherwise you're hanging up as soon as the "We're sorry..." message starts playing, and telemarketers will not hear it...

the "number" property of the calling party (now called "phone" in version 1.4.2 of Phlink, but older scripts will keep working), in such cases, will be "<withheld>" or "<unavailable>". I know that it's counterintuitive since it's not a number - but that's what is being withheld or what is unavailable, so that's the value of the "number"/"phone" property of calling parties.

[Motorcycle Michael]

Thank you for the kind words, Alberto.

[Motorcycle Michael]

Well, didn't take long to find out my trap for out-of-area/no-number calls doesn't work... Phlink Log shows:

-- Caller -------- CallerID ------------ Event
<unknown> - <unknown> -- Call appeared
-- O -------- <unavailable> -- Executing script "ring.scpt"
-- O -------- <unavailable> -- Received caller ID: O / O / 08/23/04 13:11
-- O -------- <unavailable> -- Playing sound "Greeting.aif"
-- O -------- <unavailable> -- Answering call
-- O -------- <unavailable> -- Long silence detected, hanging up

Recorded message resulting from this call was the phone company's, "Your call did not go thru, please try your call again," which mystifies me since there was no outgoing call - plus it started playing the greeting _BEFORE_ answering call? Hmmm.....
Change trap to:

[Alberto]

[Motorcycle Michael]

Clearly, I am trying to cram too many instructions into the ring script. I admit it..... part of my problem is that I'm trying to test incomming calls for two conditions: Out of Area (name = empty) _with_ no phone/number (unavailable). Another is that my greeting is a sound file and will precede an enter script. But, I'll figure it out eventually.....

Meanwhile:

[Motorcycle Michael]

Oops - nevermind..... I need to brush up on my AppleScript, huh.
Question:
Can I simply replace my <greeting.aif> with a <greeting.scpt> and then have an <enter.aif> sound file? Or is that a dumb question, too?
Thanks again!

[Alberto]