Ascendis Software LLC Support Forums

Yesterday, I downloaded the trial version of Ascendis Caller ID and have a few questions regarding the program. So far, I like the program. I have been using another similar program that has a few more features, but it is pretty buggy and tech support is pracically non-existent (CallAudit Voice).

1. Does the program allow blocking of all NEW callers that are NOT in the phone database? This would hang up on those annoying telemarketing jerks and others unless I want to talk to them.

2. What report options does the program have? Can I create reports based on certain specs - like all calls within a certain category (family, friends, work, long distance, etc.) or a report based on the number of times someone calls?

3. The robotic sounds are annoying to me. Is the robot sound REQUIRED or am I able to use my own .wav file to answer? Also, can I use my own ring tone .wav file?

4. Can I change the background/foreground color of the Calls and Callers screens?

5. Can I assign categories for callers? Like Friends, Relatives, Business, etc.?

6. How much do version updates cost?

Thanks.

Hello Greg,

Thank you for trying Ascendis Caller ID. I'll address your questions individually.

1. Does the program allow blocking of all NEW callers that are NOT in the phone database? This would hang up on those annoying telemarketing jerks and others unless I want to talk to them.

Yes, you can block all calls that are not in the Callers list. To do this:
1) Add all callers you would like to receive calls from to the Callers list. If you have a lot you will probably want to import from a CSV file.
2) Change the "Category for new callers" in the Options window (General page) to "Block" or "Block and Announce"

If you also want to hang up on anonymous and out-of-area callers, either delete those callers from the Callers list, or change their categories to "Block" or "Block and Announce".

2. What report options does the program have? Can I create reports based on certain specs - like all calls within a certain category (family, friends, work, long distance, etc.) or a report based on the number of times someone calls?

At this time reporting is limited to all calls, all callers, or all categories.

3. The robotic sounds are annoying to me. Is the robot sound REQUIRED or am I able to use my own .wav file to answer?

The text-to-speech is limited to voices installed in Windows. You can select the voice in the Options window, Speech page, but Windows XP only comes with once voice. We offer better sounding voices for sale on our web site:
http://www.ascendis.com/callerid/voices.php

You can disable speech by changing the appropriate categories or callers. To disable speech for all callers not in the Callers list, edit the "Default" category (double-click it in the Category list) and disable speech on the "Speak" tab. You will have to disable speech for anonymous calls and out-of-area calls separately, by editing the corresponding callers in the Callers list.

You can have Ascendis Caller ID play any wave file you want when a call comes in. To change it for all new callers, or all callers assigned to a particular category, edit the category (double-click it) and enable "Play Sound".

Also, can I use my own ring tone .wav file?

Same as above, you can use any wave file.

4. Can I change the background/foreground color of the Calls and Callers screens?

You can change the background and foreground colors of the "display" portion of the main window. This is the part that is white-text-on-blue-background by default. Right-click on the display panel and choose "Change Panel Color" to change the background, or "Change Item Font" to change the font color.

5. Can I assign categories for callers? Like Friends, Relatives, Business, etc.?

In Ascendis Caller ID, the assigned category usually determines the action performed when the caller calls. If you're happy with all callers assigned to the "Friends" category triggering the same action, or if you'd rather assign specific actions to each caller, then you can use the category field as you want.

6. How much do version updates cost?

Currently all updates are free for one year from date of purchase, and all minor updates are free. We have not yet released version 2 so we have not yet charged for an update, and we haven't decided on update prices for version 2 yet.


Please let me know if you have any other questions.


Finest regards,
Bill Root
Ascendis Software