Re: xAP Switchboard beta 3 released

[James <james@xxxxxxx>]

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Glenn,

The maps feature basically requires a latitude/longitude to be able to
position the map correctly.  For UK users this works in two ways.
Firstly using the dialling code data contained in the std.mdb database
it gets a rough grid reference. So on these calls Switchboard sees that
it's an imprecise location and gives you a zoomed out map. If the call
is matched to a contact in the contacts database and if that contact has
a post code/zip code set then switchboard will do a search on google and
figure out the grid reference and now when you click on the globe it
will give you a zoomed in map. One thing to note here is that the post
code must match the number, so for example if a call comes from Fred's
home and the number in Switchboard is entered in Fred's home telephone
fields then the post code must also be in the home post code box, t
wouldn't look in the business post code box here.  The globe will appear
on both outgoing and incoming calls on any line but for it to appear you
must have the Google key entered and either the post code or the rough
location from the std exists and for obvious reasons matched mobile/car
numbers won't get a globe either ;-)

So to adapt this to the US.
If you look in the std.mdb file and look at the xAP_Telephone_STD table.
If you have access to US phone data then the important columns are STD (
strip lead 0) , Lat,Long and Location.   Lat,Long is jsut used for the
maps and Location is for display in the log. The Lat,Long are minutes
and seconds not decimal btw.
For the zip code lookup. If you go to Http://maps.google.com and in the
search box enter the zip code and now if google displays the correct
location then that zip code is exactly what should be entered into
Switchboard in the contacts Post code box.  Switchboard does this exact
process in order to change the given post/zip code to the coordinates so
if it works manually then it'll be fine in Switchboard. As I have no
idea on the number structure of US phone numbers but assuming the first
few digits can be used to narrow down the location then adding data to
the std.mdb as described above should work fine.

One question though, in the UK if the phone number is 020 8232 5434 and
I am in the same std area ( 020 in this example ) I can just dial 8232
5434 . In Switchboard it automatically adds the 020 so all the lookups
work correctly. I can do this as local calls start with 2,3,4,5,6,7,8
and never 0,1,9  .Is this similar in the US? or is it more complicated
with interstate, state and local call types?

On the query re seeing the banner in the web pages advertising
Switchboard beta2 it sounds like something is cached oddly somewhere. If
you visit http://www.mi4.biz/downloads/version.php
you should see a
block of text and somewhere in the middle see a bit about switchboard.
That should say beta 3. Assuming it does, close switchboard, open the
settings.txt file in the program directory and delete the line
LastCheck=[Some date]. Restart switchboard and it should be fine.

HTH

James

Sullivan, Glenn wrote:

>Kevin Hawkins wrote:
>
>
>
>>So back to the USA  -   the good news is that if you have a zip
code
>>entered for a caller then it does look it up correctly I think -
and
>>will display a map at street level - I am not sure how
>>accurate this is
>>- I used to live in Santa Ana and so tried 90706 and it has
>>placed me in
>>Paramount but that may be the top left of the 90706 area - I
>>know there
>>are longer ZIP's now that identify to road level I just don't
>>have one to
>>hand....    If you know a good test one then let me know and I'll
try
>>it.  I have no idea how this might work in other countries -
>>depends on
>>how Google looks it up - maybe there's a country code that
>>can be added
>>too in case countries use similar postal codes.
>>
>>
>>
>
>You can try this:
>01520-2521
>
>Google Maps seems to ignore the "+4" portion of the zip code
though, and
>center itself on Holden, MA...
>
>I get the impression that this only works on outgoing calls... Is that
>correct?  The NetCallerID device does not report dialed digits, so
>outgoing doesn't get registered, until I manage to knock up a DTMF
>recognizer, but that's pretty low on the list right now.  My daughters
>are still young... ;-)
>
>
>>
>>
>>
>>>Maybe I'm too impatient...
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>If you have any contact entry with a zip code entered and a
>>call in the
>>history there should be a globe against it - a globe doesn't
>>appear from
>>the contacts list unfortunately - this might be a nice idea
>>James - so
>>you can see where people are ??   If your CID device supports
>>reporting
>>dialled digits (does it ?) then just dial their number and hangup
>>immediately to create an entry.    Alternatively cheat and edit a
xAP
>>message to add a different number that does have a zip code -
>>probably
>>easiest.
>>
>>
>>
>>>(It will be interesting to see how this works for US
addresses... We
>>>have "states" instead of "Counties" and a
different postal code
>>>format...)
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>So - half works and half doesn't I guess..  and the half that
doesn't
>>could be fixed if someone can help  .......
>>
>>What would be very useful is to try and get a database of all the
US
>>dialling codes in as much detail as possible - for example the
(415)
>>area code and then 415 broken down into as many defined regions as
>>possible. Then Switchboard will display this for you, and announce
it
>>too by name. If you can get the latitude and longitude of the
>>exchanges
>>then map lookup will work for you on unknown callers but I
>>think we were
>>particularly lucky in finding this information for the UK.   We
also
>>have detail of some of the allocated special numbers and carriers
>>entered and mobile phone services so the UK is well served.  I
would
>>love to get other countries added , particularly the US so if
>>anyone can
>>get this US information in some format (DB or tab / comma
>>delimited) it
>>would be great.   I hope to get the international dialling
>>codes added
>>to the database too shortly. again if someone has a good list
>>of these
>>ideally with country and main cities listed it would make it
easier.
>>email me (or James) with any such info and I will add it to
>>the DB.   It
>>is nice that you can create localised databases this way but
>>maintaining
>>them to current codes can be problematic of course - no
>>promises to keep
>>them up to date.
>>
>>
>>
>
>I think my company may own a database like what you want, and even have
>a redist license.  I'll double check...
>
>I think that the reason that I don't see any globes on the list is
>because, until this morning, none of my contacts had any address
>information.  Perhaps they needed to have a zip code listed when the
>call was received to get mapped?
>
>Thanks for helping out...
>
>Glenn Sullivan, MCSE+I  MCDBA
>David Clark Company Inc.
>
>
>
>Yahoo! Groups Links
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>


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Glenn,<br>
<br>
The maps feature basically requires a latitude/longitude to be able to
position the map correctly.&nbsp; For UK users this works in two ways.
Firstly using the dialling code data contained in the std.mdb database
it gets a rough grid reference. So on these calls Switchboard sees that
it's an imprecise location and gives you a zoomed out map. If the call
is matched to a contact in the contacts database and if that contact
has a post code/zip code set then switchboard will do a search on
google and figure out the grid reference and now when you click on the
globe it will give you a zoomed in map. One thing to note here is that
the post code must match the number, so for example if a call comes
from Fred's home and the number in Switchboard is entered in Fred's
home telephone fields then the post code must also be in the home post
code box, t wouldn't look in the business post code box here.&nbsp; The
globe will appear on both outgoing and incoming calls on any line but
for it to appear you must have the Google key entered and either the
post code or the rough location from the std exists and for obvious
reasons matched mobile/car numbers won't get a globe either ;-)<br>
<br>
So to adapt this to the US. <br>
If you look in the std.mdb file and look at the xAP_Telephone_STD
table. If you have access to US phone data then the important columns
are STD ( strip lead 0) , Lat,Long and Location.&nbsp;&nbsp;
Lat,Long is jsut
used for the maps and Location is for display in the log. The Lat,Long
are minutes and seconds not decimal btw.<br>
For the zip code lookup. If you go to <a
class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="Http://maps.google.com";>Http://maps.google.com</a> and in
the
search box enter the zip code and now if google displays the correct
location then that zip code is exactly what should be entered into
Switchboard in the contacts Post code box.&nbsp; Switchboard does this
exact
process in order to change the given post/zip code to the coordinates
so if it works manually then it'll be fine in Switchboard. As I have no
idea on the number structure of US phone numbers but assuming the first
few digits can be used to narrow down the location then adding data to
the std.mdb as described above should work fine.<br>
<br>
One question though, in the UK if the phone number is 020 8232 5434 and
I am in the same std area ( 020 in this example ) I can just dial 8232
5434 . In Switchboard it automatically adds the 020 so all the lookups
work correctly. I can do this as local calls start with 2,3,4,5,6,7,8
and never 0,1,9&nbsp; .Is this similar in the US? or is it more
complicated
with interstate, state and local call types?<br>
<br>
On the query re seeing the banner in the web pages advertising
Switchboard beta2 it sounds like something is cached oddly somewhere.
If you visit <a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://www.mi4.biz/downloads/version.php";>http://www.mi4.biz/downloads/version.php</a>
you should see a
block of text and somewhere in the middle see a bit about switchboard.
That should say beta 3. Assuming it does, close switchboard, open the
settings.txt file in the program directory and delete the line
LastCheck=[Some date]. Restart switchboard and it should be fine.<br>
<br>
HTH<br>
<br>
James<br>
<br>
Sullivan, Glenn wrote:
<blockquote
cite="mid6CB30C66E9552649B89429C82FAF5EDE01E046A7@xxxxxxx"
type="cite">
<pre wrap="">Kevin Hawkins wrote:

</pre>
<blockquote type="cite">
<pre wrap="">So back to the USA  -   the good news is that
if you have a zip code
entered for a caller then it does look it up correctly I think - and
will display a map at street level - I am not sure how
accurate this is
- I used to live in Santa Ana and so tried 90706 and it has
placed me in
Paramount but that may be the top left of the 90706 area - I
know there
are longer ZIP's now that identify to road level I just don't
have one to
hand....    If you know a good test one then let me know and I'll try
it.  I have no idea how this might work in other countries -
depends on
how Google looks it up - maybe there's a country code that
can be added
too in case countries use similar postal codes.

</pre>
</blockquote>
<pre wrap=""><!---->
You can try this:
01520-2521

Google Maps seems to ignore the "+4" portion of the zip code
though, and
center itself on Holden, MA...

I get the impression that this only works on outgoing calls... Is that
correct?  The NetCallerID device does not report dialed digits, so
outgoing doesn't get registered, until I manage to knock up a DTMF
recognizer, but that's pretty low on the list right now.  My daughters
are still young... ;-)
</pre>
<blockquote type="cite">
<pre wrap="">

</pre>
<blockquote type="cite">
<pre wrap="">Maybe I'm too impatient...


</pre>
</blockquote>
<pre wrap="">If you have any contact entry with a zip code
entered and a
call in the
history there should be a globe against it - a globe doesn't
appear from
the contacts list unfortunately - this might be a nice idea
James - so
you can see where people are ??   If your CID device supports
reporting
dialled digits (does it ?) then just dial their number and hangup
immediately to create an entry.    Alternatively cheat and edit a xAP
message to add a different number that does have a zip code -
probably
easiest.

</pre>
<blockquote type="cite">
<pre wrap="">(It will be interesting to see how this works
for US addresses... We
have "states" instead of "Counties" and a different
postal code
format...)


</pre>
</blockquote>
<pre wrap="">So - half works and half doesn't I guess.. 
and the half that doesn't
could be fixed if someone can help  .......

What would be very useful is to try and get a database of all the US
dialling codes in as much detail as possible - for example the (415)
area code and then 415 broken down into as many defined regions as
possible. Then Switchboard will display this for you, and announce it
too by name. If you can get the latitude and longitude of the
exchanges
then map lookup will work for you on unknown callers but I
think we were
particularly lucky in finding this information for the UK.   We also
have detail of some of the allocated special numbers and carriers
entered and mobile phone services so the UK is well served.  I would
love to get other countries added , particularly the US so if
anyone can
get this US information in some format (DB or tab / comma
delimited) it
would be great.   I hope to get the international dialling
codes added
to the database too shortly. again if someone has a good list
of these
ideally with country and main cities listed it would make it easier.
email me (or James) with any such info and I will add it to
the DB.   It
is nice that you can create localised databases this way but
maintaining
them to current codes can be problematic of course - no
promises to keep
them up to date.

</pre>
</blockquote>
<pre wrap=""><!---->
I think my company may own a database like what you want, and even have
a redist license.  I'll double check...

I think that the reason that I don't see any globes on the list is
because, until this morning, none of my contacts had any address
information.  Perhaps they needed to have a zip code listed when the
call was received to get mapped?

Thanks for helping out...

Glenn Sullivan, MCSE+I  MCDBA
David Clark Company Inc.