1. Overview

PhoneGate software is an effective protective tool to screen unwanted callers. It reacts to an incoming call, verifies the number and if necessary rejects ("blocks") the call so that the caller hears the busy tone.

PhoneGate ensures your peace of mind while your mobile device stays switched on.

PhoneGate works based on the principle of dividing all the phone numbers that you know into three classes:

• "VIP" numbers,

• "unwanted" numbers,

• all other numbers.

You select VIP and unwanted numbers from Contacts recorded in your standard Outlook phonebook by going through your records and checking boxes. You can also add any phone numbers that are not in your Outlook Contacts separately, such numbers are called in PhoneGate "explicit numbers".

PhoneGate also recognizes two generic types of calls:

• "new” numbers - those that were identified, but are not recorded in your phonebook,

• unknown numbers ( calls when the incoming number could not be recognized by the network, or was hidden by the caller)

When you start PhoneGate, depending on your situation you need to choose in the first window one of the following screening modes:

• all calls are rejected,

• all calls, except  VIP numbers, are rejected,

• all calls, except unwanted numbers, are accepted.

If the second or the third mode is chosen, then you can switch on/off:

• rejecting all new numbers, and/or

• rejecting all unknown numbers.

Current screening mode, lists of VIP and unwanted numbers and the program settings are saved in the device memory.

Using this program is very simple and easy to understand.

2. Key features

PhoneGate consists of:  two executable files PhGconfig.exe и PhGcore.exe, Phonegate.dll - plug-in for the Home window, language files for translated versions (with .lng extension), as well as documentation - User Manual and End User License Agreement.

• PhGconfig is the dialogue menu program to control PhoneGate: switching on/off, settings, choosing the screening mode, selecting VIP and unwanted numbers, viewing the log of the rejected calls etc.

• PhGcore - is the background program (loaded to the device memory when the screening is switched on), which reacts to the incoming calls, verifies the numbers, rejects the calls and writes events into the log.

• Plug-in for the Home window ensures simple visualization of the program and can be set-up according to your wishes.

• PhoneGate for Windows Mobile 5.0 supports updating Contacts in automatic mode -  as soon as you or ActiveSync program makes changes to Outlook Contacts, they are updated immediately in PhoneGate.

• Number of rings before a call is rejected can be set  from 1 to 7. If you choose "1", the caller will hear the busy tome immediately, and your mobile device will ring once.

• In the multi-lingual version, you can choose the interface language and/or add new languages by adding translation files.

• The program keeps the database in the format of Windows Mobile Database.

• The program can run for 14 days in the trial mode without any limitations to its functionality.

3. User Guide

3.1. How to begin

When you start the software for the first time, set up your country and area code in Menu: Options. You can also view and change if necessary other setting (see 3.6.).

Method, which is used to recognize the numbers stored in Contacts and/or entered explicitly, depends on the Country Code that was inserted in the Settings. This means that all numbers in your phonebook will always be interpreted by the program in the format that follows the National telephone numbering plan. (More details in chapter 4 Telephone Numbers Verification).

However, the analysis of the phone numbers that arrive from the network at the time of a call does not depend on the Country Code and Area Code entries in the Settings. The format of the incoming number is detected automatically by the program depending on the country of origin of the network operator used at that particular moment by the phone (also in case of roaming).

If when dialing a number within the country no national prefix is used (e.g. Cyprus, Greece, Czech Republic etc), you do not need to enter the area code.

For more convenient control over the status and mode of the software, you can install the PhoneGate plug-in for the home window, which will show either the current screening mode or message “PhoneGate OFF”.

Menu: Start > Settings > Home Screen > Layout > PhoneGate Screen.

3.2. Registration

After the 14-day trial period is over, the program will be unusable. To avoid this you need to register beforehand. To do so, you need to purchase the Activation code.

You will receive an e-mail requesting your software ID number in 3 working days after your purchase.

You can find the ID number of your PhoneGate copy in Menu: Registration.

After we receive your reply, you will be sent an e-mail with the 16-digit Activation code that you need to enter in the Registration window.

You can get your Activation code on our web site www.maxicon.cz too.

Your ID number is stored in your personal profile on www.maxicon.cz web site.

You can install one copy of the software on two different mobile devices, so you can get the Activation code only twice using the ID number.

ID number depends on the platform, model, IMEI and other parameters of your mobile device, as well as on the version of PhoneGate.

3.3. Controling the program (choosing the screening mode)

After you run the dialogue program PhGconfig, you will see its main window where you can:

• Switch the screening on and off

• Choose one of the following screening modes:

• all calls are rejected

• all calls, except those from VIP numbers, are rejected,

• only calls from unwanted callers are rejected (all other calls get through)

PhGcore program is started (restarted) with the selected screening mode by pressing OK button if the box “Call Screening ON” is CHECKED.

PhGcore is stopped by pressing OK button if the box “Call Screening ON” in the main window is not CHECked.

After PhGcore program is running, one of the four icons will appear in the system tray:

 screening is off

  all incoming calls are rejected

 unwanted calls are rejected

 all calls except those from VIP callers are rejected

You can change the screening mode at any time. To do this, you need to open PhGconfig, choose the new option in the main window and press OK.

If you select the second or the third screening mode, you can additionally switch on and off:

• rejecting all new numbers

• rejecting calls without a number.

3.4. Selecting VIP and “unwanted” numbers

PhoneGate shows full Contact list to make up your VIP and “unwanted” lists, separately for each category. To select Contacts for VIP or unwanted list you need to check the box near the required Contact.

All numbers CONTAINed IN a given contact (home, mobile etc) are selected together.

You can sort the lists and search by name.

Selecting an Outlook Contact as VIP or unwanted is mutually exclusive. Therefore, when selecting Contacts for VIP list, all Contacts that were previously selected as unwanted are shown in grey and always with an empty check-box. Similarly, when putting together unwanted list, all Contacts previously selected as VIP are shown in grey.

You can add explicit numbers to VIP and/or unwanted lists. To do so choose Menu: Add number.

Explicit number can either be also contained  in Outlook Contacts or not.

If you choose Menu: Cancel after adding or deleting explicit numbers, the previous list of explicit numbers is not restored.

When an incoming call is analyzed, the explicit numbers have priority over the Contact numbers: they are verified first.

PhoneGate for Windows Mobile 2003SE unlike for 5.0 version does not support automatic updates to Contacts. Therefore, if you have made changes to Outlook Contact book, they will be updated in PhoneGate only after PhGconfig is restarted.

3.5. Rejected calls Log

The program keeps a Log of rejected calls.

To view the Log, choose Menu: Log. After you have viewed the latest records once, they are automatically moved from “new” category and are not shown straight away. To see all records you need to choose Menu: Show > All.

You can sort the records in the Log by time of call or alphabetically (both ways for each).

You can speed-dial numbers using the record in the Log.

New numbers from the Log can be added as new Contacts to the Outlook phonebook (Menu: Save to Contacts).

3.6. Program options

All options are divided for your convenience into two windows – Main options and Advanced options. Settings are stored in the PhoneGate database.

Main options:

• number of rings on device before the call is rejected – from 1 to 7,

• period of time for which records are stored in the Log – 1 to 30 days, or off (records are not deleted automatically),

• international country code,

• local area code,

• interface language,

Additional options:

• whether the program runs automatically or not every time after the phone is switched on or restarted ,

• how incoming numbers are verified for match in the lists – taking into consideration the country code or not,

• maximum number of digits in the service numbers of the phone network,

• maximum length of the log.

4. Telephone numbers verification

After a call comes in, the program looks for the number received from the network operator among the numbers in the Outlook Contacts and among the explicit numbers.

The program recognizes different formats in which numbers can be recorded:

• when international and national prefixes are indicated. In this case the numbers from Outlook Contacts are interpreted according to the rules of the country. (International prefix is used to dial one country from another. “+” is the universal international prefix. National prefix is used when dialing one region from another within the same country.)

• when international and area codes are not specified. In this case your record is completed with the country and, if necessary,  your local area code that you have saved in PhoneGate Options.

Examples of equal and acceptable for PhoneGate records of phone numbers – given that correct country and area codes are saved in Options:

for Prague: 420 - Czech Republic country code, 2 – Prague area code, 00 – international prefix, there is no national prefix in Czech Republic as the area code (2 for Prague) makes part of the phone number:

224 497 111 Narodni Museum

+420 224 497 111

00420 224 497 111

for New-York: 1 – USA country code, 212 – Manhattan area code, 011 – international prefix, 1 –  national prefix:

212-535-7710 The Metropolitan Museum of Art

1-212-535-7710

011-1-212-535-7710

+1-212-535-7710

for Paris: 33 – France country code, 1 – Paris area code, 00 – international prefix, 0 – national prefix:

40-20-53-17 Musee du Louvre

01-40-20-53-17

0033-1-40-20-53-17

+33-1-40-20-53-17

for Moscow: 7 – Russian country code, 495 – Moscow area code, 810 – international prefix, 8 – national prefix:

957 07 92 Третьяковская галерея

8 495 957 07 92

810 7 495 957 07 92.

+7 495 957 07 92

You can use spaces and following separators  # * - / ( ) in the records.

For the program to operate correctly, you need to specify the maximum number of digits of the service numbers of your network provider (no country or area codes are used in their records).

5. Recommendations

Your device will inform you of the incoming call in a standard for Windows Mobile way. You will always hear at least one ring.  If you find this inconvenient, you can choose a ring tone that is quiet enough in the beginning or set the ring volume to increasing mode in your device settings.

To ensure more reliable number verification, especially when the device is operating in international roaming, is it recommended to record all numbers in your Outlook Contacts in a standard format – using the international prefix “+”, country code, and area code.

Some networks support two area codes for the same phone number. In this case for the software to function correctly you need to record the number in Contacts twice – with different area codes.

During roaming the incoming phone number sometimes arrives from the network operator inaccurately, usually the mistake is in the country code. Therefore, we recommend the switch off number verification using the country code when roaming.

6. Final Notes

Current Smartphone version does not support filtering Contacts by Category.

PhoneGate is a trademark of Maxicon s.r.o.

Maxicon PhoneGate is a Microsoft® Windows Mobile® 2003SE/5.0 based application.

Microsoft, Windows Mobile, ActiveSync and Outlook are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Microsoft Corporation in the United States and/or other countries.

© Maxicon s.r.o., 2006.