Dial / Their Time & Location

While looking at any view, use the Dial command (from the Tools menu, or press Shift+A, or the Dial icon on the toolbar) to make outgoing calls (using a modem or Skype) or to look up the area code of a phone number in an item and its corresponding time zone.

When you choose the Dial command, TimeTo™ checks if there is something that looks like a phone number in the highlighted item (it will even detect alphabetic phone numbers, such as "800-GOFEDEX"). If so, TimeTo™ puts that number in the Telephone Number (or Skype Address) field. If not, then it is up to you insert what you wish into this field.

If the number in the Telephone Number field appears to begin with a North American area code (or you type such an area code into the field), TimeTo™ displays the local time in that area code and a description of that region. Therefore, use can use the Dial command as a quick check as to where a North American area code is or what time it is there. Tip: If you need to look up a North American area code and you already know the location, use the Area Codes command (from the Tools menu) instead.

Making a modem call: If your computer is connected to a modem, you can initiate a phone call to the Telephone Number by pressing one of the three Dial buttons.

Making a Skype call: If your computer has Skype software installed, you can initiate a Skype Internet call by pressing the Skype Call button. When you press the button, TimeTo will launch Skype (If you don't have Skype installed, you have to first install Skype to the default folder suggested by the Skype installer. The Skype software is available free at www.skype.com).

• If the Telephone Number/Skype Address field is empty, Skype launches and waits for further instructions from you.
• If the Telephone Number/Skype Address field contains a Skype address, TimeTo has Skype dial a free Skype call.
• If the Telephone Number/Skype Address field contains a telephone number, TimeTo has Skype dial a SkypeOut call, and your SkypeOut account will be debited (if you don't have a SkypeOut account, you'll have to set one up at www.skype.com). To make a SkypeOut call, you can either enter:
  • the entire number: "+" or "00", then "country code" then "number". You can also use "00" or "011" before the country code. For example (using the country code "1" for calling North America): you could dial +15555551234, or 00 1 555 555 1234, or 011-1-555-555-1234.
  • or leave out the + or 00, and TimeTo will add it
  • or leave out the country code and/or area code for calls within your country and/or area code, and TimeTo will try to add it based on your settings (if you are in a country where this doesn't work for you, please tell us and we'll see if we can improve our dialing logic).

• WARNING: You cannot make calls to an emergency number or emergency service (e.g. 211, 911, 999) using Skype. To perform calls of this type please make sure to use a landline telephone or a cellular/mobile phone.

Test Skype: Press this button if you wish to make a free test call to Skype, to confirm that your Skype connection and equipment are all ready to go.

Dialing Settings

You can change various dialing settings, either permanently (by clicking Save Settings & Close when done) or just for the one call (by clicking Close when done):

Add When Dialing Any Number: This prefix (of up to 3 characters) will be added to the beginning of all numbers you dial (including in front of other prefixes listed below). For instance, if you are in an officewhere you must dial 9 to get an outside line, you could put a 9 here. (This feature does not affect Skype calls).

Local Area Code: Type the area code (up to 7 characters). For landline calls, this is useful if your phone numbers have area codes in them but an area code is not required for a local call (so TimeTo™ will remove it). For Skype calls, this is useful because you won't have to type the area code, even though Skype always needs it (so Timeto™ will add it). For removal from landline numbers TimeTo™ recognizes area codes by either being surrounded by brackets (for example,"(613)7286777") or being followed by a hyphen (for example, "613-7286777").

Local Country Code: This prefix (of up to 20 characters) will be added to the beginning of all Dial Long Distance calls. For instance, in North America, the local country code is 1. If you don't use Skype, this is useful for storing long distance discount dialing codes.

Add When Dialing Internationally: This prefix (of up to 3 characters) will be added to the beginning of all Dial International calls.

Dial Every Minute Until Connected: Check this checkbox to have TimeTo™ keep trying to Dial every minute, until you connect. (This feature does not affect Skype calls).

Advanced Tip: TimeTo™ information about area codes is stored in a file called AreaCode.txt in your TimeTo folder. You can edit this file in a text editor of your choice (carefully following the guidelines stated at the top of the file). However, TimeTo™ updaters often include a new version of this file (since we refresh it every time area codes are added or changed by the NANP) and will overwrite the active version of the file. Therefore, if you make changes, you should also be careful to back it up and restore before and after installing any updaters. It may be simpler, if you find the areacode.txt file deficient in some way, to contact TimeTo support, and perhaps we can remedy the file for everyone's benefit.

Related Topics
New Item