Cable & Wireless Phone Transaction Interface Program
Version 1.4

Overview

The Cable & Wireless Phone Transaction program is a DOS program. It is used to convert telephone expense transactions from a Cable & Wireless data file to be compatible with the TABS III Merge Data Capture Transactions program (TABS III Version 3.4 or later). This program will convert data from versions 2.0 and 4.0 of the Cable & Wireless system.

The CABWIRE program must reside in the same directory as the TABS III programs in order to work properly.

Note: The Create Validation Files program must be run before you can successfully use this data capture device interface program. The Create Validation Files program is found in TABS III by selecting the following menu options Maintenance|Integration|Create Validation Files. When creating validation files, select a Validation File Type of Data Capture Device.

Cable & Wireless Version 2.0 Note: Periodically, Cable & Wireless will send you a file with your logged telephone calls. This file is a dBASE file and must be converted to an ASCII file with the Cable & Wireless DAconvert utility program. For example, if the Cable & Wireless dBASE file were named OCTDATA.DBF, you would convert it to an ASCII file by entering:

        DACONVRT OCTDATA.DBF A

The DAconvert utility program would create a file named OCTDATA.ASC which would be used as the input file for STI's CABWIRE interface program.

Installation

The Cable & Wireless Phone Transaction interface program (CABWIRE.EXE) must be transferred to the directory on your hard disk where the TABS III program files reside. This is done by using the INSTALL program on the Cable & Wireless Phone Transaction interface program disk.

To install the Cable & Wireless Phone Transaction interface program on your hard disk:

  1. Insert the Cable & Wireless Phone Transaction interface program disk into your floppy disk drive.
  2. From a DOS prompt, make the floppy disk drive the default drive by entering the drive letter followed by a "colon". For example, if your floppy disk drive is drive A, then enter:
  3.         A:

  4. From the floppy disk drive prompt, enter the command:
  5.          INSTALL

    Note: The INSTALL program has a built-in search feature that will find where your TABS III program files reside. On larger network hard drives, this search feature can take quite a bit of time. If you know where the TABS III program files reside, you can bypass this search feature by entering the path following the install command. For example, if the TABS III program files reside on drive F: in a directory named "STI", you would enter: INSTALL F:\STI

  6. Follow the on-screen instructions to install the software onto your hard disk. The Install program will locate your TABS III software on your hard disk so that the interface program can be transferred to the same directory as TABS III. After the installation process, the message "Installation Complete" will be displayed.

Executing the CABWIRE Interface Program

Use the following procedure for conversion:

  1. Copy the data file containing the logged Cable & Wireless telephone transaction data from its source location to the TABS III data file directory.
  2. From a DOS prompt, start the CABWIRE interface program by entering:
  3.         CABWIRE

    Note: You can specify the input file name when running the CABWIRE program. For example, if the input file name is OCTDATA.ASC, you could enter "CABWIRE OCTDATA.ASC" (without the quotes). If you don't specify the input file name, the CABWIRE program will prompt you for the file name later.

  4. The first time you run the CABWIRE program, you will be prompted to select which version of the Cable & Wireless system you are using. The choices are version 2.0 and version 4.0
  5. Next, you will be asked to enter the TABS III transaction code number that you use for telephone expenses.
  6. After entering the transaction code, you will be asked to enter the maximum number of digits that you enter for your TABS III client ID (excluding the decimal separator). Since Cable & Wireless requires that you enter a fixed number of digits, any TABS III client ID's that fall short of the maximum length must be padded on the left with zeroes. For example, if the TABS III client ID is 97100.01 and the maximum number of digits is 8, you would enter 09710001 in the Cable & Wireless system.
  7. Note: When making phone calls, if you enter any extra digits into Cable & Wireless in addition to the TABS III client ID (such as an extension number or a user number), they must be entered prior to the TABS III client ID. Digits entered after the TABS III client ID will be converted as part of the client ID.

  8. Next, you have the option of specifying a minimum charge for phone calls. By entering a minimum dollar amount, any phone call that falls below the designated minimum amount will be converted to the minimum charge. For example, if you want to charge a $1.50 minimum on all telephone calls, enter 1.50 here and any amounts less than $1.50 will be changed to $1.50. If you want to convert call amounts without change, enter a zero at this prompt.
  9. You also have the option of converting all telephone call amounts with a mark up percentage. If you choose to mark up call amounts, all amounts greater than the minimum amount entered in Step 6 would be marked up. If you do not want to convert call amounts with a mark up percentage, enter a zero at this prompt.
  10. Next, you will be asked if you want to use the generated transaction descriptions. These descriptions are generated by the CABWIRE program by combining the TABS III transaction code description with information present in the Cable & Wireless data file. If you answer "Y", descriptions generated by the CABWIRE program will be converted into TABS III. If you answer "N", only the TABS III transaction code descriptions will be converted instead. If you answered "N" skip to step 10.
  11. If you answered "Y" in Step 8, you will be asked two questions pertaining to the conversion of descriptions. First, you will be asked if you want to include the phone number as part of the transaction description. Second, you will be asked if you want to include the city & state called as part of the transaction description. Enter "Y" or "N" to both questions. Following are examples of how descriptions would be converted depending on how you respond to both questions:
  12. Example of description including just phone number:

            <tcode text>, <phone number>

    Example of description including just city & state called:

            <tcode text> to <city>, <state>

    Example of description including both phone number and city & state called:

            <tcode text>, <phone number> to <city>, <state>

    Note: All the options entered in Steps 3-9 are stored in a file named CABWIRE.PRM. Each time the CABWIRE program is executed, it will read the CABWIRE.prm file and use those options automatically.

  13. Next, if you did not specify the input file when invoking the CABWIRE program, you will be prompted to enter the input file name containing the Cable & Wireless telephone data.
  14. Next, you will be asked, "Is it OK to continue? (Y/N)". If you enter "N" the program will be aborted. If you enter "Y" the program will look for the data file containing the Cable & Wireless telephone data. If the file is found to contain data, the program will display the message "Converting Transactions" followed by a count of each transaction read from the file. The files T3EXPKEY.REM, T3EDESC1.REM and T3EXP.REM will be created which can be merged with the main TABS III data files. You must then start TABS III and run the Merge Data Capture Transactions program.

Note: If you are not using a demo version of the program, the data file containing the logged phone calls will automatically be deleted from the TABS III directory when the conversion is complete to avoid double posting the data.

Note: Once the conversion is complete, the data file should be deleted from its original source location to prevent reconverting the same data in the future. If any new phone transactions have been logged in this file since the conversion has been run, they will be lost upon deletion.

Note: You may change the Cable & Wireless software version, the telephone transaction code, the TABS III client ID length, or the price conversion options by deleting the file CABWIRE.PRM that is created in your TABS III directory during Steps 3-7 above. This will enable you to go through the setup procedure described above in Steps 3-7 as a first time user of the program.