This dialog box lets you specify how PhoneBook should handle auto dialing. You can use either a modem or the Macintosh internal speaker for dialing. You can dial a number either directly from the edit dialog box or from the main window using the Dial command.

Whenever PhoneBook dials a number, it first dials the Line Access number. This can be used, for example, if you are using a phone system which requires you to ‘dial out’ to reach an outside number.

If the number is a long distance number (i.e., the first part of the number is enclosed in parentheses), PhoneBook will then dial the Long Distance Number. This is the number that you normally dial to indicate a long distance number, for example, ‘1’ or ‘0’. If you use some other long distance service, such as MCI that requires you to dial a different number to make long distance calls, enter that instead. Finally, if you have ‘Prompt for Long Distance Account #’ checked and the number is a long distance number, PhoneBook asks you for your account number. If you usually use the same account number, you can specify the default number in space provided (if you would rather not for security reasons, that is of course fine).

PhoneBook does not use the Long Distance numbers for local calls (i.e., calls that do not begin with parentheseed numbers). If you dial an 800 number, PhoneBook precedes it with a ‘1’. Any other text entered that is not part of the phone number is ignored.

If you use the Dial feature in the menu, PhoneBook dials the ‘preferred’ number for that record. This is the number that you choose with the radio buttons in the edit dialog box.

You can also control phone dialing by entering certain codes in the phone number itself. This works for numbers entered in the Edit dialog box or in the Dial Preferences box. Here are the conventions PhoneBook currently allows:

A comma (,) causes PhoneBook to pause for two seconds before continuing with the rest of the number.

A semicolon (;) causes PhoneBook to ignore the rest of the text in the field and can be used to enter comments that contain numbers.

For phone numbers in the Edit dialog box only, any number in brackets ([ and ]) is interpreted as an extension number and can be used to navigate voice mail systems. After dialing the complete number with account numbers, PhoneBook will prompt you to dial an additional number with this one as the default (Wait of course, for the voice mail system to get ready before clicking OK). Remember to insert a semicolon between the phone number and the extension so that the extension is not dialed with the phone number.