Tele-Series for Norstar Professional Interface Program
Version 1.2

Overview

The TELE-SER program is a DOS program. It is used to convert telephone expense transactions from a Tele-Series for Norstar Professional 5.02 data file to be compatible with the TABS III Merge Data Capture Transactions program (TABS III Version 3.4 or later).

The TELE-SER 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 option Maintenance|Integration|Create Validation Files. When creating validation files, select a Validation File Type of Data Capture Device.

Installation

The Tele-ser interface program (Tele-ser.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 Tele-ser interface program disk.

To install the Tele-ser interface program on your hard disk:

  1. Insert the Tele-ser 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:

  3. From the floppy disk drive prompt, enter the command:

    4.         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

  4. 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 TELE-SER Interface Program

Use the following procedure for conversion:

  1. Copy the data file containing the logged Tele-Series telephone transaction data from its source location to the TABS III data file directory
  2. From a DOS prompt, start the interface program by entering:

    3.         TELE-SER

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

  3. The first time you run the TELE-SER program, you will be asked to enter the TABS III transaction code number that you use for telephone expenses. After specifying the transaction code, the TELE-SER program will ask you to enter a cost per minute rate for telephone calls. Next, the TELE-SER program will ask for a minimum billing amount.

    4. Note: All the options entered above are stored in a parameter file named TELE-SER.PRM. Each time the TELE-SER program is executed, it will read the TELE-SER.PRM file and use those options automatically.

  4. If you did not specify the input file when invoking the TELE-SER program, you will be prompted to enter the input file name containing the Tele-Series telephone data.
  5. 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 Tele-Series 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 telephone transaction code or the minimum billing amount by deleting the file TELE-SER.PRM which is created in your TABS III directory during Step 3 above. This will enable you to go through the setup procedure described above in Step 3 as a first time user of the program.