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Many people have dismissed Windows' Phone Dialer as practically useless. That may be because (except for eight measly speed-dial buttons) this accessory has no customizeable directory for storing names, addresses, and phone numbers for multiple contacts. But with a little work, you can use its Call Log as a dialing directory or a basic address book. And you'll find that making calls from this directory requires a lot fewer clicks than trying to place calls via Microsoft Exchange, Outlook 97, or Outlook Express. The trick lies in editing the source file for Call Log, callog.txt, located in your Windows folder. Here's what to do: First, open the callog.txt file. If you've never used Phone Dialer, you must make at least one call with Phone Dialer to create a callog.txt file. Because this file is tab delimited, you needn't use a text editor that converts tabs into spaces. Notepad will do just fine. The log always adds new calls to the top of the list, so to keep your dialing directory entries in reverse alphabetical order if you want them to appear alphabetically in Call Log. You can start by typing hyphens or other characters to separate your entries from the calling list; don't just add multiple carriage returns, because Call Log will ignore these. When adding entries, you're restricted to the widths of the various Call Log columns. For instance, because the first column is so narrow, you might want to use it for title abbreviations - Ms., Dr., Lt., and so on. Then press 'Tab' to move to the next column. The second column is the widest; when Call Log is maximized, you should have room for a name, an address, and maybe more (depending on your screen resolution). You must use the third column for the phone number if you want to use this list for dialing. You can skip the 1 for long-distance numbers; Phone Dialer adds it automatically. Fill out the remaining three entries with short items, such as dates. Be sure to press 'Tab' to separate entries. When you're done, save the file and exit. To use your dialing directory, choose Start�Programs�Accessories�Phone Dialer in Windows 95 (Start�Accessories�Communications�Phone Dialer in Windows 98). If you don't see Call Log, choose Tools�Show Log. Double-click Call Log's title bar to make it as large as possible, displaying what you typed in. Press 'End' to jump to the end of the list where you added your custom entries. To call one of your new listings, simply double-click its line. If you want the Call Log to open automatically the next time you start Phone Dialer, leave its window open when you exit Phone Dialer. |