Conference Composer User Guide
Copyright 2001 Polycom, Inc. All rights reserved. Printed in the United States of America. Because of technical progress, specifications are subject to change without notice. The Polycom logo and Vortex are registered trademarks of Polycom, Inc.
Polycom, Inc. Installed Voice Business Group 1720 Peachtree Street NW, Suite 220 Atlanta, GA 30309-2439 Phone: (800) 932-2774, (404) 892-3200 Fax: (404) 892-2512 www.aspi.com
Technical Support: (800) 932-2774 vortex@polycom.com

CCUG-0100-01

CONFERENCE COMPOSERTM USER GUIDE Conference ComposerTM Software..2
Introduction... 2 Installation.... 2 Features of the Conference Composer Window... 3
Operating Conference Composer..5 Device Parameters....8
System.... 8 Options.... 9 Mic/Line Inputs... 11 Input Filters... 12 Automixer.... 13 EF Bus.... 14 Matrix Mixer.... 15 Output Filters.... 17 Outputs.... 17 Logic Input.... 18 Logic Output.... 19 Presets.... 20 Macros.... 20 Diagnostics.... 20
Project Files and Creating Reports...21
File Saving.... 21 File Restoring.... 21 Creating Reports.... 21

The Console Window...22

Console Tab... 22 Properties Tab.... 23
Modem Use with the Vortex...25
Troubleshooting the Vortex Modem Connection.. 27
Polycom, Inc., Copyright 2001
Technical Support: 800.932.2774
CONFERENCE COMPOSERTM SOFTWARE

INTRODUCTION

Conference Composer is the design and configuration software that is supplied with the Vortex. Its purpose is to make it easy and intuitive to configure Polycoms Vortex products, share configuration files, create presets, macros, and logic assignments. Conference Composer operates under Windows 98, ME, NT, and 2000.

INSTALLATION

Insert the Conference Composer disk into your CD-ROM drive and run the Setup program. If you have a previously installed version of Conference Composer on your computer, it is highly recommended that you uninstall that version (use Add/ Remove Program from the CONTROL PANEL window) before installing the latest version. After running the Setup program, simply follow the instructions for installing Conference Composer.
USING CONFERENCE COMPOSER WITH A VORTEX AND EF200 PHONE ADD
When using the Conference Composer software with the Vortex and the EF200, plug the RS-232 into the Vortex. If you plug into the EF200, you may not be able to get Level information because the EF200 will not know how to interpret the data from the software that will display metering information.
FEATURES OF THE CONFERENCE COMPOSER WINDOW
Figure 1. Feauters of Conference Composer window 1. EXPLORER MENU. The Explorer-type menu structure allows you to easily navigate and browse through your device list. Clicking on an item in the tree will display the parameter page to the right of the explorer menu. STATUS METER. This meter and status light shows the communication status between your PC and a Vortex or EF device (EF200 or EF1210). The WAITING light turns yellow when it is communicating via RS-232 with a Vortex or EF device and the meter indicates how full the command buffer is with commands being sent to the device. DSP LOAD. Indicates the current percentage of used available variable DSP resources. MENUS. FILE. The File menu allows you to create a new Project, Device Chain, or Device; manages file functions of a Project such as Opening, Saving, or Closing; and handles printing and Preferences. PROJECT. The Project menu contains 3 options: AUTOSCAN, SAMPLE, or ONLINE. AUTOSCAN finds all Vortex or EF devices connected to the PC and scans in their settings. SAMPLE loads a sample project into Conference Composer. ONLINE allows you to either download settings from a Vortex or EF device or upload settings to a Vortex or EF device.

Polycom, Inc.

USER MODE. User mode selects between BASIC and ADVANCED. Basic mode limits user options that can be adjusted. Advanced mode allows control of all parameters available on Conference Composer. HELP. The Help menu contains the ABOUT option that shows the version number of the software.

OPERATING CONFERENCE COMPOSER
Conference Composer may either be operated online or off-line (not connected to a Vortex or EF device) depending on how you would like to use it. If you work off-line it is easy to save the settings to a file, share the files with others, and then upload the settings into an EF device when you go online. The online or off-line operation of Conference Composer is the same, although if you are operating off-line you will need to add devices to the project before you can start working with the devices. Conference Composer organizes your projects into a hierarchy of PROJECT, DEVICE CHAIN, and DEVICE. Starting from the bottom of the list, a DEVICE is simply that some piece of equipment that will be used in the installation. A DEVICE CHAIN is a collection of devices that are linked together through the ASPI Bus or EF Bus (thats where the name device chain comes from). Typically these represent all the devices that are tied to a particular serial port on your computer/controller. The PROJECT represents a collection of DEVICE CHAINS. You can think of the PROJECTS as directories, the DEVICE CHAINS as files and the DEVICES as items in the files. There are many different buttons and knobs that allow the user to change settings on the device. Conference Composers convention is that a feature associated with a button is enabled when the buttons LED is lit. To use a knob, click on the knob and while holding down the mouse button, raise or lower the cursor to increase or decrease the knob value.
Figure 2. To increase the level, click on the knob and move the cursor UP. To decrease the level, click on the knob and move the cursor DOWN.
ONLINE: CONNECTED TO AN EF DEVICE
To operate online, the EF Device should be connected to an RS-232 port of your host computer. The first step is to have Conference Composer scan your EF Device -- this ensures the settings you see on the PC screen are exactly the settings in the device. To do this, select the AUTOSCAN option from the PROJECT menu as shown in Figure 3. This ensures the settings you see on the PC screen are exactly the settings in the device.
Figure 3. Select AUTOSCAN to have Conference Composer automatically find online devices.
If you have any devices currently using the serial port on your PC, such as a PalmPilots HotSync, please close those programs to free the COM port before running AUTOSCAN.
AUTOSCAN will automatically find all EF devices (EF2280, EF1210, EF200) attached to the RS-232 port and then automatically download all the settings into Conference Composer. Once the settings have been downloaded to the PC, any changes you make to the device through Conference Composer will be sent automatically to the device, updating its configuration in real-time. Once Conference Composer has finished downloading the settings from the connected devices, you will see the Navigation area look like Figure 4. The amount of time it takes to sync with the Vortex depends on the number of presets that have valid data. More presets means more data must be sent to the PC.

Figure 4. Project generated when connected to a Vortex.
OFF-LINE: OPERATING WITHOUT AN EF DEVICE
To operate without any devices connected to the computer you can select NEW>DEVICE->EF2280 to create a sample Vortex system to configure. This will automatically create a Project. Once you have a Vortex installed, your navigation tab should
look like Figure 4 (the red Xs indicate that you are offline), and you are ready to proceed to the next section.
Figure 5. Operating Conference Composer Offline.

DEVICE PARAMETERS

Each device in Conference Composer is represented by a list of sub-entries for that device. For the Vortex, those fields are SYSTEM, MIC/LINE INPUTS, etc. as shown in Figure 4. By clicking on the Device (EF2280:00 in Figure 4) you bring up the SYSTEM page as shown in Figure 6. Notice that each SYSTEM page has tabs corresponding to the list of sub-entries in Figure 4. Clicking on either a tab or the field name will bring you to a page with specific controls for that set of functions.

SYSTEM

Figure 6. Vortex System tab shows the block diagram of the device. The SYSTEM Page presents you with a block diagram of the Vortex. It allows you to quickly enter text labels for inputs and outputs (this can also be done on all the other pages too), and see the signal flow from inputs to outputs. Holding the cursor over a particular block in the block diagram will show signal flow information from inputs to outputs or outputs to inputs depending on where you hold the mouse. By holding the cursor over any output block, you can see the all the inputs that map to the particular output. You may enable/disable specific features by left clicking on the blocks in the SYSTEM Page. If a block is grayed out, it is turned off. When connected to a device, the Signal Activity LEDs mapped to the inputs and outputs of the SYSTEM Page (See Figure 7) show the signal activity. This indicator is independent of the gating indicators -- it simply indicates when the input or output has signal level above the Activity Threshold. The Activity Threshold for what constitutes activity is set on the OPTIONS Page -- it is in the MISCELLANEOUS section. If you set this level too high, the threshold may be too high and the signal activity LED will
be difficult to light. If you set the signal activity level too low, the ambient room noise may light the signal activity LED too easily.
Figure 7. Signal Activity LED of Inputs and Outputs. The ability to follow signal flow and the Signal Activity LED can provide useful tools to ensure that the proper input to output mappings have been setup.

OPTIONS

MAX NOM set to 8. To link Vortexes together, use the BUS MIXER number. Put all the Vortexes you would like to operate as one large mixer together on the same BUS MIXER number with the exception of BUS MIXER 0. If the BUS MIXER is set to 0, the Automixer will work independently from other connected Vortexes. Each of the eight signal channels going into the automixer can be configured to be part of a particular automixer (Mixer 1 or Mixer 2). If set to NONE, it is not part of an automixer and does not affect gating decisions. The gating for each channel can be set to to FORCE ON, FORCE OFF, or AUTO. The THRESHOLD TYPE can either be ADAPTIVE or MANUAL. The default is ADAPTIVE THRESHOLD. The ADPATIVE THRESHOLD can be set when the THRESHOLD TYPE is set to Adaptive. This represents how much louder the signal needs to be over the noise floor before the microphone should be gated on. MANUAL THRESHOLD allows you to set an absolute threshold that the signal needs to be greater than in order to gate on. GATE PRIORITY can be configured for each microphone. Priority 1 is the highest priority and Priority 4 is the lowest priority. A higher priority input takes precedence over a lower priority input if the maximum number of open microphones (Max NOM) is set to be less than the number of microphones assigned to that automixer.

EF BUS

The EF BUS page allows the user to configure how to combine the bus signals from the other linked Vortexes and control which echo canceller reference is sent to other devices as the Bus Reference. Since there can be up to 8 Vortexes linked together and each device can put 4 different signals on the bus (W, X, Y, and Z), there are 4 submatrices to allow flexibility in how the signals from other devices get mixed together and get presented to the main matrix. Figure 11 shows the EF BUS submatrix and the fact that there are 4 submatrices and the inputs are WB0, WB7 for the W bus, XB0, , XB7 from the X bus, and the same for the Y and Z busses. The cross points can be changed by left clicking on the cell and adjusting the gain. Cross points can be muted by right-clicking on the cell (an unmuted crosspoint is indicated by a bolded black value; muted is indicated by a gray value). Any of the rows of the matrices can be configured as a mix-minus which allows the user to work with a simple mix-minus sum of all the other devices. If more complicated mixing from other devices is required, any of the matrix rows can have arbitrary cross points gains.
EXPORTING THE ECHO CANCELLER REFERENCE ON THE EF BUS
You can set which echo canceller reference is assigned as the Bus Reference to be used by all other linked Vortexes in the EXPORTED SIGNALS section on the page. The
choices are REFERENCE 1, REFERENCE 2, or NONE. Only one Vortex can put an AEC Reference onto the Bus. The other Vortexes can use this reference.
Figure 11. The EF BUS sub matrix. In this example, WB0 is grayed out because we are working with Device 0. Any of the cross points can have arbitrary gains.

MATRIX MIXER

The Matrix Mixer in Figure 12 allows the user to map any input to any output with an arbitrary gain in dB applied from -100 dB to +20 dB. Muted cells are shown in light gray while unmuted cells are shown in bold. To set the gain of a single cross point, left click on the cell. To set the gain of a collection of cross points click and drag to select a rectangular area. A slider control with a text box will appear to allow you to change the gain, select mute/unmute, or, on Inputs 1-8, choose the gated version of the Input. If you are using signals for reinforcement and specifically want the gated signals at an attenuated level, then set the gated crosspoint to the desired level such as -15 dB. In general, the gain of gated signals should be set to 0 dB since the matrix will sum the automixed signals and use the appropriate weightings of the signals based on the information from the automixer.
To change the gain of an entire row or column you may simply click on the column or row header (any of the labels 1-D on the columns or the rows) to see a collection of sliders as shown in Figure 13.
Figure 12. The full cross point matrix for a system using a phone add, a codec, and stereo program audio. Only the bold crosspoints are unmuted.
Figure 13. Cross point slider view of how Input A is used in all the output channels. The outputs R1 and R2 correspond to the echo canceller references REF 1 and REF 2. While these outputs are not physical outputs on the product, they allow you to build the echo canceller reference without using physical outputs from the device. In the example in Figure 12, we used stereo program audio and consequently had a local left output (Output C) and a local right output (Output D) in the room. The echo canceller reference R1 included both the codec audio (Input A), the phone add audio (Input B)
and a mono mix of the left and right program audio. The program audio is attenuated by 3 dB before adding it into the R1 output.

OUTPUT FILTERS

Each of the outputs can have up to 5 filters of equalization. These filters include Parametric, Low Pass, High Pass, Low Shelf, and High Shelf. To use the filters, select the type of filter and adjust the controls for the filter. You can adjust the controls in a variety of ways: by typing in values in the text boxes, using the cursor up/ down, using Page Up/Page Down, or by clicking and holding the knob and moving the mouse up to increase the value or down to decrease the value. The frequency response of the plots may be viewed by clicking on the GRAPH button. The ENABLE button per filter enables/disables that particular filter on the Output. The ENABLE FILTERS button enables/disables all filters on the particular Output Channel. This button toggles with the Filter Bypass buttons per Output. All filters for a particular output can be bypassed by clicking the BYPASS button. Once the settings are configured for Output Channel 1, the user may copy those settings to all other channels using the COPY CHANNEL 1 FILTERS TO ALL CHANNELS button.

OUTPUTS

Figure 14. Output control for each of the 12 output channels is available on the Outputs Tab. Channels can be hidden from view from the VIEW OUTPUTS control. The OUTPUTS page allows the user to adjust the output level, select NOM attenuation, and mute outputs. A typical output control is shown in Figure 14. NOM attenuation
(labelled NOM) enabled will reduce the gain of the output signal by 3dB for each doubling of the number of open microphones. NOM attenuation is computed separately for each output, depending on the inputs that are used to build each output. The output levels will be displayed in real-time if the LEVELS function is enabled (click the LEVELS button to enable the levels).

LOGIC INPUT

The LOGIC INPUTS page allows the user to assign individual logic input pins to trigger specific functions, macros, or complete presets. The types of functions that can be executed include any function that can be controlled with an RS232 command such as changing or ramping gains, muting, enable/disable the AEC, set AEC Mode, choose AEC Reference, enable/disable AGC, set AGC Max, set AGC Rate, enable/disable Noise Cancellation, set Noise Cancellation Level, set Mic or Line Level, or turn Phantom Power On or Off. Within Conference Composer, the Logic pins also have an LED associated with them to indicate the status of the contact closure. A logic pin can have one of the following states: unassigned, assigned to a particular function, macro, or preset, or assigned to one of four groups. To assign a function to a pin, single click and hold on the pin of the connector and select a colored assignment of the pin from the colored boxes that appear. Figure 15 shows the selection process match the colors with the legend to create an assignment entry for either the single pin or the logic group.
Figure 15. Selecting a type of assignment for a logic pin Once a pin has been assigned, there are three states associated with the pin: activated, deactivated, and held. To assign a function to one of these three states, right click in the cell, and then pick the function off the list. Alternatively you can type the associated RS232 command in directly. Clicking the SHOW ACTUAL COMMAND button translates the command to the actual RS232 command. You can also change the polarity of the pin by right clicking on the pin number. This will cause an underline to appear under the pin number. When the polarity is changed, what normally happened when the command was activated (i.e., contact was

closed) will happen when the contact is open. The LED status will also update to reflect polarity status. Figure 16 shows an assignment of Pin 1 to mute Input 1 when active (i.e., the contact closed) and to unmute when inactive (contact open).
Figure 16. Logic pin 1 is assigned to mute input 1 when activated and unmute when deactivated.

LOGIC OUTPUT

The LOGIC OUTPUT page allows the user to assign a status function to one of the 20 logic status outputs. The status functions could include AEC On or Off, AGC On or Off, NOM Attenuation, Camera Gating, Gating, Mic or Line Level, Muting, Noise Cancellation, and Phantom Power On or Off. To assign a status function to the status pin, click on the pin. This will enable the ACTIVATED and DEACTIVATED control windows. Right click in the ACTIVATED or DEACTIVATED field to pick a status off the menu list, or type the command in directly. As with the Logic Input pins, the SHOW ACTUAL COMMAND button will show the command syntax. To create status output that is a logical combination of particular inputs or outputs, use the logical syntax (+, 0, or 1). For instance, to create a status output that will be set when Input Channels 1 AND 3 are muted, the syntax is MUTE*1.1. To create a muting status output that will be set when Input Channels 1 OR 3 are muted, the syntax is MUTE*+.+. Notice that the MUTE* status command can take up to 12 arguments, one for each input. The gating status command GATE* takes 8 arguments since only Inputs 1-8 can be gated. The polarity of the outputs can also be changed by right-clicking on the pin number.

PRESETS

The Vortex supports 16 factory presets (meaning they cant be overwritten by the user) and 32 user presets. These presets store all information about the settings for the device: input gains, matrix crosspoints, automixer settings, etc. Everything. Changes to the devices settings are not automatically saved in the preset -- you must save your changes to the preset by clicking on the SAVE button. Each preset can have a 16 character label. The user can SAVE the current settings as a preset at any time or RESTORE a different preset at any time. Restoring a preset will send all the status messages to the RS-232 interface so an attached control panel will remain synchronized with the device. The user may also configure which preset is used when the device powers up using the POWER ON PRESET parameter at the top right of the page. The DELETE button can be used to erase a preset.

MACROS

You can create up to 256 macros. Each macro can have up to 256 single commands that are executed sequentially when the macro is executed. The user selects a macro to create and then sequentially puts the commands into the macro. New commands may be inserted into the macro after the existing command by right clicking on an existing command and selecting either a command off the list or the INSERT COMMAND option which will let you type a command in directly. You can also add new commands to the macro by typing the RS-232 command strings directly into the text box. To change the order of the command in the macro, choose either MOVE COMMAND UP or MOVE COMMAND DOWN. Use DELETE COMMAND to delete a command and DELETE ALL COMMANDS to delete all commands from the current macro. CLEAR MACRO will erase all commands from a macro and CLEAR ALL MACROS will delete all commands and macros.

DIAGNOSTICS

The DIAGNOSTICS page allows you to adjust Gain levels and enable/disable Mute on Inputs 1-8, A-D and Outputs 1-8, A-D. On Input 1-8, you can also check the status of gating, AEC state information (shown by the LEDs marked XMIT and RECV), AGC, and Room Gain as well as enable/disable AGC and Noise Cancellation. Levels of the echo canceller References, R1 and R2 are also displayed on this page. To turn on the meter information, select the LEVELS button.
PROJECT FILES AND CREATING REPORTS

FILE SAVING

When working off-line, you may find it useful to save Project files for archival purposes or to allow you to send the configuration to another person. To save a Project file, either left click on the Project and then right click to select SAVE or from the FILE menu, select SAVE PROJECT. Once you enter a file name, you can save the selected Project to disk. A Project file includes all the devices that make up the project. For instance if you have a Project that includes multiple Vortexes and an EF200, then the Project file that is saved to disk will include settings for all the devices. To save the file to a different name, select SAVE AS from the FILE menu. Presets for the devices in the Project are also stored to the file when working off-line.

FILE RESTORING

You can easily restore the settings from a file to actual EF devices. To restore a Project, first open the Project from the FILE menu. Then when connected to the EF Devices, left click on the Project and select the ONLINE button. This will present a window with the following options: DOWNLOAD SETTINGS FROM THE DEVICE, UPLOAD SETTINGS TO DEVICE, or CANCEL. Select UPLOAD SETTINGS TO DEVICE to upload the Project settings to the device. You should set the Device IDs on the actual devices to match those in the project before uploading the Project. Once uploading has started, the display will present a status bar of the progress of uploading. All Presets in the Project will be uploaded along with Project settings.

CREATING REPORTS

Conference Composer can automatically generate reports of a Project, Device Chain, or Device which show all the settings configured for the device. A Project report will consist of the device chains and any devices that are part of the device chain. A device chain report will only include the devices included in the device chain. A device report only includes the settings for that particular device. Once a report has been selected, the system prompts for whether all the presets should be included in the reports. Select Yes if you would like all the presets to be included in the reports. Select No if you do not want the preset information to be included in the report. In this case you will only report the current operating settings of the device. Reports may be customized by allowing you to put in a company name and address information. You can enter this information by selecting the Project and type Report tab. To print the report, you have the option to print directly to a printer and/or to create a Portable Disk Format (PDF) file.

THE CONSOLE WINDOW

The Console Window provides communication information between your PC and the EF Device. There are two tabs in this window: the Console Tab and the Properties Tab. The Console Tab is a terminal program that allows you to send commands to the EF Device and monitor the acknowledgements. The PROPERTIES Tab allows you to change the settings on flow control and also includes the capability to update firmware. To open a Console Window, right click on the COM port in Conference Composers Explorer menu, and choose CONSOLE from the pull down menu that appears.

CONSOLE TAB

Figure 17. Console Tab.

WATCHING COMMANDS

The larger window in the Console Tab displays communications between your PC and the EF Device. Strings that are shown in blue text indicate a string sent by the PC. Strings shown in red text are acknowledgements sent by the EF Device. This tool is a good way to monitor communication between control systems and the EF Devices.

SENDING COMMANDS

The small rectangular box at the bottom of the Tab is for typing in commands to send to the EF Device.

PROPERTIES TAB

Figure 18. Properties Tab in the Console Window. The Properties Tab provides the capability to change flow control and also update the firmware of your EF Device.

UPDATING FIRMWARE

The capability to update firmware is included in Conference Composer version 1.62 and higher. Check our website at www.aspi.com for the latest versions of the software and information on our products. The latest EchoFree firmware versions are listed below in Table 1. ECHOFREE DEVICE EF2280 Vortex EF1210 EF200 LATEST FIRMWARE VERSION version 1.18 version 1.05 version 1.13
Table 1: Latest firmware versions of EchoFree devices as of 11/15/01.

UPDATE YOUR EF DEVICE

In Conference Composer software, 1. Connect the RS-232 cable from your computer to the EchoFree device that you are updating. Ensure that your serial port cable is wired with RTS and CTS for hardware flow control. If you do not have RTS and CTS, this process will not work and error messages will be displayed. You can keep the device con-
nected to other devices through the ASPI Bus or EF Bus. 2. In the PROJECT menu, select AUTOSCAN to synchronize the device settings with Conference Composer. Open a CONSOLE window by right-clicking on the Serial Port connected to your EchoFree device in the Explorer type menu on the left side of the Conference Composer window. Choose CONSOLE from the menu that appears. In the CONSOLE window, click on the PROPERTIES tab. Make sure that the ASPI DEVICE FOUND LED is blue, which indicates that your computer is communicating with the EF device. Click on the UPDATE MICROCODE button. In the dialog box that comes up, choose the EFB file for your appropriate device. These EFB files are found in the directory where Conference Composer is installed. Follow the instructions that come up in the dialog boxes.
When prompted by Conference Composer to perform a STANDARD UPDATE or THOROUGH UPDATE, we recommend choosing THOROUGH. This option will reinitialize the non-volatile memory both before and after the update. If you choose this option, be sure to Autoscan before you begin the update. Conference Composer will automatically load your settings (including presets and macros) back to your Vortex after updating the firmware.
MODEM USE WITH THE VORTEX
CONFERENCE COMPOSER ON SITE WITH THE VORTEX
You will need Conference Composer version 1.62 or later. You can find the latest version of the software on our website at www.aspi.com, on the Vortex page.
At the local site with the Vortex, use Conference Composer to enable the modem to auto answer:
Figure 19. Modem settings on Conference Composer OPTIONS page. 1. On the OPTIONS page, choose the default initialization string from the INITIALSTRING pull-down menu. If a default is not listed, enter the following string:

IZATION

ATE0F1&B1S0=2 2. 3. Enable the initialization string by clicking on the ENABLE button. Disconnect the RS-232 cable from the Vortex and connect it to your modem. You may need to use a null modem for your modem. Connect your modem to the Vortex. Cycle power on the Vortex. As it powers up, it will send the initialization string to the modem. Make sure the modem is On before cycling power on the Vortex.
If you dont have Conference Composer on site, 1. Using a terminal program, send the following strings to the Vortex: F**MINISTRATF1E0&B1S0=2 F**MINI1 This will enter the initialization string and enable it. Disconnect the RS-232 cable from the Vortex and connect it to your modem. You may need to use a null modem for your modem. Connect your modem to the Vortex. Cycle power on the Vortex. As it powers up, it will send the initialization string to the modem. Make sure the modem is On before cycling power.
MODEM USE WITH THE VORTEX FROM THE REMOTE SITE
At the remote site, open Conference Composer and from the FILE menu choose PREFERENCES. The dialog box that comes up should look similar to the one below in Figure 20.
Figure 20. FILE -> PREFERENCES Find the Comm Port that your modem is connected to and make sure the box beside it is checked. Click on the corresponding SETTINGS button. In the dialog box that comes up, go to the MODEM tab (see Figure 21 below).
Figure 21. Modem tab If the modems hang up before you connect, increase the TIMEOUT time. Choose the default string in the INITIALIZATION STRING pull down menu. It should be the following string: AT F1 E0 Q0 V0 &K3 &D0 Click on the box beside USE MODEM to enable it. Then enter in the phone number.
After both sides are setup, you should be able to AUTOSCAN from the remote end. Autoscanning will have your modem dial the remote site and connect to the remote modem, which is connected to the Vortex. You can then control the Vortex just like you were connected to it locally.
TROUBLESHOOTING THE VORTEX MODEM CONNECTION
VERIFY THAT THE VORTEX IS SENDING

THE CORRECT INIT STRING

On the Vortex side, connect the Vortex RS-232 port to the PC (you may need to remove the null modem adapter). Next, open the CONSOLE window in Conference Composer (right-click on the COMM port in the Explorer menu and choose CONSOLE from the pull down menu) or some other terminal program. Now, send a F**PING command and make sure the Vortex responds with a PONG. This verifies the cable connection between the PC and the Vortex. Now, cycle the power on the Vortex while leaving the terminal window open. When the Vortex reboots, you should see it send the modem initialization string to the terminal window. If you are using the default modem init string, you should see ATE0F1&B1S0=2 echoed in the terminal window. If you dont see the string, you will need to double check that the string is set correctly and that it is enabled.

MAKE SURE THE

INITIALIZATION STRING IS SENT TO THE MODEM
If you are sure that the correct modem init string is being sent out when the Vortex reboots, then connect the RS-232 cable between the Vortex and the modem (you may need to add a null modem adapter). Make sure the modem is powered on, then cycle the power to the Vortex. This ensures that the Vortex sends the init string to the modem.

DOUBLE CHECK THE

CABLE BETWEEN THE MODEM AND THE VORTEX
Depending on your serial cable and your modem, you may or may not need a null modem adapter. The Vortex RS-232 port is configured as a DCE. Most modems are also configured as a DCE, so you will most likely need a null modem (The serial ports of most PCs are configured as DTE, which means you dont need a null modem to communicate between the Vortex and a PC).

Conference Composer Release Notes
Shortcut to: Release Notes Release Notes Release Notes Release Notes Release Notes Release Notes Release Notes Release Notes Release Notes Release Notes Release Notes Release Notes Release Notes Release Notes for for for for for for for for for for for for for for 3.0.1, May 2006 2.9.0, August 2005 2.8.2, March 2005 2.7.0, July 2004 2.5.11, April 2004 2.5.9, October 2003 2.5.7, September 2003 2.4.4, March 2003 2.3.6, March 2003 2.3.5, February 2003 2.3.4, January 2003 2.2.4, December 2003 2.1.15, November 2002 2.0.8, September 2002
Release Notes for 3.0.1, May 2006
Installer bug fix: when Conference Composer versions 2.1.15-2.9.0 are uninstalled, several registry keys impacting Internet Explorer are inadvertantly removed. This version leaves the keys undisturbed and patches any problems caused by the old uninstall. Matrix page: If "Bus" is selected as the reference source, but no device is exporting a bus reference, the cell or cells with "Bus" reference source will flash red to indicate an error. EF Bus page: The Exported Signals settings have been moved to a more visible position at the top of the page. EF Bus page: When loading a.CCP file, the Exported Signals text box did not initialize correctly for any devices other than the first one loaded. Matrix and EF Bus pages: Added a checkbox that hides muted crosspoints. The selection is application-wide and persists across application sessions. InstantDesigner: Added support for setting device IDs in manual device selection mode. IDs are checked for validity before continuing to the next page. InstantDesigner: Added User Defined Signals feature. The user can create a file in a specified directory that defines additional signals for use as inputs and outputs in InstantDesigner. See the help file section "Creating User Defined Inputs and Outputs" for further details. InstantDesigner: Added a "Details" section to the Inputs/Outputs pages that provides information about the signal gain, mic/line level, phantom power, mono/stereo, and whether it is user defined or not. InstantDesigner: Added explanation of the conditions under which the "Presenter" zone is generated in InstantDesigner and steps to remove it if desired. Click "Read more here." on the "Use Sound Reinforcement Zones?" page in InstantDesigner. Updated Help File
Release Notes for 2.9.0, August 2005
Added additional text help file to explain the two zone / device design capability of the Sound Reinforcement wizard within Instant Designer. Moved TCP/IP Console button from Preferences dialog to the Phonebook dialog. Removed the settings button from Preferences dialog, added check all and uncheck all buttons to phonebook. Automatic migration of previously checked TCP/IP settings to the Phonebook as an entry called "Current". Fixed a phase problem in the parametric filter plot when zeroes or poles were real and frequency and bandwidth were relatively high.
Fixed a "macro-doubling" bug that only affects the path where you take a project online then choose "Get Settings From Device". The old values for the macros were not being cleared out before getting the new ones. Updated Help File
Release Notes for 2.8.2, March 2005

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Added support for COM ports 5-16 Added support for multiple TCP/IP device chains, each with its own hostname/port settings Added a TCP/IP "phonebook" to save frequently-accessed sites Added telephony country support for Malaysia, Israel, and Mexico Fixed bug in "restore preset to all devices" when device chain was offline Added "delete preset from all devices" and "set power-on preset on all devices" functionality InstantDesigner now generates macros to enable/disable sound reinforcement Updated report generation to include additional automixer and telephony information Fixed various user interface issues in InstantDesigner and Conference Composer Includes Vortex firmware version 2.5.3 Updated help file
Release Notes for 2.7.0, July 2004

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Fixed China, South Africa, and Korea country code omissions in 2.6.9 release candidate Instant Designer 2.0 featuring support for zoned sound reinforcement Instant Designer 2.0 support for VSX 8000 UI support for preset restore across multiple devices UI bug fixes Updated help file
Release Notes for 2.5.11, April 2004

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2.5.1 firmware included User Interface fixes to Macros, Logic Input, Matrix Mixer, and RS-232/TCP/IP pages User Interface fixes to Instant Designer Added New Zealand, United Kingdom, South Africa, China, and Korea to country codes Updated help file
Release Notes for 2.5.9, October 2003
InstantDesigner: Fixed bug that was incorrectly routing T input to T output for EF2241/2211/2201. InstantDesigner: Corrected volume control macro generation when stereo pairs are split across devices. Added support for updating firmware on a device in Safe Mode via Conference Composer. Added "Firmware Upload" settings to the Preferences dialog. Various UI bug fixes. Updated help file

Release Notes for 2.5.7, September 2003

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2.5.0 firmware included. Instant Designer project generation wizard. Line input AGC support, linked AGC support, input fader support, reference output gain support, Soundstation VTX 1000 mode. Added Project->Examples menu. Added Options tab to Preferences dialog to manage display of various dialogs/warnings. User interface bug fixes and extensive refinements. Updated help and example project files.
Release Notes for 2.4.4, March 2003
Added v2.4.0 Firmware for Vortex products. Updated firmware upgrade to now check versions and recommend a Thorough upgrade as needed (for a 1.x -> 2.x.x upgrade). Added a Ping All button for the console that sends ***PING. Fixed GAINIT command range to be 100 to +20 on the Matrix, Inputs, and Diagnostics pages. Added PHONE command to logic out menu and readable command translation. Added persistence for window state (maximized or normal only). Updated help and example project files.
Release notes for 2.3.6, March 2003
Added v2.3.2 Firmware for Vortex products.
Release notes for 2.3.5, February 2003
Fixed an installer error that exists in versions 2.2.4 and 2.3.4. An install on a clean 98/NT/2000 system might produce an "Internal Error 2762" message at the end of the installation, leaving an incomplete install. This incomplete install can be fixed by upgrading to 2.3.5. Alternatively, you can still uninstall the old version and then install 2.3.5.
Release notes for 2.3.4, January 2003

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Added EF2211 and EF2210 support RS232 performance improved Added Safety Mute command to menu of Input commands on the Logic Output property page. Fixed bug in writing project files that wasn't properly doubling a single backslash character when it appears in an attribute value. Fixed bug where a non-integral value for the logarithmic scale knobs in the filter property pages was preventing the page up shortcut key from working correctly. Fixed display bug with scrolling on the EFBus page and other pages when in 800x600 screen resolution. Updated v2.2.3 help file Added "examples" subdirectory in the Conference Composer directory Included v2.3.1 firmware for Vortex products
Release Notes for 2.2.4, December 2002
Added EF2201 support (device type "T")
Added Linkwitz-Riley filter support for creating crossover filters Reorganized subdirectory structure of Conference Composer directory: now have "templates", "defaults", and "firmware" subdirectories. Changed upload to send MGATE command as a matrix row (MGATEn,*), rather than a column for backwards compatibility with pre2.2.0 versions of the firmware that do not handle MGATE*,n commands properly. Corrected downloaded attribute counting. Message box is displayed when the number of attributes declared in the DUMPN command does not match the number counted by CC. Fixed "preset reports off-by-one" bug Fixed bug where device nodes were not being resorted as their names were changed (based on a change to the device address.) Fixed bug where dragging and dropping Logic Inputs was not copying attributes correctly. Fixed a redraw problem with the scroll bars in property pages Clears CC's local copy of the macros when a DUMP command has to be re-sent. This fixes a macro-doubling bug that could occur in certain re-send situations. "Waiting" indicator in lower left of the main window shows text "Ready" when it is not waiting for a command ack and "Waiting" when it is. Fixed upload of macro 255 contents. Fixed upload of input group select command. Fixed thorough update at all baud rate settings Updated DSP Load text to indicate which device's DSP Load is being displayed by the meter. Rebuild the power on preset combo box contents based on valid (non-empty) presets. As presets are saved/deleted the combo's contents are updated. Firmware for EF200 and EF1210 added to install package (in the firmware subdirectory)

Release Notes for 2.1.15 November 2002
Includes support for the EF2241 device type. Updated the help file to include EF2241 information. Includes the latest release firmware (version 2.1.0) for the EF2280, EF2241 Added support for extended baud rates (9600 to 38,400) Fixed several user interface issues
Release Notes for 2.08, September 2002
Addresses some user interface issues and improves stability. Fixes bug from version 2.05: If you created an offline project (a.CCP file), stored one or more user presets in the file, and then uploaded that project to an EF2280, the matrix crosspoints for the presets associated with 12 input rows XM0, XM1,., ZM2 were shifted down two rows. The matrix settings for inputs 1-8 and A-D are not changed, so only linked devices where W, X, Y, or Z signals are exchanged on the bus may be affected. If you created the settings in the EF2280 while working online and saving presets while connected to the EF2280, you are not affected by this issue. The solution for this is to install version 2.08 of Conference Composer and re-upload the project file (.CCP file) to the EF2280. This will properly restore the matrix settings in the presets.