The following suggestions assume that you are setting the modem up for Typetalk compatibility. If this is not the case, the suggestions may still be helpful for other circumstances. For Typetalk compatibility, the modem must support CCITT mode, V21 standard (300 Baud), or the V22 standard may work at 1200 Baud.

Most common modems use the "at+ms" command to set or query connection speed parameters. This is not universally the case, however, some modems use a completely different command. If:

"at+ms?"

produces an error response, you need to consult your modem documentation to find out how to set it to force the connection speed to 300 Baud.

"at+ms?" is always worth trying. This is the query command to get the current connection speed parameter settings. It is the command that WTC uses in its attempt to automatically suggest an initialisation string. If the modem accepts the command, it will return a text string showing the current settings, followed by "OK".

Even if the modem does support this command, it is still not definite for a variety of reasons that WTC will produce a Typetalk-compatible settings string. If you find that WTC fails to suggest a string but this command works, or does suggest a string but text-to-text calls are not reliable, the methodology below might find a solution before resorting to the modem documentation. A common symptom of incorrect modem initialisation is failure to get through when answering calls, making calls is usually a lot more robust.

Run the interactive terminal configuration of WTC from the installed program group, so as to be able to type to the modem and observe feedback. If it is already set up to communicate with the modem, as described in the section on establishing the modem port, a message box will come up shortly after starting the program confirming that the modem initialisation string has been sent. By default, the modem initialisation string merely sets the modem's defaults, and we now want to extend it to set the connection speed and perhaps additional parameters. Open the settings file by selecting change/review settings on the settings menu. A good strategy is to leave the settings file open and switch back to WTC to work with the modem. Because the WTC main terminal window is an edit window, you can select text in it and use the context menu to copy it to the clipboard. This is useful for copying and pasting modem settings directly into the modem initialisation string portion of the settings file for editing. See the section on using the settings file for information on the working area in this file for our purpose. When finished, close the settings file to save the settings, then exit the terminal program. If the settings have been correctly changed, your regular version of WTC by clicking the desktop or quick launch bar icon, or pressing its Windows accelerator, will now run with the correct settings and text-to-text calls will work reliably for both originating and answering.

Type "at&f" (ENTER) to make sure the modem is set to its defaults. All commands must be followed by the ENTER key. The modem should respond "OK". Enter the command:

"at+ms?"

to query the connection speed settings. Because you have just set the modem's defaults, the connection speed parameters have

their default values, and a typical response to the query is:

"V92,1,0,0,0,0".

The first element of this string, "V92", should he changed to "V21":

"at+ms=v21" (ENTER).

"at+ms=" is the command to set the connection speed parametrs rather than query them. Follow the equals sign by the string that you wish to set.

The meaning of the numbers after the "V" element varies from modem to modem. The number of comma-separated parameters in the string also varies. There may be numbers like 300 and 57,600 in the string in addition to 1's and 0's as above.

The meaning of each part of the string will be documented in the modem manual, but in order to achieve Typetalk compatibility, a technique worth trying is to change all numbers greater than 1 to 300, and all 1's to 0's, then send the new string to the modem with the "at+ms=" command. The number 300 remains unchanged.

You can test the effect of the new settings by going into the directory with Alt+A'D (directory option on the action menu) and selecting a number to dial. You can also do an answer test, press Escape to answer when th 'phone starts to ring.

When you think you have got the setting right, type:

"at+ms?"

again to cause the modem to display the full settings string. You can copy it to the clipboard then switch to the settings file (Alt+Tab) to paste it directly into the default string.

If the above procedure does not yield successful settings, try your modem manual for detailed information. You will also need to consult the manual if the modem does not support the "at+ms" syntax. Some modems may have a completely different command for setting connection speed parameters, but it is possible that once that command is known, a similar strategy to the above might suggest itself.

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Querying AT+MS