Ack! This little checkbox has wreaked so much havoc on my life for the past two months.I got FaxTalk Messenger Pro v7.0 last year and really enjoyed it. When calls came in and I was out of the office or on the cell phone, the messages were sorted to the correct mailbox and stored by name, number and time of call. It was perfect for both voicemails and faxes because I could just forward the .wav file (VM) or .pdf (Fax) to whomever needed it and everyone was happy. It also prevented those annoying anonymous voicemails of “Hey, it’s me. Call me back when you have a chance,” where I had to scroll through the Caller ID list to try to figure out if it was a friend or a client that called and didn’t bother leaving a name. I hate that.

Then Microsoft changed their security settings for TAPI (Telephony Application Programming Interface) and I stopped receiving this information. All it said was UNKNOWN UNKNOWN. So I tried everything. I contacted FaxTalk and, God bless their poor patient support staff, they tried the best they could…even outside my support period. I contacted MultiTech who seemed vague and disinterested in helping. I scoured forums, message boards and knowledgebases for other customers, blogs, Microsoft, MultiTech, FaxTalk, anyone that had anything relating to the issue.

Today, after uninstalling the modem, reinstalling the modem, uninstalling the drivers, reinstalling the drivers, shutting down, physically removing the hardware from the computer, restarting, shutting down, physically reinstalling the hardware, restarting, swapping the MS drivers with MultiTech drivers, updating the Multi-Tech drivers, keeping Chris on the phone until 12:30am, and pulling every hair follicle out of my head…I found this stupid, silly, inane little checkbox that had been quietly taunting me from the bottom of this General dialogue box from the beginning.

What it does is bypass the need to use the Microsoft TAPI drivers to interpret the Caller ID information, but rather talk directly with the modem hardware and driver…eliminating the microsoft-middleman (who has been asleep at the wheel for two months)… Et voila! I know who’s calling now. I can forward other people’s faxes without reading through them for an inkling of why they were sent. No more anonymous “Hey, it’s me,” callers. That’s right…you know who you are…

Anyway, to anyone that is seeking a voicemail and fax software, I’d still recommend FaxTalk. Their staff and software is top notch, regardless of the flaws of Microsoft‘s TAPI drivers. Note that this is a voicemail software, not a call router. If you’re seeking something that answers calls and routes to extensions prior to going to voicemail, this is not your app. However, if you’re looking for something that recognizes fax tones, allows for Fax-On-Demand, provides voice messaging, greeting, announce-only and callback controls (plus remote access for message retrieval), look no further. FaxTalk even has the capability of auto-mailing Voicemails and Faxes using your default messaging client, if you need that.

If you want to know more, bug me…or go to FaxTalk’s site. For me, I’ll no longer rue the day that TAPI died and dream pleasantly of that happy little checkbox.