Doc-To-Help Standard Manual

2004

STICaller

User Manual

Information in this document is subject to change without notice. Student and school data used herein are fictitious unless otherwise noted.

Microsoft, Windows and Word are registered trademarks or trademarks of Microsoft Corporation in the United States and other countries.

Other product and company names herein may be the trademarks of their respective owners.

Software Technology, Inc.

4721 Morrison Drive, Suite 200

Mobile, AL36609-3350

1-877-844-0884

This manual, which covers material through STICaller version 6.0, was last updated on February 26, 2004. Any changes made to the STICaller application after version 4.0 will be discussed in the release notes that accompany each update.

Contents

Overview

Introduction......

Product Options......

Outbound Version of STICaller......

Inbound / Outbound Version of STICaller......

System Requirements......

Guidelines for Computer Setup......

STICaller Startup

STICaller Auto Start......

Setting Up STICaller

Software Setup......

Hardware Setup......

Scheduling Callout (Outbound) Times......

Scheduling Call-in (Inbound) Times......

Student PIN Numbers......

Mass-Assigning Student PIN Numbers......

Teacher PIN Numbers and Mailboxes......

Voice File List......

Recording Voice Files......

Recording Message Boxes......

Call Filter Setup (QBE)......

Generating a Call Out List......

Deleting Active Call Out Records......

Printing the Call Log......

Discipline Calls......

Index

2004 STICallerContents  1

2004 STICallerOverview  1

Overview

Introduction

STICaller provides schools with an automated telephone interface to STIOffice. The STICaller system may be set up in a number of ways, enabling schools to notify parents of potential attendance problems or allowing parents to call the school at anytime (however, times may also be restricted by the user) of the day or night to hear information about their child. This information is not limited to attendance alone but may include grades, homework assignments, general announcements, and much more.

Product Options

STICaller may be purchased in one of two forms: Outbound Only or Inbound/ Outbound.

Outbound Version of STICaller

If this version of STICaller is purchased, the system will make outgoing calls, but will not accept incoming calls. Once the application has been set up, the school determines exactly what information will be delivered and STICaller does the rest. Absence callouts are the most common option. Two other popular choices are Special Announcements and Discipline Infractions.

Inbound / Outbound Version of STICaller

The Inbound/Outbound version of STICaller allows parents or students to call in to the system. If two telephone lines are used, a great deal of information may be made available.

For more information about this version, contact the STI sales department at (800) 844-0884.

System Requirements

In order for STICaller to function properly, the application should be installed on a computer that meets the following minimal requirements:

Pentium processor
32Mb Ram
Microsoft Windows 95 or 98
Network connection and access to STIOffice version 6.0 or greater
Additionally, the school should have at least one analog telephone line to devote to the STICaller system. A FAX line may be shared with the STICaller Outbound ONLY version.

Guidelines for Computer Setup

Power management must be disabled on the STICaller computer.
Screensavers are NOT allowed on the STICaller computer.
It is recommended that sound cards and internal modems be removed from the STICaller computer.

STICaller Startup

STICaller Auto Start

Double-click the Auto Start icon on the desktop to bring up the STICaller Startup box. Select the Autopost checkbox to set the computer to automatically post attendance from STIClassroom at the time selected in the Software Setup section of STICaller.

Next, select the appropriate checkbox for the proper voice engine. If the telephone line is connected to Port 1, select Voice Engine 1. The same applies for Voice Engine 2. For more detailed information about this, see “Software Setup” on page 4.

If two telephone lines are in use (for Inbound/Outbound STICaller), check both boxes.

After all the appropriate options have been checked, click Start. The Autopost Attendance window will appear and shortly after that the voice engine window(s) will appear. These windows may be left onscreen or minimized or at any time.

The Autopost Attendance window displays the current date and time and the date and time of the last attendance posting. The above example shows that attendance has not yet been posted, but will post at 3:45pm.

Clicking the Post Now button will post attendance immediately, but attendance will re-post at the predetermined time. Note that by viewing the Voice Engine window, the user can see exactly what STICaller is doing in real time. If a person is interacting with the STICaller system, the name of the voice files currently in use and the name of the Student or Teacher account being accessed will be displayed in the Voice Engine window.

Setting Up STICaller

Software Setup

To access the Software Setup menu, select Utilities in the STICaller desktop, then move the cursor to System Utilities and click Software Setup.

Following are descriptions of the fields in Software Setup:

Passwords

The Supervisor password is for local security. Its purpose is to prevent unauthorized personnel from gaining access to STICaller from the Software Setup utility. Anyone with access to Software Setup may alter the behavior of STICaller. Call times may be changed; students may be removed from the callout list, etc.

The Record password is necessary for any person to call in and record voice files on the STICaller system. Since messages can be recorded from any telephone at any location, it is important to keep this password secure

Software

Max Time On for Students and Teachers refers to the maximum amount of time in seconds that either a student or a teacher will be allowed to interact with the STICaller system.

Wait for Answer is the amount of time in seconds that the computer will wait for someone to answer the phone before it moves on to the next callout. This occurrence will be displayed as a Time Out on the Call Log.

Attendance Time is the specific time of day that the computer will automatically post the attendance records from STIOffice into the STICaller system.

Absentee and Tardy Codes are the specific Attendance and Tardy codes for which STICaller will call out. For example, the user may not wish to call the home of a student with an Excused Absence for the day. In this case, the user would simply not enter the code for an Excused Absence in this field. Enter only the codes which should be called. Multiple codes should be separated by a single space or a “pipe character” (the Shift key + \). Example: Either "A U" or "A|U" would be acceptable.

Call Out Attempts refers to the number of times the user wishes STICaller to attempt to call each number. If this number is set to 2 and the system is unable to complete a call to a specific student, it will move on to the next student in the list. After attempting to call all other students in the callout list, it will start over and make a second attempt for each unsuccessful number.

Days is the span of days over which STICaller is to make callouts. For example, 1 day would indicated that after attempting callouts on Monday, STICaller will NOT attempt to call out Monday’s list of students on Tuesday but will instead start anew with Tuesday’s callout list. If 2 days are selected, any calls not successfully made on Monday will be added to Tuesday’s list and re-attempted.

Hardware

Line 1 Active / Line 2 Active:The Dialogic Voice Card inside the STICaller computer is equipped for at least two phone lines. If only one line is being used, the user must specify which port is attached to the phone line. Line 1 represents the top port and Line 2 represents the bottom port on the actual voice card that is installed inside the computer.

Dialing

Dial Out Prefix:Some telephone systems require the caller to dial a 9 or another number to access an outside line. It is usually necessary to place one or two commas after the number: 9, or 9,,. One comma represents a one second pause before the system attempts to dial a phone number. Older telephone systems may require a little extra time to keep up with the computer.

Long Distance Prefix: In addition to dial out prefixes, some phone systems require the caller to enter a special prefix code (to be dialed before the actual phone number) in order to dial a long distance number. If no students in the system live outside the local dialing area, this field may be left blank.

Long Distance Suffix: If the special long distance code is required at the end of the telephone number instead of at the beginning, enter it in this field.

LD Exchange refers to any exchange (the first three digits of a telephone number) that is considered long distance from the local dialing area. Multiple exchanges are separated by spaces or a "pipe character." For example: Type 344 343 or 344 | 343to indicate that students with phone numbers such as 344-1234 or 343-5678 have long distance phone numbers.

Test Phone Number: Leave this field blank unless either the STICaller application or the telephone system at the school needs to be tested. If this is necessary, enter a phone number here that may be used for a callout test. This should be either a number within the school office or a cellular phone number. STICaller will dial this number instead of students' phone numbers whenever the Use Test Phone # box is checked. It is recommended that the test phone number be deleted after testing.

Note: Users should be aware that if 100 students are included in the Active Callout List, STICaller will call the Test Phone Number 100 times (or more, depending on the number of Call Out Attempts specified in Setup).

Delay: Enter the number of seconds for which STICaller should pause between dialing telephone numbers. Some phone systems require a delay of at least a couple of seconds. Up to 10 seconds may be chosen here.

Before making any changes in the Software Setup, close all voice engines and shut down the Auto Start feature. This is necessary in order for the changes to take effect.

Hardware Setup

To access the Hardware Setup menu, select Utilities in the STICaller desktop, then move the cursor to System Utilities and click Hardware Setup.

Select Line 1 or Line 2 to access the appropriate setup menu.

Scheduling call-in and call-out times is a simple procedure. However, there are a few things to consider when selecting these times:

Be careful not to call parents too late in the evening. The user should regularly check the clock in the lower right hand corner of the screen to be absolutely positive the time on the computer is correct. Make sure the AM and PM settings are correct as well – to avoid calling a parent at 5:00 a.m. instead of 5:00 p.m., for instance.
Another point to remember: The system should not be set up to start calling out before the Auto Post Time as specified in Software Setup. If this happens, the attendance data used for callouts will be from the previous day.
Do not set up the system to call in or out during STIOffice data backups. This may interfere with the backup procedure. It is always necessary to discontinue Incoming as well as Outgoing calls during backup operations.

Scheduling Callout (Outbound) Times

Click the tab labeled Outgoing and then click the check boxes with the appropriate times. In the example shown in the screen shot above, STICaller is set to begin calling out (using Line 1) at 4:00 p.m. The system will continue to make calls until 8:59 p.m.
Calling times must be specified for each day of the week. To help speed up this process, use the All Incoming / Outgoing and No Incoming / Outgoing buttons to mass-assign the times. Then manually select/deselect any desired/undesired times.

Scheduling Call-in (Inbound) Times

sers with inbound call functionality should repeat the above procedure within the Incoming tab. Remember that Incoming and Outgoing times CANNOToverlap unless two separate phone lines are being used (one line for Incoming and another line for Outgoing calls). STICaller cannot call in and call out on the same line at the same time.

Remember: Whether two lines are used or not, a time schedule must be arranged to disable the call-in times during STIOffice data backups.

When these times have bee set up correctly, STICaller will automatically switch modes from Inbound to Outbound and vise versa without user intervention.

Click the OK button to save all call-in/callout setup.

Student PIN Numbers

To access the Student PIN Numbers menu, select File in the STICaller desktop, then click Student List.

Student PIN Numbers are usually assigned and printed for all students at once, but individual PIN Numbers can be changed or printed at any time, as shown in the screen shot above.

STICaller will generate random PIN numbers, based on a specific range entered by the user. It is possible for students to share a PIN number (for instance, this might be requested by parents who have more than one child at the school). To do this, the user must manually change the record for each additional student.

Mass-Assigning Student PIN Numbers

Perform the following steps to mass-assign Student PIN Numbers to all students in the STIOffice system:

Select File in the STICaller desktop, then click Assign Student PINs.
Check the Replace Existing PIN Numbers box to replace any existing PIN Numbers with new randomly-generated numbers. If this box is left unchecked, only students who do not already have PIN Numbers will be assigned new ones, and all other students will retain their current numbers.
The PIN Starting and EndingBoxRange should default to 1000 to 9999. Each student will be assigned a number between these values. The user may change this number range as desired.
Click Process to assign PIN Numbers or click Cancel to exit the utility without assigning numbers.

Teacher PIN Numbers and Mailboxes

To access the Teacher PIN Numbers menu, select File in the STICaller desktop, then click Teacher List.

Teacher PIN numbers are assigned, printed or changed exactly like Student PIN numbers. However, there is an additional field for BoxRanges. These numbers represent the range of mailboxes assigned to the teacher.

In the example shown above, Mr. Arnold could have all homework assignments for the week pre-recorded in mailbox number 3240. He could then tell his class to check mailbox 3240 to get their assignments. When the students, or their parents, call in to the STICaller system, they will enter that mailbox number when prompted.

Each teacher must be notified of his or her range of boxes. This range is automatically assigned by the computer and cannot be modified.

Voice File List

To access the Voice File List, select Voice in the STICaller desktop, then click STICaller Voice File List.

The Voice File List (as shown above) will display all STICaller System Voice Files. These are the actual files that are spoken to the person at the other end of the telephone line. Most of these files come pre-recorded with the program, but some schools may wish to re-record the voice files (to standardize the system so that one voice is used throughout).

The user may print the Voice File Listin order to make these recordings from the privacy of home or an office without access to the STICaller computer. A touch-tone phone must be used to record voice files. The quality of the telephone and quietness of the room are major factors in the sound quality of the recordings.

To print the Voice File List, select Voice in the STICaller desktop, then click Print Voice List. Leave the Print Recorded Only box unchecked to print the entire list of voice files.

Recording Voice Files

Perform the following steps to record voice files:

With STICaller set up to accept Incoming calls, call the system from a touch-tone phone. The phone number is ______
Select Option #3, Student Detail.
Enter Teacher Number followed by the # sign.
Enter PIN Number followed by the # sign.
Select Option #5 to record the voice files. Note: This is a "hidden" option. The option is not verbally offered in the STICaller telephone menu.
Enter Record PIN number, which is ______
Enter the voice file you wish to record, followed by the # sign. For example: Press 1*20 on the telephone keypad.
Begin recording at the beep. Press any number on the telephone keypad to end the recording.
Save the recording by pressing 1, or press 2 to cancel the recording.
After the recording has been completed, press the # sign twice instead of a voice file number. A recorded prompt will state that the user has selected and invalid entry. At this point, the system will return to the main menu.
Choose Option #9 to exit the system.

Recording Message Boxes

Perform the following steps to record message boxes:

With STICaller set up to accept Incoming calls, call the system from a touch-tone phone. The phone number is ______
Select Option #3, Student Detail.
Enter Teacher Number followed by the # sign.
Enter PIN Number followed by the # sign.
Select Option #2 from the Teacher Menu to record the message boxes.
Enter the box number you wish to record followed by the # sign.
Begin recording at the beep, press any key on your telephone to end recording.
To save the recording, press 1, or press 2 to cancel.
After the recording has been completed, press the # sign twice instead of a voice file number. A recorded prompt will state that the user has selected and invalid entry. At this point, the system will return to the main menu.
Choose Option #9 to exit the recording menu.

Call Filter Setup (QBE)