TAD-412 (430-0399) Operation Faxback Doc. # 16810 COMPOSING YOUR OUTGOING ANNOUNCEMENT Install the cassette tapes, and then turn on your answering machine. You are ready to record the message you want callers to hear when the machine answers. Guidelines and Sample Announcement Before you record your outgoing announcement, we recommend that you write out the announcement you want to use. Here are some guidelines for creating your own announcement. Always ask for specific information -- your caller's name and phone number -- so that you can return the call. Do not just tell your callers to leave a message. They were expecting to talk to you and might not be prepared to leave a message; or they might not be comfortable talking to a machine. Sound cheerful and natural! Be sure your message is not abrupt. Your callers need an explanation of what you want them to do, and then they might require a couple of seconds to think over their response. For your own protection, do not tell callers that no one is home, because there are dishonest people who might take advantage of your absence. When you record your message, use a phrase like, "We can't get to the phone right now," instead of "We're not home right now." For example: "You have reached John Doe's telephone. We are unable to answer the telephone right now. when you hear the tone, please leave your name, phone number, and message, and we will call you back as soon as possible." "This is the Doe residence. We can't get to the phone right now, but we will be happy to return your call if you will leave your name and telephone number and message. Please speak clearly and directly into the telephone. Thank you." Composing an Announce-Only Message Your answering machine has an announce-only mode that lets you make an outgoing announcement stating specific information, but the caller cannot leave a message. This is useful when providing information about an event, for example. Be sure that your message clearly indicates that the caller cannot leave a message. You can use a tape longer than the SFC-1 provided. You can find leaderless tapes of varying lengths at your local Radio Shack store. RECORDING YOUR OUTGOING ANNOUNCEMENT Record your outgoing announcement by following these steps: 1. Be sure that the ANSWER indicator is off. If not, press STOP. 2. Press ANNOUNCE RECORD. The MEMO indicator starts blinking. If the outgoing-announcement tape is not at its beginning, the answering machine automatically rewinds the tape to the beginning. The MEMO indicator blinks while the tape is rewinding. A long tone sounds. Then, the MEMO indicator lights steadily to let you know that you can record your announcement. Speak clearly and in a normal voice, at a distance of about 8 inches from the microphone. The recording time for the supplied outgoing-announcement tape is 30 seconds. NOTES: If you exceed the maximum recording time, the answering machine sounds eight beeps to indicate an error and rewinds to the beginning of the tape. Both the MEMO and ANSWER indicators blink. The VOLUME control has no effect on the recording level. Use it only for playback. 3. After completing your message, press STOP. The answering machine automatically rewinds the outgoing-announcement tape to the beginning, and the MEMO indicator blinks during rewind. When the MEMO indicator goes off you can proceed to other functions. NOTES: You can make a library of different messages. Each cassette can handle two messages, one on each side. Additional cassettes are available at your local Radio shack store. Simply change cassettes when you want to change the message. This way, you do not have to record a new message each time you use the answering machine. If the outgoing-announcement tape is broken, or if you have not installed the outgoing-announcement cassette when you press ANNOUNCE RECORD, the answering machine sounds eight short beeps to indicate an error. If there is a 2 second or longer period of silence in your outgoing message, your answering machine assumes that the messages if over and proceeds to record the caller's message. To prevent accidentally inserting a long pause in your message, be sure to practice the message before actually recording it. Checking Your Outgoing Announcement 1. Set the INCOMING MESSAGE switch to ANN ONLY. 2. Press PLAY. The answering machine checks to be sure the tape is rewound, sounds a few short beeps, and then plays your outgoing announcement through the speaker. Adjust the VOLUME control to a comfortable listening level. At the end of the announcement, the answering machine automatically rewinds the tape to the beginning and stops. 3. Return the INCOMING MESSAGE switch to 30 SEC or 3 MIN. CAUTION: If you leave the INCOMING MESSAGE switch at ANN ONLY, a caller cannot leave a message. If you want to change the message, repeat the steps for recording a message. Each time you record, the previous message is erased. You can record over the message as many times as you like. ANSWERING CALLS To set your answering machine to answer calls for you, adjust three switches: the ANSWER switch, the INCOMING MESSAGE switch, and the CPC switch. The ANSWER Switch This switch determines how quickly your answering machine responds. Before setting your answering machine to answer calls, choose the position you want for the ANSWER switch. IMM (Immediate) - Your answering machine answers a call on the first or second ring. DEL (Delay) - Your answering machine answers a call after about four or five rings. This gives you a chance a answer the phone before the fourth ring. TOL S (Toll Saver) - If the ANSWER switch is set at TOL S, when you call your answering machine from long distance, you can tell in advance whether you have messages. If there are new messages, the answering machine answers on the first or second ring. If there are no new messages the answering machine waits four or five rings before answering. On the third ring you can hang up before the answering machine answers, so that you will not be charged for the call. The INCOMING MESSAGE Switch The INCOMING MESSAGE switch has three position. The 30 SEC and 3 MIN positions determine the length of time the caller has to record a message. The ANN (announce) ONLY position prevents the caller from leaving a message. 30 SEC (Seconds) - Caller can record a 30-second message. 3 MIN (Minutes) - Caller can record a 3-minute message. Setting the maximum time does not necessarily waste tape, because if the caller hangs up before using the allotted time, your answering machine automatically stops recording to conserve tape. See "VOX and CPC" for more information. ANN ONLY (Announce Only) - When you set the INCOMING MESSAGE switch to ANN ONLY, callers cannot leave a message. Use this position when only an announcement is required, such as a time for a meeting or other event. The CPC (Calling Party Control) Switch Set the CPC Switch for the type of Calling Party Control used by your phone system. See "VOX and CPC." Setting the Answering Mode 1. Set the INCOMING MESSAGE switch to 30 SEC or 3 MIN. Do not leave the switch set to ANN ONLY. 2. Set the CPC switch. See "CPC (Calling Party Control)." 3. Set the ANSWER switch. See "The ANSWERING Switch." 4. Press ANSWER. Your recorded announcement rewinds to the beginning. During the rewind, the ANSWER indicator blinks rapidly. At the end of the rewind, a long tone sounds. When the ANSWER indicator lights steadily, your answering machine is ready to answer calls. When a call comes in, your answering machine plays the outgoing announcement. Then, as the caller's message is being recorded, the ANSWER indicator blinks rapidly. After a caller's message is recorded, the ANSWER indicator blinks slowly to let you know that you have received a message. When there are no new messages, the ANSWER indicator continues to light steadily. NOTES: If the incoming-message tape becomes full while a caller is talking, you hear eight short beeps. Then, you see on the answering machine, both the MEMO and ANSWER indicators blink. If the incoming-message tape is already full when a call comes in, the caller hears only eight short beeps. The caller hears no announcement and cannot leave a message. After about 7 seconds, the answering machine hangs up. If the incoming-message tape is already full when you make a remote call to your home or office, you can still operate the answering machine. Using ANNOUNCE ONLY When you use the announce only function, be sure to state in your outgoing announcement that the caller cannot leave a message. If you did not do this, you might want to redo your outgoing announcement. 1. Set the INCOMING MESSAGE switch to ANN ONLY. 2. Set the CPC and the ANSWER switches. 3. Press ANSWER. Your answering-machine is ready to answer calls. While your answering machine rewinds the outgoing-announcement tape to the beginning, the ANSWER indicator blinks rapidly. When the tape is complete rewound, two beeps sound and the ANSWER indicator lights steadily to let you know your answering machine is ready to answer calls and to deliver the announce-only message. LISTENING TO MESSAGES The ANSWER indicator blinks slowly to let you know that you have received at least one new message. If there are not new messages, the ANSWER indicator lights steadily. Before listening to your messages, be sure the INCOMING MESSAGE switch is in either the 30 SEC or the 3 MIN position. (In the ANN ONLY position the outgoing announcement plays.) 1. Press PLAY. The incoming-message tape rewinds to the beginning of the new messages. Three beeps sound when rewind is complete. You hear your messages play through the answering machine's speaker. 2. Adjust the VOLUME control to a comfortable listening level. A short tone sounds at the end of each message. At the end of the last message, the tape automatically stops, and three beeps sound. The answering machine enters the stop mode. In the stop mode, your answering machine cannot answering or record calls. 3. To save these messages and to set your answering machine to answer calls again, press ANSWER. If you press REWIND, and then press ANSWER, new messages record over the old messages. See "Erasing the Incoming- Message Tape." PLAYING NEW MESSAGES Message Grouping Message grouping saves you from playing the same messages over and over by separating a group of new messages from an old group. After listening to your messages, if you return to the answer mode without rewinding the tape, the next call records immediately following the last message heard. If you rewind the tape first, and then return to the answer mode, new messages record over (and erase) previously recorded messages. To listen to the new messages, press PLAY. Your answering machine automatically rewinds to the beginning of the most recent message group and stops. Then it automatically plays the new messages. To listen to the new messages a second time, press REWIND. The tape rewinds the message group and stops. When the tape stops, press PLAY. To review a group of old messages, press REWIND. When the tape stops at the end of the first message group, press REWIND again. The tape rewinds to the beginning of the tape. Then, you can press PLAY to listen to the previously recorded message group. If you want to listen to a message near the end of the tape, press FAST-F to advance the tape rapidly. REVIEWING PORTIONS OF THE TAPE 1. To listen to an incoming message a second time, while the tape is playing, press REWIND or FAST-F (fast-forward) to locate the message. You can hear the messages quickly play as your answering machine rapidly rewinds or advances the tape. 2. When you reach the portion of the tape you want to hear, release the REWIND or FAST-F button. The tape plays at the normal speed. 3. To skip unwanted material such as dial tones, press REWIND or FAST-F. Release REWIND or FAST-F button when you reach the end of the unwanted material and the tape plays at the normal speed. 4. When you are through listening to the messages, press STOP. SAVING A MESSAGE If you want to save a particular message for later reference, press REWIND or FAST-F to locate the message. Then, let the message play to its end and press STOP. Press ANSWER to set the answering machine to answer calls. New messages record immediately following the saved message. When you press PLAY, your answering machine rewinds back to the beginning of the new messages and plays them. NOTES: Remember, some callers might not say anything. If a caller hangs up without leaving a message (or without using the maximum time) and your telephone company does not send of CPC signals, your answering machine will record dial tones, beep tones, or an operator's voice instead of a caller's message until the VOX circuit stops recording. See "VOX and CPC." If you do not want to save any messages, press REWIND. The tape rewinds to the beginning and new messages will record over the old messages. If the incoming-message tape fills up while a caller is talking, the caller hears the answering machine sound eight short beeps and hang up. On your answering machine, you see both the MEMO and ANSWER indicators blink when there is not more space on the tape. This lets you know that you need to listen and erase your messages, or that you need to replace the tape. CAUTION: If for some reason, you remove the incoming-message cassette and then replace it, the message markers are deleted. Because of this, the answering machine cannot tell the difference between new and old messages. ERASING THE INCOMING-MESSAGE TAPE Erasing messages is not necessary because old messages automatically erase as new ones record over them. However, if other people have access to your answering machine, there might be some messages you do not want them to hear. You can erase the tape using these steps. 1. Before erasing, be sure you have heard all your messages. If the incoming-message tape is still playing, or if the ANSWER indicator is on, press STOP so that you can operate the erase function. 2. Be sure the INCOMING MESSAGE switch is set to 30 SEC or 3 MIN. 3. Hold down ERASE REWIND and press REWIND. The tape erases as it rewinds to the beginning. If you want to stop erasing prior to the beginning of the tape, press STOP. NOTE: If the incoming-message tape is already at the beginning when you press ERASE REWIND, your answering machine sounds eight beeps to let you know you made an error. VOX AND CPC VOX (Voice Operated Transmission) VOX refers to a circuit in your answering machine that continually monitors the caller's voice. If for about seven seconds, the circuit does not hear anything, your answering machine stops recording, hangs up, and resets. This circuit helps conserve tape when a caller hangs up before the maximum incoming message time (30 seconds or 3 minutes). However, when a phone is left off-hook, a telephone company recording usually comes on with a loud tone or a remember to hang up the phone. The recording might come on immediately or after several seconds of no activity on the line. This variation can be a problem for the VOX circuit. If a caller hangs up as soon as your answering machine answers, your answering machine stays on the line like a telephone that is off-hook. It stays on the line seven seconds after the message ends, until the VOX circuit stops your answering machine's recorder. If the telephone company recording begins before the VOX circuit stops your answering machine, your answering machine records the telephone company's "hang up" message, because the VOX circuit cannot tell the difference between a recorded message and caller's voice. The operation of the "hang up" message from your telephone company might vary greatly from one call to the next. CPC (Calling Part Control) When a calling party hangs up, many telephone companies send out a special signal called CPC (calling party control). The CPC signal is a brief interruption of the current flowing in the phone line. This signal can be either long or short and caries from one company to another. When your answering machine detects a CPC signal, it hangs up. If your telephone company uses a short CPC signal, set the CPC switch to MIN. If your telephone company uses a long CPC signal, set the CPC switch to MAX. If you do not know what type of CPC signal your phone company uses, or if they use one at all, begin with the MAX setting. If your TAD does not disconnect when a caller hangs up and often records telephone company messages, try the MIN setting. Use the setting that results in the most efficient operation. NOTE: Telephone companies that use the long CPC signal, or no CPC signal, might use a short signal for the call-waiting feature. If you have call-waiting and use the MIN setting, the answering machine will hang up if a second call comes in while someone is leaving a message. If you have problems when using MIN setting, your telephone company is not sending a CPC signal. Set the CPC switch to MAX and set the INCOMING MESSAGE switch to 30 seconds. This limits the time the caller has to leave a message, but shortens the amount of tape wasted when a caller hangs up in less than 30 seconds. If you have call waiting, set the switch to MAX. (ALL-09/08/95)