How to use Dial.exe
This small program available in the Downloads section enables you to create Windows shortcuts that place voice calls. You must have a modem attached to your computer.
Copy Dial.exe to somewhere convenient on your disk, for example the Program Files folder. Right-click the Start button and select Explore. Go to File / New / Folder and create a folder called Dial.
Inside that folder you can, if you wish, create sub-folders to to categorise your shortcuts.
Create a new shortcut by dragging Dial.exe into the folder using the RIGHT mouse button. When you drop the file, you get the option to create a new shortcut.
Press the [F2] key to rename the shortcut to the name of the person or company it will dial. After renaming, right-click the shortcut and select Properties.
Click in the Target field. Add a space and the phone number to the end of the line. Don't put any spaces within the number.
There are special characters you can include in the number:
| , | (comma) A short delay |
| # | [#] key |
| * | [*] key |
| W | Optional prefix – wait for dial tone before calling |
An example, where you have to dial 9 for an outside line:
"path_to\dial.exe" W9,0123456789
Please see the note below regarding a fault in Windows 2000 that prevents the use of these additional characters.
There is one more feature you may like to use. Using the shortcut fires up the Windows dialler utility and that program is what actually does the dialling. Some versions of this (Phone Dialer) create a log file of numbers they call. Get at it from Tools / Show Log. If you want to make use of this feature, you can have the person's name included alongside their phone number. Add it to the shortcut command line in square brackets as follows:
"path_to\dial.exe" 1234567 [John Jones]
The text within square brackets will be picked up by Dial.exe and passed through to Phone Dialer which will include the name in its log.
Troubleshooting
You may have to install the Phone Dialer from the Windows CD. It's under Add/Remove programs. Click the Windows tab and locate it in one of the categories.
If when you run a shortcut the Dialer accessory comes up but there is no phone number, check you have constructed the shortcut command line exactly as I have described. However, you may be out of luck and have a faulty system component.
Some communications software replaces Windows' own telephone interface module (Tapi.dll or Tapi32.dll) with its own third-party version. I have seen one of these fail to drive Phone Dialer in the way that Microsoft documents it should. This is a bug in the third-party software, not in Dial.exe or Windows.
Windows 2000/XP only (I think): the Dialer accessory MAY interpret non-digits (such as ,) to mean that you want to place an Internet call. If that happens, try this workround reported by a user (not yet tested by me):
"In messing around, I pulled the idea out of thin air to add a 'P' in front of the phone number string. Voila! This forces phone call instead of internet call for those strings with the special characters (commas, etc)."
If you have the problem, please let me know if the fix works.
The future?
I planned to write an upgraded version of Dial.exe with more features, for example enabling selection of the dialling device, monitoring call duration and automatic hang-up.
Further investigation revealed this to be non-trivial and the plan was shelved.
Dial.exe is very simple. Interpreting the command line is the most complicated part, and that's easy. Afterwards, it uses tapiRequestMakeCall() to pass the phone number to Windows, which handles the dialling process.
Accomplishing anything more requires Dial.exe to take over some of the functionality of Windows' telephony components.
Microsoft says that any program doing this should go the whole hog and implement a range of features – a full TAPI interface in fact, and a significant project. Technically, Dial.exe would have to make the jump from being 'TAPI Enabled' to 'TAPI Centric'.
The leap is so great that I can't do it unless somebody decides to bankroll the project. I am not holding my breath.