What's New

This is where you'll find information about new features and options added to your service.

Reset Reports:

These reports are automatically created by the Voice Mail System after you record or update your message on your service. After the message has been saved, the system resets various files that control the operation of your service. Some of these control how often your Customers or Callers can call your service.

What's important about these reports? Mainly that you have received it. When you receive one, it means the system has been properly reset and has readied your service to receive more calls. The Date and Time on the report, would indicate when the reset was done.

The last line of the report tells you what was reset.

There will be information added to these reports to make them more valuable in the future.

Passcode Reset Reports:

The Passcode file is file that controls who can access you subscriber service by using a PIN. There is one record for each of your customers.

Sample Report:

Time & Date of event : May 14 @ 07:42 (Pacific)
'Sports Service Name' 714-123-1234 YourEmail@yourdomain.com
Passcode File Reset Requested for 1234 AccountID: 1234
Total User Passcodes Reset: 71 out of 77 in the file.

The "Total User Passcodes Reset:" indicates this is passcode reset and there is 71active PINs that were reset. The second number is the total entries in the file. In the sample above, there are 71 active passcodes and 77 total, indicating 6 passcode have been deleted.

ANI Reset Report:

The ANI file controls and limits abusive Callers from calling too many times into your service. Many times, these caller are just trying to run up your phone bill. Abusive Callers are blocked until the next update.

Sample Report:

Time & Date of event : May 14 @ 08:40 (Pacific)
Your Sports Service Name - YourEmail@yourdomain.com
ANI Reset Requested for 1234 AccountID: 1234
Total ANI's: 200 of ANI's 379

This report indicates a new message was recorded at 8:40 and that 200 ANI's (Your Caller's telephone numbers) were reset by the system The 200 would indicate only 200 of 379 caller had called since the last update. There is a total of 379 records (telephone numbers) in your ANI file.

Hacker or Passcode Sharing Report (NEW 11-26-04):

Sample Report:

Time & Date of event : 11/26 @ 10:17 (PT)
Customer: Your Sports Service Name Account ID: 1234 Email: your_email@yourdomain.com
Passcode: 6979833
ANI of Last Call : 123-123-1234 Last Call DT (PT): 11/26 @ 10:00 From: MD Baltimore
ANI of this call : 567-567-5678 Date Time (PT) : 11/26 @ 10:17 From: MD Silver Spring
Calls Allowed Setting : 2 Calls Today : 0

Note: See more information here - All times are Pacific (PT) - ANI is the telephone number of the Caller. "Calls Allow Setting" is how many calls that can be made after an message update.

Most of this is self-explanatory, the important parts are:

Passcode: 6979833

ANI of Last Call : 123-123-1234 Last Call DT (PT): 11/26 @ 10:00 From: MD Baltimore
ANI of this call : 567-567-5678 Date Time (PT) : 11/26 @ 10:17 From: MD Silver Spring

You will only receive this report if the area code on both lines are different and the call was made during the same day and message update. Above, you will note the call times were within a few minutes and from different area codes. This is an passcode that's is shared. However, since the States is the same, it's possible this caller moved into a different area or used his cell phone for the second call, but he had to change locations in a 17 minute period. Possible? Don't know, you be the judge. But I have to ask myself why he needed to hear the same message twice.

How can we stop this? See information here

Important Message:

New code has been added to Customer Line Server to detect passcode sharing and hacking attempts that might effect your service.

Background:

Customer Line is a service offered by Innovative Communications that allows you to sell your Service on a "Prepaid Basis". This service will allow your Subscribers to hear your selections after entering a passcode up to 10 digits long. Each Subscriber is assign a unique passcode that specifies an expiration date and services (buttons in your spoken menu) they are allowed to access. You can offer up to 8 service per passcode.

Customer Line offers many anti-hacking and passcode sharing checking to keep your information secure and your customers honest. Only paid customers can hear your selections. To learn more about Customer Line please click here.

When you make an updated message several things happen after you save your message:

First, the passcode file counter is reset to zero. This counter determines how many time a passcode can be used per update.

The ANI file is reset to zero. This determine how many time any phone number (ANI) can call your service.

Send an email of these two events to you (if optioned) and to Innovative Communications.

Anti-Hacking and Anti-Sharing Features:

ANI Tracking:

Customer Line captures the ANI of your Subscribers. This information is used to for various features and control of your service.

You can see this information by calling your service and pressing "4" - (Supervisor Functions) at the main menu and selecting the report of interest:

Choice of interest are:

4 - Email Usage report for the month (Maybe be big file) - This is you call logs in detail for the current month.

5 - Email your Passcode file - Shows current passcodes, expiration date, Services Allowed, last time called, last ANI call from and etc.

6 - Email your usage for a selected day - Allows you to select any day in the current month

For these reports to arrive, we must have a working email address for you. If you do not have an email, we can provide you a Spam and Virus free email address on our server at no cost. If you order any of these reports and you do not receive them within minutes, we might not have your current email address - Please send us an email from the account you wish them sent to dax@icpage.com. I will quickly add it.

Call limits

There is a limit of 1 or 2 calls per update. This limit is ignored if the Subscriber calls from the same telephone number for up to 10 calls. The limit was imposed only if the second call was from a different ANI than the last call. (Note: See information below as to why choosing 2 call limit is a bad idea). It won't matter if the caller is disconnected from the call as long as he calls back on the same phone number.

No New Updates:

The caller is play a "Ring Tone" after dialing your number only if there has NOT been an updated message since the last call. You can tell your Subscribers, if you hear a ring, they can hang-up without entering their passcode. Each time you make an updated message, your Subscribers will get another call into the system.

You can also option to announce the time of the last updater adjusted to your time zone before the call is answered. If the time announced is the same as the last call, they can hang-up without entering the system.

Hacking Attempts:

If any ANI calls your service and attempts to enter different passcodes on same call, he is flagged as a Hacker. After several attempts, the caller is added to the DNIS BlackList

DNIS BlackLists:

Callers that have been declared a Hacker by the system or is abusive will be added to the BlackList file. ANI's in the BlackList will not be able to call your service (DNIS) again. Should a ANI be added to the list in error, you must call us to remove him.

System Wide BlackList:

Callers that have declared a hacker on many services (Many DNIS) will be added to system wide blacklist and will be blocked from calling any number on any of our systems.

What's Changed:

After investing passcode usage by ANI (Subscriber's Telephone Number), it was determined there is wide-spread passcode sharing occurring. This means loss of income for you and increase traffic on the system for us. This only occurred in cases where the "calls per update" was set at 2. If your setting is 1, then your service was not effected.

If your service allowed 2 calls per update, then it is possible for your customer to share his passcode with other non-paying callers. This may or may not be a problem for you depending on how honest your customer are.

How can you know? I just added code to the system that will notify me by email (see sample) and to you in the event where a Subscriber calls the system from two different ANI's on the same update.

Here are the conditions which determines if caller might be sharing:

Both calls must be on the same day, same message update

The ANI must be present for both calls

The calls must be from different ANI's, but not the same area code.

If ALL of these conditions are TRUE when the system will send an email notification of this event.

I have not made any changes in your service that will effect your customers yet. The only change I will recommend is that you allow me to change your "calls per update" to 1. Doing this should not effect any customer from accessing your services that are honest, unless they are sharing or the passcode has been hacked. If you allow sharing as a matter of policy, please let me know.

But if you desire to allow one Subscriber per passcode, please send me an email authorizing this change.

If you have any questions, please call me in the office at 800-655-0921

The Fax Reports Has Been Remove. Now all reports are send by email

This email is to inform you of changes that effect the Users of the "Customer Line", "Guarantee Line" or "800 Comp Line" services offered by Innovative Communications.

As most of you know, there has been the ability to fax various reports regarding you service to yourself. This option is located in the "Supervisor Functions" off the Main Menu. When the equipment was relocated to Los Angeles, the fax option stopped working properly.

The "Fax Option" has now been replaced with an "Email Option". It's now ready for you to use, providing we have your email address. The voice prompt still says "fax" but it means "email" now. The prompt will be replaced.

The Call Detail Report shows all calls made to your service from the first day of the month to the current day or last day of the month. It will display the Date, Time, Duration, The System and Port the call arrived on, the telephone number on the caller, what buttons that were pressed during the call and if the call was rejected. Also, the passcode that was used for Customer Line Users. You can select any one day or the entire month when you make the request. This only reports for the current month, but hopefully we'll add the ability to report on any day or month in the future.

The Passcode Report allows you see your passcode file as it is the system. It also shows the last time the passcode was used, which buttons assigned, Expiration Date or current call and the telephone number of the user.

Customer Line Users can email their "Passcode" file and Call Detail Report.
Guarantee Line User, 714/800 Comp Line Users can send their Call Detail Report only.

If you have any questions, feel free to contact me in the office.

Web Based Form For Managing Your Customers Is Ready:

We have just added to your "Customer Line Service" the ability to make changes using the Internet. You can access the "Web Form" by "clicking" the Link below and completing a simple form. The changes made by using this method will take effect immediately.

The link is http://cust.icpage.com/gateway/index.asp . This form offers an "easy-to-use" method for quickly making changes to your Passcode File. The basic functions are "Add", "Change", "Delete" or "Show" a passcode.

Instruction:

The Web Form requires the "Handicapper's ID" and "Handicapper's Passcode". The ID is the last 4 digits of your 714 or 800 number used to access your service by telephone and the passcode is the one you use to make changes over the telephone.

When "ADDING" a Passcode, you'll need to enter all the same elements needed when adding a passcode over the telephone. This includes:

1. The Users' Passcode. A passcode can be 4 to 10 digits in length.

2. The Date the Passcode Expires entered as 6 digits (For example: Feb 28, 2002 would be entered as 022802), If the Date is enter as a 1, 2 or 3 digit number, then this passcode will be considered a "per call" passcode and the number entered is the "calls allowed" to the passcode.

3. The "Buttons" or "Services Allowed" to the Passcode. This is the "buttons" the Subscriber is allowed to access as spoken in your recorded menu.

When "DELETING" the User's Passcode is all you'll need. The other fields can be blank.

When "CHANGING" the settings of a passcode, you'll need all the elements, just like adding a new Passcode.

"Show" a Passcode will let you view the all the settings for any passcode, all you'll need is the Users' Passcode. The other fields can be blank.

After "clicking" submit button, there will be a confirmation message to let you know the changes have been made. If you don't get the confirmation message, something went wrong and the changes have not been made. You can use the "Back" button on your browser to enter another passcode.

I'll be adding other functionality to the web form soon. If you have any questions, please call me in the office @ 714-228-5400 or send me an Email: support@icpage.com. To learn more about our "Customer Line" or "Subscriber Line" service, visit our web site @ www.icpage.com.