Parity's VOS programming language, Graphical VOS FlowCharter, and powerful testing and
debugging tools have simplified CTI developers' lives for many years. Today, VOS includes
a 25-function IP telephony link, guaranteed Dialogic compatibility, year 2000 compliance,
and more, and its core CTI functions are better than ever. VOS is generally known as an
application generator (app-gen) package that makes creating software especially easy, even
for non-programmers. With free lifetime support and upgrades, good documentation, and a
competitive price, we expect VOS to be a major app-gen player for a long time.
INSTALLATION
Installing VOS and its related components involves configuring a Dialogic (or
Dialogic-compatible) telephony board, attaching a "Sentinel" dongle plug into a
PC's printer port and running the Install wizard from the "power pack" CD-ROM.
However, the Sentinel has a throughput, so users can still attach a printer. And, Parity
includes SimPhone software, which simulates a telephone and the presence of a Dialogic
board. This reduced our installation chores to running the VOS Install wizard, which is as
simple as installing Word or any other standard Windows application. We happened to use
the 32-bit Windows 95 software, but VOS is also available in 16- and 32-bit DOS versions,
as well as 32-bit versions for UNIX and Windows NT. We like that VOS runs in its own
private memory space and does not use dynamic memory allocation. Theoretically, a VOS
application could run forever without crashing. VOS deserves our highest grade for its
installation process: Not only does it install well, it installs intelligently. Even
installing the optional runtime link libraries is a tolerable process, which is more than
we can say about other app-gens' .DLL add-ons. There are no special system requirements.
DOCUMENTATION
App-gens tend to be easy to use, but difficult to learn the quirks of, so documentation
is more important here than for other kinds of software. VOS includes one printed manual,
a pamphlet describing SimPhone and almost 100 useful help files. The manual itself is a
brief 100 pages, but there are numerous screen shots in the "Getting Started with
FlowCharter" section; in-depth examples in the sections about the VOS language and
debugger; and good explanations for the functions, call control, logging, and devices
chapters. The SimPhone instruction pamphlet is even thinner - just a couple of pages - but
in this case, it is plenty to explain the simple yet invaluable application's installation
and usage. Meanwhile, detail about most functions, VOS commands, and supported peripherals
are found in VOS' online help files. We also found 24 tutorial files and 6 referenced
applets. The only change that Parity desperately needs is a chart explaining each toolbar
icon, which is conspicuously missing. Only by experimenting with each icon and their
respective "What am I?" tabs were we able to decipher them.
FEATURES
The user interface and customization options are two very important features for a CTI
app-gen, and we're glad to see that Parity engineers think so, too. Upon starting, the VOS
GUI looks unimposing, with its plain white design area, innocent-looking toolbars, and
normal pull-down menus. Even deep down within each function's icon, where options are set
to control the source code beneath, the GUI and its numerous tabs and radio buttons remain
clean and user-friendly. Just when you least expect it, a shortcut presents itself. For
example, the menu cell has options for how long it should wait before repeating the
request or before playing an "invalid digit" or "no digit pressed"
dialogue. When values are entered, VOS lets you specify whether the value should be read
and treated as a monetary figure, ordinal, string, date, or time. Other common cell
elements include termination digits, prompts, digits to accept, "What am I," and
"Things to do" - these last two are our favorites, not just for their simplicity
and bluntness but for their usefulness. Choosing either tab on any function will tell the
developer precisely what the function does, where to get more help with it, and what else
needs to be configured to make it work. Consider it "spell check" for CTI.
Overall, we feel that the Graphical VOS FlowCharter's combination of simplicity and power
makes it the best GUI of any app-gen, and we've seen them all. With features like
intelligent task linking and customizable toolbars - as long as they understand logic and
basic software concepts - users don't have to know a single line of source code to compile
a decent application.
Internet Telephony
Besides the typical call control functions that are requisite for a good app-gen, VOS
includes several new functions designed specifically for Internet telephony and for
Dialogic DM3 "IPLink" boards. These include 25 commands like IP getcalledid, IP
getcallerid and IP getdisplay; IP getparameter and IP getuserdata; and IP senduserdata.
The actual connection works, because, as explained by Parity, "The IP channel on an
IPLink board is connected to a Network Interface Card (NIC) - sometimes they are on the
same DM3 board. To place a call over the network, just route an IP channel to the
appropriate SCbus device and then use the IP_call function to make the call." The
degree of difficulty for this kind of implementation will vary depending on the scale, but
VOS' ease of use makes it worthwhile and efficient to use in-house programming staff to
develop IP links for your company's branches.
Other standouts of the VOS language's more than 300 features include an interface to C
and C++, fast multitasking, improved call hang-up options, jump and barge-in capabilities,
and interfaces for ISDN, T1, and E1 lines. Additional features of the program include a
powerful debugger tool, built-in fax, task management, database access tools (in formats
for .MDB, .DBF, Btrieve, Paradox, ODBC, SQL, Excel, Lotus, and plain text), and year 2000
compliance. The year 2000 compliance has one issue that bothers us, however: VOS will only
accept dates from January 1, 1980 through December 31, 2079. Instead of using a four-digit
year code, Parity chose to keep a two-digit code, but shifted to account for the turn of
the century. We think this is a poor design decision, because it's very plausible that a
database link or perhaps some form of age or credit card verification system might use a
year that comes before 1980.
OPERATIONAL TESTING
Parity's IVR tutorial guides users step-by-step through a simple application, taking
extra care to explain the nuances of each step, even when a step is repeated with only
minor changes. In this example, the application waits for an incoming call, and when one
comes, it's faced with a four-step menu. Users press 1 to leave a message, which links to
a record cell and then ends. Users can press 2 to leave their phone number, which links to
a cell that collects seven digits and disconnects. Users can press 3 to hear current stock
prices, or 4 to end the call. Any of the functions will automatically cease via the
"hidden" choice number 5, which disconnects if a choice is not entered within
the given time frame or if choices entered are invalid after multiple tries. The
application can also play a "goodbye" message before disconnecting. This kind of
simple IVR application is a great tutorial because it illustrates several key points,
including how to collect data, record it, take action on it, and wrap up the call when
finished. This sample also teaches users the basics of how to layout items in the
FlowCharter, how to connect cells, and how to view and edit cell properties and source
code. Best of all, creating this application and learning its concepts only took about an
hour.
ROOM FOR IMPROVEMENT/CONCLUSION
Our two criticisms for VOS 6 are the lack of sufficient explanations for the toolbars
and function cells and the pseudo-year 2000 compliance. Otherwise, we couldn't be happier.
VOS 6 is competitively priced; even if you can find one its competitors cheaper, VOS has
one of the best feature sets in the industry. The VOS language has always been considered
credible and powerful, and we're looking forward to upcoming improvements in its fax and
conferencing options, as well as continued guaranteed support for Dialogic boards and
continued free technical support and upgrades. VOS 6 epitomizes the kind of product that
deserves our Editor's Choice award without reservation.
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