Zoom Model 24 User manual

Dialer
Installation & User's Guide

Dialer Installation & User’s Guide 1
Introduction
This dialer makes it easy for you to save money on phone
calls. It's easy to install and use, and works for all the phones
plugged into the same phone line as the dialer.
How the dialer works
The dialer simplifies using alternative long distance services
by automatically dialing the extra digits normally dialed by
hand. Some of these services, such as 1010 dial around
services, require you to dial some extra digits before dialing a
long distance number. Other services require you to dial an
access number, wait for a tone or a voice prompt, and then
dial a PIN. There would usually be another tone or voice
prompt, after which you would dial the number you wanted to
call. Then your call would be connected.
The dialer lets you dial normally, and then the dialer dials all
the right digits automatically. Once you've finished dialing,
you can hear the dialer dialing, and for some services you'll
also hear voice prompts. You just wait for the dialer to finish,
which is followed by the sounds you normally hear when you
make a call, such as a ringing signal, a busy signal, or
someone answering the call.
There is one other thing you should know about your dialer.
Before the dialer can work, it needs to be activated by your
service provider. The activation configures your dialer for
your location and calling plan. Your service provider will
activate your dialer by a remote download.

2 Dialer Installation & User’s Guide
Setting up and using the dialer involves
these easy steps:
1. Install the dialer.
2. Once the dialer is installed, make sure that the service
provider knows so he or she can call the dialer and load it
with information about routing your calls.
3. If necessary, tailor the dialer to a special situation.
4. Use the dialer.
1. Install the dialer
First find a suitable location for the dialer. This location needs
3 things:
i) A standard phone jack connected to the phone line you
want to use for your dialer. It's okay if there's something
plugged into that jack, since the dialer has an extra jack
for that situation. (The dialer should not be used on a
phone line that has ADSL service for high-speed Internet
access.)
ii) An electrical outlet near the phone jack for plugging in the
dialer's power cube. This power outlet should be powered
up all the time, and not be turned on or off by a light
switch.
iii) The dialer's location should be as close to where the
phone line enters your premises as possible. See if you
can tell where the phone line comes into your premises,
and locate the dialer at the nearest phone jack if possible.
If you can't tell and you have an apartment, pick a jack
toward the center of the building. If you can't tell and you
have a home, pick a jack on or near the first floor if
possible.
Please see the picture on the next page. Plug the power cube
into the power outlet, and plug its other end into the dialer
power jack. The dialer's LED will blink rapidly ON and OFF. If

Dialer Installation & User’s Guide 3
there's something plugged into the phone jack you've chosen,
unplug it and plug it into the dialer phone jack 1 as shown.
Now plug the short dialer phone cord into the dialer
phone jack 2, with the other end of the dialer cord going into
the wall jack you've chosen. The dialer's LED will blink ON
and OFF five times in five seconds, while the dialer analyzes
your line. After that time, the LED should blink slowly a
second and a half ON and a second and a half OFF, until the
dialer receives a download. If the LED instead stays ON
constantly, you should swap the cords plugged into the dialer,
so that the short cord goes into jack 1. Once you do this, the
LED should blink slowly ON and OFF, as described above.
If you'd like, you can mount the dialer on your wall using the
self-adhesive pad provided, or you can use screws if you
prefer. To use the self-adhesive pad, peel off the tape on both
sides of the pad, stick the pad to the bracket on the slightly
smaller side with holes, and then attach the bracket to the
wall. Instead of using the pad, you can attach the bracket
with two ¾" #6 flathead wood screws available in any
hardware store.
Power
Cube
Phone
Jack
Dialer Cord
(short)
Dialer
12

4 Dialer Installation & User’s Guide
2. Notify your service provider
Now that the dialer is installed, you need to let your phone
service provider know that the dialer is ready for a download.
The service provider's number should be on your service
agreement or included with the dialer. The dialer is designed
to make the download fast and easy.
Before the download, the dialer's light will blink steadily–ON a
second and a half, OFF a second and a half, etc. You can use
your phones normally, and the dialer will stay quiet until the
download occurs.
During the download the dialer's light will flash briefly every
few seconds. Once the download is complete, the light will
flash a pair of rapid blinks every second when all phones are
on-hook, and stay off when any phone is off-hook unless the
dialer is dialing.
In other words, you can look at the light to tell if your
download happened. If the light gives two rapid blinks every
second when all your phones are on-hook, the download
happened and the dialer is ready to do its job. [It will take the
dialer up to thirty seconds after the download is complete to
reconfigure itself. After this, the dialer will route calls using
the new download information.]
Some months after the first download, your service provider
may initiate a new download so that your dialer's routing
information remains current. Since most updates will take
less than 5 minutes, and since the service provider tries to do
updates only at times that are convenient for you, it is
unlikely that an update will be in progress when you try to
make a call. If you do try to make a call while an update is in
progress, you will hear a series of tones being transmitted
between the dialer and the service provider's host computer. If
you hear these tones, if possible you should hang up and let

Dialer Installation & User’s Guide 5
the update complete. If necessary, you can interrupt the
update by pressing any one of the tone buttons on your
phone for at least two seconds, and then hanging up for a few
seconds. You may then place your call. The dialer will get its
download later.
Please note that you should contact your service provider if you
move, change your phone number, or for any other reason want
to use your dialer with a new phone number. Failure to do so
can result in improper routing of your calls.
Please read on, in case you need to tune the dialer's operation
and so you can understand more about how the dialer works.
3. If necessary, tailor the dialer to a
special situation
Special situations include offices where you need to dial an 8
before dialing a phone number and use of the dialer with fax
machines. If you have a special situation, please go to the
Special situations section on page 7. Otherwise continue
below with Use the dialer.
4. Use the dialer
The dialer has a routing table loaded by the service provider.
This routing table tells the dialer which calls to route based
on information that includes your own phone number.
Typically the dialer will route domestic and international toll
calls.
When you place a call that should be routed, the dialer listens
to the digits you have dialed and stores them. When the dialer
is storing those dialed digits, they sound very soft because the
dialer is preventing them from being heard by your local
telephone office. When you have finished dialing, the dialer
will route the call by adding appropriate digits, if any, to the

6 Dialer Installation & User’s Guide
digits you've dialed. When the dialer finishes dialing, it waits
passively on the phone line for you to start another call.
Some calls, such as some local calls, should not be routed.
The dialer typically lets the digits dialed for these calls go
directly to the central telephone office.
When you dial international calls, the dialer will dial after
you've stopped dialing for about 3 seconds. The dialer does
this because international phone numbers vary in length, so
it's hard for the dialer to tell when you've finished dialing all
the required digits. To avoid the 3 second delay, you can
simply press # after you have dialed the last digit of the phone
number. As soon as the dialer hears the #, it dials.
The dialer needs to generate fairly loud tones, so you may
want to hold the dialer away from your ear when it's dialing.
You should also be aware that your off-hook phone puts room
noises into the dialer's circuitry, which can make it harder for
the dialer to hear voice prompts. If you are in a noisy room, or
if you need to speak to someone, you can overcome this
problem by putting your hand over the phone's mouthpiece
when the dialer is dialing.
Special Situations and Frequently Asked Questions are covered
below. If you don't have a special situation or question, you're
done. Enjoy your dialer!
Special Situations
You only need to read this section if you have one of these
special situations:
A. If you need to dial a prefix like 8before dialing a phone
number
B. If you have a fax machine on the same phone line as the
dialer

Dialer Installation & User’s Guide 7
A. If you need to dial a prefix like 8 before dialing a phone
number
In some offices and in very few homes, you need to dial a
prefix such as 8 before dialing someone's phone number.
Your service provider can program your dialer for this
situation during the first dialer download. In the unlikely
event that you want to take care of this situation, here's
how.
1. Pick up any phone that is connected to the same
phone line as the dialer.
2. Dial
# * 6 x x x # #
where x x x are up to three digits you must dial to get
an outside line.
For example, if you must dial an 8 to access an
outside line, program your dialer by taking a phone
off-hook and dialing
# * 6 8 # #
If you no longer want the dialer to dial a prefix, take a
phone off-hook and dial
# * 6 # #
B. If you have a fax machine on the same phone line as the
dialer
When fax machines make a call, they put out special
tones called CNG tones that can distort the dialer's tones
and cause misdialing. If you have this problem, one good
solution is to prefix numbers dialed from your fax
machine by * * * . For instance, assume you want to dial
1-212-222-2222 from a fax machine using this
command. Just come off-hook and dial:
* * * 1-212-222-2222
The prefix tells the dialer to use its special handling of
CNG tones. This special handling is only active for this
one call.

8 Dialer Installation & User’s Guide
Another approach is to program the dialer to listen for fax
CNG tones whenever you make a call. This works reliably,
but slows down every call you make with the dialer, so it's
only recommended if a high percentage of your calls are
with a fax machine.
1. Take a phone off-hook and dial
# * 7 1 # #
This programs the dialer to listen for fax CNG tones, and
to make sure that no dialing occurs during these tones.
Activating this feature will result in a delay of about 3.5
seconds before the dialer dials, even for non-fax calls.
2. To turn this feature off, take a phone off-hook and dial
# * 7 0 # #

Dialer Installation & User’s Guide 9
Frequently Asked Questions
Q: When I dial, why do the dialed digits sometimes sound
soft?
A: When the tones are soft, the dialer is storing dialed digits
while preventing them from being heard by the central
telephone office. If the tones were loud, the central phone
office would hear them and get confused.
Q: Why isn't the dialer routing my calls?
A: There are a number of possible reasons:
1.) The dialer didn't get its initial download. Did you
notify the phone service provider that the dialer is
installed?
2.) The dialer only routes appropriate calls.
3.) The dialer is not powered up. Check that the dialer's
light flashes when your phones are all on-hook.
4.) The dialer isn't plugged into an appropriate phone
jack, or the wrong cord is being used. Please check
that the dialer is installed properly.
5.) The dialer needs to dial longer or louder tones. Please
see below.
6.) Your long distance service provider may be
experiencing difficulties. Please try again later. If you
need to make a call right away, you can dial * 0
followed by the number you want to reach. This call
will be routed through your pre-subscribed long
distance carrier.
7.) The dialer may be defective
Q: When should I consider having the dialer generate longer
or louder tones?
A: If you hear the dialer dialing tones at the right time and
those tones don't get you to the person you called, you
may need to make the tones longer or louder. To control
the tone volume, go off-hook and then dial
#*31## if you want louder tones

10 Dialer Installation & User’s Guide
#*30## if you want softer tones (Default)
To control the tone length, go off-hook and then dial
#*44## if you want 150 millisecond tones
Here are some other tone lengths you can select:
#*41## if you want 50 millisecond tones
#*42## if you want 70 millisecond tones
#*43## if you want 100 millisecond tones (Default)
#*45## if you want 250 millisecond tones
Q: How do I bypass the dialer for a single call?
A: If, for some reason, you do not want the dialer to route a
specific call, dial *0 before the number you want to call.
For instance, if you don't want the dialer to route the
phone number 1-212-222-2222, take the phone off-hook
and dial
*012122222222
The next time you make a call, the dialer will route the
call normally unless you tell it otherwise by using the *0
command.
Q: How do I bypass the dialer for multiple calls?
A: If, for some reason, you do not want the dialer to route
any calls for some period of time, go off-hook and then
dial
# * * 3472253 ## This is #**DISABLE##
The dialer will not route any calls while it is disabled.
You may re-enable the dialer at any time by going off-hook
and dialing
# * * 362253 ## This is #**ENABLE##
The dialer will now route calls the same way it did before
you disabled it.
Q: Why do I still see some long distance calls on my phone
bill?
A: It's probably because the dialer did not route those calls.
Please see the question above. The dialer typically does

Dialer Installation & User’s Guide 11
not route certain calls including calls that it thinks are
local, calls prefixed by *69 or *82, and calls completed by
a directory assistance operator. Please note that your
service provider can program the dialer to recognize and
route calls prefixed with *69 & *82, if this is important.
Q: What do I do if the dialer has problems when I place calls
using a modem or fax machine?
A: Please see the Special Situations section of this manual.
Q: I have two phone lines wired into one jack. How do I
attach the dialer to the second line?
A: A two-line jack is called an RJ-14 jack. You can purchase
a line splitter that will provide two single-line jacks from
one two-line jack. With this splitter you will be able to
connect the dialer to either phone line.
Q: How do I connect the dialer when all of the phone jacks in
my house are for wall-mounted phones?
A: You may purchase and install a wall plate adapter that
provides a jack for the dialer. Another option is to connect
a modular jack to the phone line and plug the dialer into
that jack.
Q: Does the dialer work with rotary or pulse phones?
A: No, the dialer only works with tone phones connected to
central telephone offices set up to accept standard tones
called DTMF tones.
Q: What happens if I dial and my call does not go through?
A: You must complete your dialing within about 15 seconds
of going off-hook for the dialer to properly process your
number. If you think you have taken longer than this,
please hang up and then try the call again.
Q: How do I get help with my dialer?
A Call your telephone service provider.
Q: Why don't people I call see my caller ID when I call with
my dialer?
A: Many alternate long distance services do not forward
caller ID. If the person you are calling won't accept your
call without caller ID, you can dial * 0 before the number

12 Dialer Installation & User’s Guide
you are dialing to place the call through your normal long
distance provider.
Q: Why won't the dialer route the second call when I try to
place 3-way (conference) calls through my long distance
service provider?
A: Contact your long distance service provider to see
whether they support 3-way calling. If they do, your
service provider should be able to download a new setting
to your dialer to permit 3-way calling. Otherwise you will
need to arrange for 3-way calling through your local
telephone company.
Q: Why doesn't the dialer route a new call after I hang up
briefly to end a previous call?
A: Sometimes it takes service providers a few seconds to
notice that you have hung up. In these cases, a new call
may not go through unless you leave your phone on hook
for several seconds.
Other times the dialer may be set so that it won't try to
route calls unless you hang up for at least two seconds. If
you want the dialer to route calls after hook flashes
shorter than two seconds (and your service provider
supports this), you can program the dialer to do so by
entering:
# * 9 0 ##
If you need the dialer not to route after short hook flashes,
enter:
# * 9 1 ##

Dialer Installation & User’s Guide 13
Dialer LED Behavior
The dialer's LED can give you useful information about the
dialer and the line it's connected to. Here is a table, which
shows the LED's blinking patterns and what they mean.
LED Pattern Meaning
OFF The dialer is OFF HOOK.
This can be because someone is using a
phone, or because the dialer is receiving a
download. The LED will also be OFF if the
dialer has no power.
Pair Of Rapid Blinks Every
Second:
☼☼ ☼☼ ☼☼ ☼☼ ☼☼
Repeats Continuously
This pattern of two rapid blinks followed by
a short pause indicates that the dialer has
received a download, and that the line is ON
HOOK. The dialer is ready to route a call.
Very Slow Blinking:
☼☼☼☼
Repeats Continuously
This pattern indicates that the dialer is
waiting for a download. In this state, the
dialer will not attempt to route your calls.
ON
☼
When the LED is ON solidly, it indicates that
the phone wires are connected in an 'Inverse'
configuration. Please plug the phone line
into the dialer's other jack.
Other Blinking Patterns:
☼☼☼☼ ☼☼
The dialer will blink in other patterns when
first powered up, while receiving a download,
and while routing calls.
This is normal.

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