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Release Notes: PhoneValet Message Center 5

PhoneValet 5 is a major new release of PhoneValet. If you don't already own a copy of PhoneValet, click here to learn all about it. Owners of PhoneValet version 4 or earlier can purchase a software upgrade on our online store.

Click here to download this update. PhoneValet 5 requires Mac OS X 10.3.9 or higher.

QuickLinks to notes for: Version 5.0.2, Version 5.1, Version 5.1.1, Version 5.2, Version 5.3, and Version 5.4.


PhoneValet 5.0 is a major upgrade that offers these new features:

  • The voice mail feature now allows for trees of choices. You can set up menus of choices as deep as desired to create the tree configuration you need. The choice types have been expanded to assist with trees -- there is a 'menu' choice type that lets you offer sets of choices, and there is a 'goto' type, which lets you move the caller from one place in a tree to another without the caller having to navigate to the new place.

  • New voice mail overrides allow the caller to access different call trees at different times of day or on different lines. This allows different voice mail configurations to run at night, lunchtime, etc.. You can also have completely different voice mail trees per-line, most useful for home-based businesses that want personal and business line calls handled differently.

  • A new Page and Pause voice mail choice type allows the creation of basic auto-attendant style features. When a caller picks such a choice, the caller can be played hold music/messages while an announcement is sent to the computer screen indicating which person should pick up the call. If no-one answers the call in time, the caller can then be sent to a mailbox to leave a message. With PhoneValet Anywhere, the paging announcements can be sent to all client computers.

  • PhoneValet 5.0 incorporates advanced integration with Apple's Address Book. PhoneValet can now look up callers in Address Book for customized announcements and call logging. Voice dialing now also incorporates the names from Address Book in the list. PhoneValet's Phonebook continues to be available, and is still recommended for Macs where many users share the computer. A new tab in PhoneValet's main window allows you to customize the pronunciation of names and set dialing rules for your Address Book cards.

  • The secondary "Message Center" application has been replaced by a new window in the main PhoneValet application. The New Calls window gives you a streamlined view of your new/recent calls and messages and helps you manage to-do lists of calls that need to be responded to. This new window has an attractive new look, and is designed to be small enough to leave on-screen at all times if desired.

  • PhoneValet Anywhere (a PhoneValet add-on) has been updated for improved performance. A new Activity Monitor can be opened which allows call recording control (start/pause) via web browsers, and lets you watch the status of ongoing calls. Timed refresh of call log pages prevents your browser from getting logged out, for people who want to always have the most recent calls visible in their browser.

  • Calls in the log can now be flagged, similarly to flagging email in Apple Mail or Microsoft Entourage. Flagging calls allows you to quickly find calls that require follow-up.

  • Profiles have been enhanced -- profiles can now be created to match callers that are not in your phonebook. You can type a phone number or name and PhoneValet will match callers to the appropriate profile. Profiles now allow you to control call recording for select callers -- you can force call recording on or off based on who is calling.

  • Calling in to check messages has been improved. You can now set a secret code for each mailbox to allow checking of messages only in that box. The prompts played during check-for-messages have been replaced with professionally recorded messages, to make them easier to understand.

  • PhoneValet 5.0.1 includes the ability to change the default call tree in voice mail to another tree, by clicking on "Set Call Tree as Default" on the Actions menu. Also includes improvements to voice mail configuration and Address Book integration

PhoneValet 5.0.2 is a minor update that includes the following changes:

  • The new-calls window now features a slider that lets you move around in the message that you are listening to
  • AppleScripts that run after voice mail now have access to the name of the mailbox that the message was left in. The Add Voice Mail to iTunes example script has been updated, and now sets the Album of the iTunes track to the mailbox's name
  • Improvements to the call-in to check for messages feature
  • Performance improvements
  • The PhoneValet Anywhere client software was also updated and the update should be installed on any client computers

PhoneValet 5.1 is an update that includes the following changes:

  • Extends the voicemail overrides feature (see above) to let you change the number of rings that PhoneValet answers on. For instance, you could set PhoneValet to answer quickly at night or lunch time when no-one is available to answer calls.
  • The email feature has been enhanced to support more kinds of email services and security options. Email now works with Google GMail as well as enabling SSL encryption with .Mac and other services.
  • PhoneValet's email feature has been enhanced to better support users with dial-up Internet. The software will wait longer to try and send an email to give your dial-up service time to connect.
  • PhoneValet now boasts substantial performance improvements for users with large (10,000+) call logs, including improved startup time and better responsiveness when calls are in progress.
  • The PhoneValet Anywhere web access feature has been enhanced to provide a download link for call recording/voice mail audio files.
  • New scripts for Now Contact allow dialing using PhoneValet from within Now Contact. Look in the Extras folder in the download for the scripts and installation instructions.
  • PhoneValet allows you to dial numbers that use a slash (/) to separate the area code and number (such as 123/456-7890) from Address Book, the Services menu or AppleScript.
  • PhoneValet now remembers your voice choice for text-to-speech greetings
  • When using automatic call recording, PhoneValet now preserves partial voice mail messages when you pick up on a call that went to voice mail. The partial voicemail is added to the front of the call recording audio file.
  • PhoneValet now says the correct day when you call in to check older messages.
  • The PhoneValet Anywhere remote client software has been updated to allow the use of Fast User Switching on client Macs, and we recommend you update your client software to version 5.1.

PhoneValet 5.1.1 is an update that includes the following changes:

  • An additional 3GPP file format has been added for storage of voice mail messages which is compatible with different mobile phones, including many Treo phones.
  • The Profiles feature lets you customize voice mail and call recording on a per-caller basis. This update allows you to customize the number of rings upon which PhoneValet will answer in a profile.
  • The email sent after a voicemail is received now includes the duration of the message in the text.
  • Fixed sorting by profile-name in the call log.
  • The voice mail screening feature now screens messages live out both speakers. Previously on some computers, the screening would only come out the left speaker.
  • PhoneValet Anywhere's web access feature has been improved to work around web browser bugs that affected the call recording controls on multi-line systems.

PhoneValet 5.2 is an update that includes the following new features:

  • The PhoneValet Anywhere add-on has a new mode which allows iPhone users to access their recent calls and messages using the iPhone's Safari browser. This new mode provides a view of calls that is similar to the iPhone's voicemail application. You can view recent calls and listen to messages, call people back and view/edit notes on calls.
  • PhoneValet Anywhere for iPhone will automatically convert audio files into a format that can be played on the iPhone, since the iPhone does not support all of PhoneValet's audio formats. This allows for a seamless listening experience. The format sent by Anywhere is optimized to sound good but the files are small enough to download quickly even when the iPhone is on an EDGE network.
  • There is a substantial performance improvement for all Anywhere users who have large call logs (10,000+ calls). Login and search features are much faster than before.
  • PhoneValet 5.2.1 improves the performance of the Anywhere for iPhone audio features.

PhoneValet 5.3 is an update that includes the following new features:

  • Improved compatibility with the upcoming release of Mac OS X 10.5 "Leopard"
  • PhoneValet Anywhere now detects and supports the Safari browser on the new iPod Touch, allowing access to your recent calls and messages from both the iPhone and iPod touch web browsers.
  • PhoneValet Anywhere now supports advanced compression for web pages, substantially reducing the size of Anywhere web pages downloaded over the Internet. This will result in much faster page loading on iPhone or iPod touch browsers, especially on the EDGE network.
  • Voice mail settings now allow mailboxes to take messages longer than 30 minutes, by customer request.
  • Can now assign a call profile to multiple phonebook entries in one operation to reduce data entry.
  • Note that PhoneValet Anywhere client software has also been updated to version 5.3, with improved support for Mac OS X 10.5. You should update any clients when installing Leopard on them.
  • PhoneValet 5.3.1 contains improvements to Mac OS X 10.5 "Leopard" support, an updated PDF user manual, and a new option to exclude attachments from voice mail emails.
  • PhoneValet 5.3.2 corrects an issue with the PhoneValet Anywhere iPhone support.

PhoneValet 5.4 is an update that includes the following new features:

  • Caller Profiles (used for blocking, auto recording, ringtones, etc..) can now match by area code as well as the whole number. For example, this permits matching calls from toll-free area codes like 800 that are often telemarketers.
  • PhoneValet Anywhere for iPhone and iPod Touch now uses the 3GPP format for audio streaming when checking messages; this format is roughly 1/2 the size of the previous format, which should improve performance on the EDGE network. iPhone users should update to iPhone software 1.1.2 or higher.
  • PhoneValet now makes automated backups of its database every 24 hours, and the last few backups are stored in /Library/Application Support/Parliant
  • Corrects display of calls in the Activity Monitor after a call recording.
  • PhoneValet Anywhere client software for Macs has been updated to version 5.4 as well to correct fast user switching compatibility on Mac OS X 10.5 "Leopard".
  • PhoneValet 5.4.1 corrects an installation problem and includes an updated manual.
  • PhoneValet 5.4.2 is an update that allows the software to be installed and used along with our new CurbTalker real estate information system. Real Estate agencies can share voicemail/call recordings and telephone property listings on the same line(s) by using both products.
  • PhoneValet 5.4.3 is a minor stability update and includes updated example Caller ID and iChat AppleScripts.

Older versions

To see what was new in previous releases of PhoneValet, take a look at the release notes for version 3 and 4 and the release notes for version 2.2.