Telephony Lines - Telephony Hardware and Driver Issues (TAPI)

IVM uses the TAPI (Telephony Application Interface) standard to connect to a wide range of telephony hardware devices (including voice modems or professional telephony voice cards). Often when IVM does not work, it is because the hardware is not TAPI compliant or because there is some problem with the drivers or driver installation.

If the drivers are not working properly:

There will be no device listed in the add device pull down list; or,
IVM will not be able to detect and answer in-coming calls; or,
IVM will not be able to play the out-going messages; or,
IVM will not be able to record messages.

Customers frequently report that their modems are nearly working. Perhaps some key responses are not working, the audio quality is poor or there is an excessive delay in reaction time. These problems are related to modem performance and not to any setting in the IVM software. The wave drivers associated with the modem turn the modem into a "pseudo sound card" for the production and recording of sound and for the detection of DTMF tones. The IVM requires that information collected by the modem (DTMF responses and CID information) be supplied to the IVM via TAPI. Some modems will for instance supply their own software with CID information but will not supply the information via TAPI. They are not 100% TAPI compliant and are not completely compatible with the IVM.

Please refer to the notes below on Voice Modems and Professional Telephony Cards for some solutions if your device is not working.

For up-to-date information, please view www.nch.com.au/ivm/modems.html.

You must be aware that we are unable to provide technical support for these problems. You should refer the problem to the manufacturer of your telephony card or modem. If you are a technical person, it can be useful view the modem logs to see where the problem occurs.

Voice Modems

Voice Modems must be VOICE modems

You must check that your modem is actually a voice modem. Refer to the modem documentation and specifications. Modems which are not voice modems cannot work with IVM.

Voice Modem Driver Installation - Remove unneeded/old modem drivers

If you have upgraded your modem or installed additional modems without removing the unneeded drivers, Windows TAPI drivers might fail. If that is the case, the only solution is to uninstall all modems, and then reinstall your single modem.

Voice Modem Driver Updates

Some modems are distributed with the drivers supplied on the CD-ROM being only for the non-voice modem version or are otherwise defective. Some manufacturers have fixed this problem with updated drivers that you can download from their websites. If your modem is not working with IVM, check your modem manufacturer's website for an updated modem and wave driver.

There are update drivers for Zoom Voice Modems, USR (US Robotics) modems, Maestro Modems and many more. Visit the manufacturer's website to download the updated driver.

Voice Modem Plug & Play Problems

Sometimes when a modem is first installed, plug & play detects and installs the drivers for the non-voice modem equivalent. The solution to this is to uninstall your modem and restart your computer, then when plug and play detects your modem again, manually select the modem (instead of using the automatic driver selection feature of plug and play).

Professional Telephony Cards

Professional telephony cards tend to have much better audio quality and, once they have been correctly installed, work very reliably.

More information about Professional Telephony Cards is available at www.nch.com.au/hardware/telephony.html.

Music Telecom Cards

Music Telecom cards are no longer recommended because they are defective.