ch32.htm

MAPI__SAPI__TAPI

<p>In <a HREF="ch27.htm">Chapter 27</a> you learned that the TAPI system keeps track of 
vital information in the <tt><font FACE="Courier">TELEPHON.INI</font></tt> file on the 
workstation. You learned there are four main sections in the <tt><font FACE="Courier">TELEPHON.INI</font></tt> 
file: 

<ul>
  <li><font COLOR="#000000">The </font><i>Service Provider section</i> holds information on 
    all the Telephony service providers (TSPs) installed on the workstation. </li>
  <li><font COLOR="#000000">The </font><i>HandOff Priorities section</i> holds information 
    about which line devices can support which media modes and the order in which the line 
    devices should be called. </li>
  <li><font COLOR="#000000">The </font><i>Location section</i> holds information on the 
    dialing locations of the workstation. </li>
  <li><font COLOR="#000000">The </font><i>Credit Card section</i> holds dialing instructions 
    for using telephone service credit cards to control billing. </li>
</ul>

<p>You learned the different predefined media modes that can be handled by registered TAPI 
applications in the <tt><font FACE="Courier">[HandOffPriorities]</font></tt> section. You 
also learned the dialing codes that are used in the <tt><font FACE="Courier">[Cards]</font></tt> 
section to tell TAPI how to place requested calls. </p>

<p>Finally, you built a small Visual Basic application that allowed you to gain direct 
access to the various TAPI line dialog boxes that can affect the <tt><font FACE="Courier">TELEPHON.INI</font></tt> 
file. </p>

<h2><a NAME="Chapter28UsingTAPItoHandleIncomi"></a><b><a HREF="ch28.htm">Chapter 28</a><font
SIZE="5" COLOR="#FF0000">, &quot;Using TAPI to Handle Incoming Calls&quot;</font></b></h2>

<p>In <a HREF="ch28.htm">Chapter 28</a> you learned how to use the <tt><font
FACE="Courier">TAPILINE</font></tt> control to create a Visual Basic application that can 
monitor a telephone line for incoming calls and allow users to answer those calls. In the 
process, you learned about the six steps needed to handle inbound calls using TAPI 
services: 

<ul>
  <li><font COLOR="#000000">Initialize TAPI services on the workstation.</font> </li>
  <li><font COLOR="#000000">Select and open valid line devices for incoming calls.</font> </li>
  <li><font COLOR="#000000">Wait for an inbound call to appear on the line.</font> </li>
  <li><font COLOR="#000000">When a call appears, accept the call and begin conversation.</font> 
  </li>
  <li><font COLOR="#000000">When the call ends, close the line and prepare for the next call.</font> 
  </li>
  <li><font COLOR="#000000">When the session is over, shut down TAPI services on the 
    workstation.</font> </li>
</ul>

<p>You also learned the importance of the <tt><font FACE="Courier">LINE_CALLSTATE</font></tt> 
message sent by TAPI whenever a new call appears on the line and when an active call 
becomes idle (the other party hangs up). You learned how to write code in the <tt><font
FACE="Courier">TapiCallBack</font></tt> event of the <tt><font FACE="Courier">TAPILINE</font></tt> 
control to watch for and respond to <tt><font FACE="Courier">LINE_CALLSTATE</font></tt> 
messages. </p>

<p>Finally, you learned the importance of getting the call handle from the <tt><font
FACE="Courier">LINECALLSTATE_OFFERING</font></tt> message and placing this value into the <tt><font
FACE="Courier">HandleToCall</font></tt> property of the <tt><font FACE="Courier">TAPILINE</font></tt> 
control. This must be done before you can invoke the <tt><font FACE="Courier">LineAnswer</font></tt> 
method to accept the incoming call. </p>

<h2><a NAME="Chapter29WritingTAPIAssistedAppli"></a><b><a HREF="ch29.htm">Chapter 29</a><font
SIZE="5" COLOR="#FF0000">, &quot;Writing TAPI-Assisted Applications&quot;</font></b></h2>

<p>In this chapter you learned how to use the Assisted TAPI function (<tt><font
FACE="Courier">tapiRequestMakeCall</font></tt>) to build outbound voice-phone solutions in 
both Excel and Visual Basic 4.0. You developed tools that allow you to add phone dialing 
to any VBA-compatible application. You created a complete online phone book that can log 
all outbound calls into a Microsoft JET database that can be read, analyzed, and reported 
by other Windows programs. </p>

<p>You learned about the two API functions you can use to complete Assisted TAPI calls: 

<ul>
  <li><tt><font FACE="Courier">tapiGetLocationInfo</font></tt> returns the current country and 
    city (area) codes set in the <tt><font FACE="Courier">TELEPHON.INI</font></tt> file. </li>
  <li><tt><font FACE="Courier">tapiRequestMakeCall</font></tt> initiates a voice-phone call by 
    passing the dialing address (phone number) and other optional parameters including the 
    dialing application to use, the name of the person you are calling, and a comment about 
    the nature of the call. </li>
</ul>

<p>You learned how to use these API calls to build a simple dialing routine in an Excel 
worksheet, and you used Visual Basic 4.0 to create an online telephone book that allows 
you to edit a phone list and place and track outbound calls. </p>

<h2><a NAME="Chapter30CreatingTAPIEnabledAppli"></a><b><a HREF="ch30.htm">Chapter 30</a><font
SIZE="5" COLOR="#FF0000">, &quot;Creating TAPI-Enabled Applications&quot;</font></b></h2>

<p>In <a HREF="ch30.htm">Chapter 30</a> you applied all the information you have learned 
in the TAPI section to create a complete telephone in software. This &quot;virtual 
phone&quot; can be installed on any workstation that has TAPI services installed and at 
least a voice-data modem. If the workstation has a speaker phone, you do not even need a 
telephone handset on your desk. </p>

<p>You created the Visual Basic <tt><font FACE="Courier">TapiFone</font></tt> project that 
used the <tt><font FACE="Courier">TAPILINE</font></tt> control and contained code for 
handling both inbound and outbound calls. You also gave users access to the various TAPI 
dialog boxes and allowed them to maintain a set of configuration values for <tt><font
FACE="Courier">TAPIFONE</font></tt> in the Windows registry. <tt><font FACE="Courier">TapiFone</font></tt> 
is also able to write and store call notes on each outbound call made through <tt><font
FACE="Courier">TapiFone</font></tt>. </p>

<h2><a NAME="Chapter31ThirdPartyTAPITools"></a><b><a HREF="ch31.htm">Chapter 31</a><font
SIZE="5" COLOR="#FF0000">, &quot;Third-Party TAPI Tools&quot;</font></b></h2>

<p>Finally, in <a HREF="ch31.htm">Chapter 31</a>, you tested two third-party tools for 
developing TAPI solutions for Windows using Visual Basic 4.0. You learned how the Stylus 
Visual Voice Controls work with Visual Basic to provide a complete TAPI-compliant 
telephony solution. </p>

<p>You learned the Stylus Visual Voice kit contains eight basic Visual Voice components. 
Three of these components are controls: 

<ul>
  <li><font COLOR="#000000">The</font><i> </i><font SIZE="1" FACE="MCPdigital-I">Voice</font><i> 
    control</i> is the main TAPI control. This gives you access to the standard TAPI events 
    and methods. </li>
  <li><font COLOR="#000000">The </font><font SIZE="1" FACE="MCPdigital-I">Test</font><i> 
    control</i> is used to simulate a live telephone line. With this control and a sound card, 
    you can fully test your application without having to use live telephone lines. </li>
  <li><font COLOR="#000000">The </font><font SIZE="1" FACE="MCPdigital-I">VLink</font><i> 
    control</i> is used to create conversation links between separate Visual Basic 
    applications on the same machine. This is similar to a Visual Basic OLE server. </li>
</ul>

<p>There are also five support applications that you can use to build and manage your TAPI 
applications: 

<ul>
  <li>The <i>Voice Workbench</i> is a tool for creating and managing Visual Voice objects, 
    including voice files, voice strings, voice queries, and code templates. </li>
  <li><font COLOR="#000000">The </font><i>Voice Monitor</i> is a Visual Basic application that 
    can be used to monitor line activity on a multiline TAPI workstation. You'll use this to 
    keep track of telephony activity on your TAPI pc. </li>
  <li><font COLOR="#000000">The </font><i>Virtual Phone</i> is a Visual Basic application that 
    allows you to completely test your TAPI system without having to connect to and use live 
    telephone lines. This application was built using the <tt><font FACE="Courier">Test</font></tt> 
    control mentioned earlier. </li>
  <li><font COLOR="#000000">The </font><i>TAPI Examiner</i> is a Visual Basic program that 
    allows you to test individual TAPI services. This is a helpful debugging tool. </li>
  <li><i>Stylus Trace</i> is a stand alone program that you can use to trace all Visual Voice 
    activity on your workstation. It is excellent for debugging and checking out your Visual 
    Voice installation. </li>
</ul>

<p>You also learned how to use the <tt><font FACE="Courier">VBVoice</font></tt> controls 
to create interactive telephony applications to handle all sorts of personal and 
commercial needs. The <tt><font FACE="Courier">VBVoice</font></tt> system is made up of 21 
different OCX controls. These controls represent all the major actions that can occur 
during a telephony session. You place these controls on your Visual Basic form and set 
their properties at design time. You then link them together in a call flow diagram that 
visually defines your program. </p>

<p>Finally, you got a quick tour of the Microsoft Phone system. This is a stand alone 
product that combines MAPI, SAPI, and TAPI services in a single package. With Microsoft 
Phone, you can create custom answering messages, have Microsoft Phone forward your 
messages to Microsoft Exchange, and have Microsoft Exchange read your text message back to 
you using the Speech API (SAPI). </p>

<h2><a NAME="TheFutureofTelephonyandTAPI"><b><font SIZE="5" COLOR="#FF0000">The Future of 
Telephony and TAPI</font></b></a></h2>

<p>The material covered here is just the tip of the iceberg for Windows telephony 
services. As the TAPI interface becomes more common, hardware prices will fall to levels 
that are affordable to almost anyone who purchases a pc. In the near future, the 
integration of e-mail, telephony, and speech services (such as Microsoft Phone) will 
become the norm instead of a unique occurrence. </p>

<p>As telephones become easier to program and operate from within pc workstations, it is 
quite possible that the telephone handset that adorns almost every desktop today will 
disappear. In its place will be a single workstation that can answer and place voice 
calls, transfer data between locations by way of e-mail and direct links, even read 
messages aloud to you both in the office and while you are away. </p>

<p>The next round of innovations will be the ability to switch between voice and data on 
the same line automatically. Some hardware is already available to handle such chores. In 
the not too distant future, users will be able to transfer voice and data at the same time 
over a single line-without switching modes at all. </p>

<p>In order to achieve the next level of telephony services, local loop service will need 
to improve to allow reliable data transfers at rates above 28.8Kbps. New data compression 
and correction technologies can help, but only to a point. The promised installation of 
high-speed ISDN lines that stretch from the local switch stations all the way to the home 
will do the most for improving the quality and capabilities of computerized telephony 
services in the future. </p>

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