Tracking calls with your PC - Clinic - column

Home Office Computing, Sept, 1991 by Edward P. Stevenson

Tracking Calls with Your PC

LOGGING PHONE TIME Q. Is there a way to connect my computer to the telephone and print out a log of long-distance telephone calls (date, number, time called, and time elapsed)?

NEIL SCOTT Findlay, Ohio

A. There is at least one that I'm aware of. WordTech Systems ([415] 254-0900) offers a hardware/software product, TimeScribe ($295), that does just what you're looking for. The hardware portion is a half-length IBM-compatible adapter card. The software keeps track of all the details of your telephone activity, including number and party called, purpose, and duration. A separate but related database even records notes you might take during calls; another tracks follow-ups. The system offers a selection of printed phone-activity reports - either by date or on a client-by-client basis. In addition, it stores names, numbers, and other information about the people you call (an annotated electronic phone book) and dials numbers you select from the phone book. If, like a lawyer or consultant, you bill by time, you can enter a billing rate for each client; TimeScribe will look it up and calculate the total charge for the call.

MASSIVE DOCUMENT STORAGE Q. I currently store 100 to 200 legal documents a day in microfilm. I would like to store them on my PC. What are the best methods of storage and retrieval? What about processing speed and cost factors?

RICHARD HAGNER Littleton, Colorado

A. First, you will have to choose between two methods of processing your documents (optical character recognition [OCR] and imaging) and several kinds of storage media (conventional magnetic hard-disk drive and various optical disk-storage technologies). Both techniques involve the use of a scanner to "read" your documents. For the volume of work you face, a flatbed scanner with an automatic document feeder (roughly $2,000) would be a necessity. Canon, Hewlett-Packard, Panasonic, and Ricoh all offer document-scanning system. OCR requires special software to turn scanned images into editable computer text files. OCR is the way to go if you need to edit or print out the documents you store. If you need to record the appearance of the document, however, imaging (simply storing the scanned "picture" of your document) is the proper method. If you are storing for archival purposes only, you could go either way.

Since image files occupy roughly 20 times as calls storage space as text files, imaging calls for massive storage capacity. This means an enormous hard-disk drive or, more likely, a hard-disk drive with replaceable cartridges or an optical storage system. A single 5.25-inch optical disk can store 600MB of data or more. These disks are interchangeable, like floppy disks.

The primary drawback to optical storage today is cost. Optical storage "subsystems" (including a drive a controller, and the necessary software) will run you anywhere from $2,500 to $7,000. Optical storage can be done on either Write Once, Read Many (WORM) or rewritable disks. The former are less costly (about $200 each, as opposed to about $250). The choice will depend on your access requirements. In terms of speed, optical systems are faster than floppy disks but slower than hard disks.

If you go the OCR route, you will need OCR software. OmniPage and OmniPage Professional (from Caere Corp.; [408] 395-7000) run under Windows 3.0 on a 386- (or higher) based IBM compatible or a Macintosh with System 6.0 or higher. All versions call for a minimum of 4MB of RAM. Calera Recognition Systems ([408] 986-8006) offers TrueScan ($3,895, including a co-processor board), WordScan ($595), and WordScan Plus ($995; accelerator card optional, $3,995), all of which run on 286-based IBM compatibles or higher with 640K of memory; the WordScan products are available in Macintosh versions (IBM, System 6.0 or higher).

HIGH-TECH VOCABULARY Q. Can you recommend a dictionary of computer terminology for a computing novice? I'm trying to understand all the abbreviations I see in HOME-OFFICE COMPUTING.

WILLIAM R. ROGERS Nevada, Iowa

A. HOME-OFFICE COMPUTING tries not to use many abbreviations, and with a few exceptions we spell out abbreviated terms the first time we use them in a given article or review. However, there are many dictionaries of computer terms, abbreviated and otherwise. An excellent general introduction to PCs that contains a good glossary is The ABCs of the IBM PC (Sybex). Another more complete resource is The Computer Glossary, fifth edition (AMACOM).

Other include the McGraw-Hill Dictionary of Scientific and Technical Terms, fourth edition (McGraw-Hill); Que's Computer User's Dictionary (Que Corp.); Computer Dictionary (Microsoft Press); and Webster's New World Dictionary of Computer Terms (Prentice-Hall).