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Office Messenger Documentation
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CapeSoft Office Messenger
Documentation

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Installed Version 4.07 Latest Version 4.07

Introduction

Office Communication Made Easy...

CapeSoft Office Messenger is a peer to peer office instant Messaging program. It's great for sending all sorts of messages instantly to your office colleagues and it's easy enough for everyone to use.
We've designed CapeSoft Office Messenger to offer you all the functionality of a high-quality Office Messaging application, while keeping the setup and options to an absolute minimum. This means anyone in your office can use Office Messenger with little or no training required.

main window screenshot

Trial Version and Pricing

CapeSoft Office Messenger installs with a 30 day trial license. To continue using Office Messenger after 30 days purchase a full license for just US $6. Non-profit organizations and educational institutions can purchase NFP licenses for just US $4 per seat. See the Downloads section to download the latest version. Upgrades to new versions are FREE.

Downloads

See the downloads section for downloads.

What People Are Saying

Purchase

CapeSoft Office Messenger is available in two version, Office Messenger and Office Messenger Professional.

In addition to the features provided by Office Messenger the Professional Edition provides:

Automated Address Book (contact) updating across the network.

This allows contacts to be marked as shared. Shared contacts are automatically kept up to date for all instances of Office Messenger on the LAN.

Contact sharing is fully configurable, and each user can choose whether to send out contact updates, and whether to accept updates. If updates are accepted the user can choose how updates will be handled and what information can be updated.

Address Book Import

Import contacts from Microsoft Outlook.
Office Messenger

Please note: you will initially need to purchase two copies for the Office Messenger to work.
Buy now at ClarionShop
www.clarionshop.com
Office Messenger Professional

Click here to see the differences between the standard and Professional editions.

Please note: you will initially need to purchase two copies for the Office Messenger to work.
Buy now at ClarionShop
www.clarionshop.com
Office Messenger to Office Messenger Professional Upgrade

Please note: you will initially need to purchase two copies for the Office Messenger to work.
Buy now at ClarionShop
www.clarionshop.com
Other Available Versions:

Not For Profit Version - CapeSoft Office Messenger NFP is available in two versions:

CapeSoft Office Messenger is available for purchase by NFP (Not for Profit) institutions at $4 per seat from our secure site:
www.clarionshop.com

Please note: you will initially need to purchase two copies for the Office Messenger to work.
Buy now at ClarionShop
www.clarionshop.com
CapeSoft Office Messenger Pro is available for purchase by NFP (Not for Profit) institutions at $7 per seat from our secure site:
www.clarionshop.com

Please note: you will initially need to purchase two copies for the Office Messenger to work.
Buy now at ClarionShop
www.clarionshop.com
Source Code

Purchase the Clarion source code, you can then modify it and build your own tailored application.

Important: Please read the Source Code Requirements and License before purchasing.
Buy now at ClarionShop
www.clarionshop.com

Features

CapeSoft Office Messenger Provides:

License and Copyright

This program is protected by copyright law and international treaties. This means that after the 30 days evaluation you should only use this software if you have paid for it. One license is required for each copy that you run. i.e. If you are running this program on three machines you need to purchase three licenses. If you need more than 30 days to evaluate the product please contact for an extended trial period.

License Agreement

CapeSoft Software, employees of CapeSoft Software and Dealers of CapeSoft Software products explicitly accept no liability for any loss or damages which may occur from using this package. This package is used entirely at your own risk.

Use of this package constitutes agreement with this license.

Please contact should you have any queries.

Source Code License

Purchase the Clarion source code, you can then modify it and build your own tailored applications.

Requires: Clarion 6.1 or up , NetTalk, WinEvent and HyperActive. The price of $499 does not include these products.

Recommended: Secwin is not required but recommended and can be used for registration features. SendTo is used to allow the address book and other information to be exported to MS Word and Excel, PDF, printer, email or CSV files. In addition version 3.01 adds CapeSoft SafeUpdate support for fully automated and secure downloading of cryptographically signed updates.

To purchase CapeSoft Office Messenger Source, go here.

The source code ships under the following license agreement: You may add this code to your own applications, and ship those applications without paying any royalty to CapeSoft, as long as the primary function of the application you are shipping is not Instant Messaging. If Instant Messaging is the primary purpose of your application, then you need to pay a $3 royalty fee to CapeSoft, per copy of your application that you distribute. Please contact CapeSoft for more information.

Free Updates Policy

CapeSoft Office Messenger has a free updates policy, once you have paid for a version of Office Messenger you receive updates for that version for free.

Screenshots

The Main Window

The main Office Messenger window, which provides access to all the Office Messenger functionality.

Office Messenger main window screenshot

Address Book

The Address Book is used to capture general contact information and can be shared between all the users of CapeSoft Office Messenger.

address book screenshot

contacts edit window screenshot

Message History

The Message History window displays all the the sent and received message, as well as messages waiting to be sent.

message history screenshot

Send To

The Send To button on the Message History and Address Book windows allows you to send the list to a printer, email or file. A number of file formats are supported, including PDF, HTML, Microsoft Excel ®, Microsoft Word ® and CSV (Comma separated fields in a text file). Please note that Microsoft Word and Excel both require Microsoft Office ® 2000 or newer.*

send to window screenshot

Installation

System Requirements

Installation Instructions

Once you have downloaded the file, please run the executable file and the install program will guide you through the installation.

First-time Installation

Subsequent Upgrades

Registration

This software is copyright. This means that after the 30 days evaluation you should only use this software if you have paid for it. One license is required for each copy that you run. i.e. If you are running this program on three machines you need to purchase three licenses (i.e. 3 Users).

To register your required copies of CapeSoft Office Messenger, proceed as follows:
  1. Go to the CapeSoft Office Messenger program page and purchase the program using the shopping basket.

    CapeSoft Office Messenger Order Form
  2. Select the Order link and scroll down and complete the On-line form and then press the "Place order" button.
  3. Once you have placed your order and payment has been confirmed, your Activation code will be e-mailed to you.
  4. Select the Register Product from the Help drop down menu and the following window will be displayed.

    register Office Messenger screenshot
  5. Type in your Company name and e-mail address as it is provided to you on the Activation e-mail/fax sent to you. It is important to remember that all the Registration inputs are case sensitive and must be typed in exactly as per the Activation notice.
  6. Type in or use the arrows to set the Users field for the correct number of users Office Messenger has been registered for.
  7. Select either Standard or Professional depending on the version you have purchased.
  8. Enter the activation code and click the I agree button.

How to add TCP/IP to your network

Note: Windows XP, Windows Vista and Window Server always have TCP/IP installed, so you don't need to install it if you are running Windows XP or Vista.

For Windows 95/98/Me, follow the steps described below.

Should your company have a network administrator, please consult them before making changes to a computer's network settings!
  1. Select the Windows Start button, then the Settings menu, and then the Control Panel from the Settings menu.
  2. Double click on the Network icon.
  3. Click Add and then select the Protocol option from the browse box and click Add.
  4. Select the Microsoft option from the left-hand browse box.
  5. Select the TCP/IP option from the right-hand browse box and click OK.
  6. The TCP/IP protocol is now added to the Network components browse box on the Configuration tab on the Network screen.
  7. Highlight the TCP/IP protocol and click the Properties button.
  8. Select the IP Address Tab and click the Specify an IP address radio button.
  9. In the IP Address field type in the IP Address ( e.g. "192.168.2.4" - 192.168.2.* is a fixed local address in terms of IP addressing, so you can use the last digit to set the unique IP address of each local user), and in the Subnet Mask field enter the mask "255.255.255.0". Note: Each user must have a unique IP Address.
  10. Click the OK button.
  11. Click on the Identification tab on the Network screen and check that the computer name, workgroup and computer description are correct (this will be used for identification purposes for servers and clients).
  12. Click the OK button and exit from the control settings screen.
Important: You do not have to have a network card or be on a network to make CapeSoft Office Messenger work, as long as at least one TCP/IP adapter is setup. An adapter is a physical device like a Network card or a Modem. If you don't have a modem or a Network Card in your computer. You can still add a Modem in your Network settings even though it's not present. (CapeSoft Office Messenger works when a TCP/IP modem adapter is setup in the Network properties even if the Modem is not plugged into the machine or connected to the Internet.)

How to check if TCP/IP is installed on your computer

Note: Windows XP and Windows Vista always has TCP/IP installed, so you don't need to check this if you are running Windows XP and Vista.

To check if your computer has TCP/IP installed you can do the following:
  1. Select the Windows Start button, then the Settings menu, and then the Control Panel from the Settings menu.
  2. Double click on the Network icon.
  3. Look in the top list box in the Configuration tab.
  4. If you do not see an entry that starts with TCP/IP then you have not installed TCP/IP. You can install it using the How to add TCP/IP instructions.
If TCP/IP is installed on your computer and you still cannot see anybody in your Office Messenger "To:" list, then it might be the case that you have a personal firewall installed on your computer. You need to make sure that the firewall has been configured so that the following ports are available for Office Messenger to use:

UDP port number (streamed port):       2230

TCP/IP port number (datagram port):    2240

Operation

General

Once CapeSoft Office Messenger has been installed, a CapeSoft Office Messenger icon will be displayed in the taskbar status area as shown below.

CapeSoft Office Messenger icon

Left-clicking on the icon will open the CapeSoft Office Messenger window.

Right-clicking on the icon will bring up a pop-up menu that enables you to:

Office Messenger pop up menu
Whenever a message is received, the CapeSoft Office Messenger Info Window window will appear and the Receive Message alert will sound:

Office Messenger notification window

Clicking on the Notification window will display the main Office Messenger window:

Office Messenger main window

When CapeSoft Office Manager is installed, a shortcut is automatically added to the Startup program. This ensures that CapeSoft Office Manager is always started when the computer is started / restarted.

Office Messenger icon

Main Window

Below is the main CapeSoft Office Messenger window. By clicking on the image a pop-up will provide information each that option (such as the buttons, menus etc.). Also see below for more information on each option.

main window screenshot

send icon

Send

Send the current message to the selected recipient. You can also use this to "Forward" a received message - simply select the recipient to forward it to and press the Send button.
new message icon

New

Creates a new blank message. Creating a new message will not overwrite or clear a received message.
address book icon

Address Book

Displays your address book, which stores Addresses, Telephone number, etc.
back and forward icon

Back and Forward

The back and forward buttons allows you to navigate through all received and sent messages that have not been marked as read by pressing the "Done" button.
groups icon

Recipients

Allows you to select multiple recipients for the current message. You can also edit your groups from the Multiple Recipient window using the Edit Groups button.
done icon

Done

Marks the current message as Done (Read). The message will no longer display in the main window (you can still view read messages by selecting View History from the Tools menu, or by clicking on the History button.
history icon

History

Displays the History window with all message sent, received and queued (waiting to be sent).

Send a Message

To send a message to a recipient, proceed as follows: Office Messenger main window

Multiple Recipients

To send to a group that you have already defined select the group name from the recipients drop down list and send the message as normal, it will be send to everyone in the group. To manage your groups, send to multiple groups, or send to multiple recipients who are not in a single group:
multiple recipients window screenshot

Receiving a Message

When a message is received, and audible notification will sound and the message will be displayed.

Office messenger main window screenshot

The following actions can now be performed:
  1. Close the message by clicking Done and the message will be added to the History list and Office Messenger will close.
  2. Respond to the message by typing in additional text and then clicking Send to send the response back to the originator of the message received.
  3. Print the message using the Print option from the File drop down menu.
  4. Restore the original message that you have received by clicking Restore. This is useful if you wish to send the same message to another recipient without the message "to" and "from" information being included.

Hidden / Private Messages

When a Hidden or Encrypted message is received, an audible notification will sound and the following will be displayed:

private message screenshot

Clicking Show Message will enable the message to be viewed as per a normally received message.

Tip: You can receive all messages in this way using the "Receive all messages as private" option from the CapeSoft Office Messenger Options window (To open the Options window select Options from the Tools menu on the main window).

Working with Groups

To define or edit Groups of selected recipients, proceed as follows:
  1. Click the Groups button or select Edit Groups from the Tools drop down menu and the following window will be displayed:



    The left-side pane contains the list of defined groups and the right-side pane contains the list of all the people who are using CapeSoft Office Messenger.
  2. Click the New button and in the text box, type in the name for the new Group and then click OK.

  3. Select newly defined Group by clicking on it.

  4. To add people who are to form the Group, left-click on the particular person to be added. A blue dot will identify those people who form the Group. Clicking on the person again will remove them from the group.
  5. Once the Group has been defined, click Close. The Group will now be added to the To drop down list.

Address Book

The Address Book is used to capture general contact information and can be shared between all the users of CapeSoft Office Messenger.
  1. To open the Address Book, click the Address button or select the Address Book option from the Tools drop down menu.

    address book screenshot

    The order in which the details are listed can be changed by clicking the the Header at the top of the window. For example click on the "Company" header will sort by company, clicking on the Company header again will reverse the sort order.

    To find an entry in the list start typing and the list will jump to the entry that matches what is typed. The current search text is display on the View Contact Details header bar on the right hand side. The search is based on the current order that the list is sorted in, so to search on first name click on the First Name header to sort the list by first name, and then starting typing the name that you would like to find. The list will jump to the current matching contact as you type.

    contacts edit screenshot
  2. To add to the Address Book, click the New button and a field entry window will be displayed that is used to enter the required contact information. To Edit and address click on the Edit button, or double click an entry to edit in the address list. To Delete an entry press the delete button. You can also right click on an entry and select the desired action from the popup menu.

    edit contact details screenshot

Sharing Contacts

Office Messenger Professional edition supports automated Contact Sharing, which allows shared contacts to be updated across the network as they are added and maintained. This is disable by default and can be enabled by opening the main Office Messenger window, selecting the Tools menu, and then selecting the Options.. menu item. Click on Sharing on the left to display the Sharing options

options sharing screenshot

When a Contact Update is Received

Determines the application behaviour when a contact update is received from another instance of Office Messenger:

Contact Notes

Determines how Notes are updated.

Which Contacts to Update

Determines which contacts are updated

Sending Contacts

Enabling Sharing for a Contact, and Manual Sharing

When creating and editing contacts, in order to share a contact tick the "Share this contact" box on the Contact editing window. The Shared status will be display as a blue tick in the Contacts list, and in the Contact Details section at the bottom of the Address Book window.

contact edit main screenshot

Manually sending a Contact Update.

To manually send a contact update to all other instances of Office Messenger without updating the contact details press the Share button on the Address Book toolbar.

Message History

To view the History file, proceed as follows:
  1. Select the View History option from the Tools drop down menu.
history window screenshot

The Message History window provides the following:

* Microsoft, Microsoft Office, Microsoft Word and Microsoft Excel are register trademarks ® of Microsoft Corporation.

View a Message

To view a message in the Message History list, proceed as follows: message history screenshot message history details

The View Message Details window provides the following:

Options

The Options window is used to select how CapeSoft Office Messenger is to perform.

Options: Messaging

message options screenshot

Options: Advanced

advanced options screenshot
  1. Window is Always On Top. This option enables you to select if the Office Messenger window is always to remain on top (in the front of other windows).
  2. Don't show Restore Tip. This option is used to select if the warning tip message, that you will see when you receive a message while you are currently typing a message, is to be displayed or not:

    messenger tip screenshot
  3. Give me Admin Rights. This option enables you to administer all copies of Office Messenger that are currently running on computers that are connected to the LAN to which you are connected.
  4. Receive All Messages as Private. Used to select if all messages you receive are to be Hidden.
  5. Send Messages Using Encryption. This option is used to select if all messages you send are to be encrypted or not. Encrypted ensures that message are safe during transfer across the network.
  6. Enable Logging to DebugView: Sends debug output to the Windows system debug output. This can be viewed using the free DebugView tool from Microsoft. These logs can then be sent to CapeSoft to allow debugging if an error occurs. This only would typically only be used if CapeSoft support has requested a debug log.
  7. Data Storage: The location of Office Messenger's data files.
  8. Maximum Instances: This is only display if Give Me Admin Rights is ticked. This option limits the number of copies of Office Messenger than can be run at the same time on a single machine. This is only needed when multiple copies of Office Messenger are run on different accounts using Fast User Switching, Terminal Server, Citrix etc. Do not change this value unless you need to, as it will create additional network traffic.

Options: Themes

Allows you to pick which theme to use with Office Messenger. Click on the theme to select it - a preview will be displayed.

theme options screenshot

Options: Updating

Office Messenger can check for updates, download them and automatically install them. From the Help menu on the main window select the Check for Updates option.

updating options screenshot

Options: Sharing

Contact sharing is only available in the Professional edition of Office Messenger. Click here for a comparison between Office Messenger Standard and Professional editions.

sharing options screenshot

When a Contact Update is Received

Determines the application behavior when a contact update is received from another instance of Office Messenger:

Contact Notes

Determines how Notes are updated.

Which Contacts to Update

Determines which contacts are updated

Sending Contacts

Administration

Remote Shutdown

If you have been allocated Administration Rights (an Option selection) you will be able to remotely shutdown Office Messenger on other computers.

To remotely shutdown Office Messenger, proceed as follows:
  1. Select the Remote Shutdown option from the Tools drop down menu and the following window will be displayed:

    remotely shutdown screenshot
  2. Select and highlight the particular users of Office Messenger that are to be shut down (only users who are currently running Office Messenger will be listed).
  3. Type in a Warning message in the text box provided (or use the default message) that will be sent to the selected users notifying them that you are about to remotely shut down Office Messenger currently running on their computer.
  4. Click Warn selection and the Warning message will be displayed on the selected users. The Warn All will send the message to all Office Manager users whether selected or not.
    shutdown warning screenshot
  5. After a few minutes (time enough for the users to respond to the warning message) click the Shutdown Selection button. A message will be displayed on the remote users selected and Office Manager will also be shutdown. The Shutdown All button will shutdown all users whether selected or not.

    shutdown message screenshot
  6. Clicking the Refresh button will refresh the list of users who are currently using Office Messenger.

FAQ

  1. Question: Can I change the sound file that is played when a message arrives?

    Answer: Yes, you can put a different alert.wav file in the application directory. This is the sound file that is played.
  2. Question: If I am typing in a message and a new message arrives, the message I am typing in seems to disappear. Is this meant to be like this?

    Answer: If this is still happening to you, please download version 1.4 as there is now a restore button that allows you to restore to the screen the message you were previously typing.
  3. Question: Once I receive a message, what can I do then?

    Answer: Once you receive a message, you can:
    • Mark it as Done (press the Done button) this removes the message from the list of messages that you can look through by pressing the Next & Previous buttons. You can view old messages in the Message History (in the Tools menu).
    • Add some text and press the Send button which will reply back to the person who sent you the message.
    • Print the message using the Print option from the File drop down menu.
  4. Question: How to I tell Office Messenger to load a different Address Book application?

    Answer: You can override the existing Address Book, by placing a shortcut to your own address book application in a shortcut called 'Address Book' in the application folder.
  5. Question: I get an "Installation Corrupt" error?

    Answer: The file that you are using to install Messenger may be corrupt, try downloading the MessengerSetup.exe installer again from the web site.
  6. Question: I'm running Windows XP and get a message during installation saying I need to run this as an Administrator?

    Answer: You're probably using a Limited User account. Office Messenger has an auto upgrade feature. The simplest way to fix this is to switch the current user to a Computer Administrator (from the Control Panel-Users), or customize the Limited User account to allow it to install files into Program Files.
  7. Question: How can I make CapeSoft Office Messenger work with XP and Vista Fast User Switching, Terminal Services and/or Citrix?

    Answer: This code is still in beta, but you'll need to follow the following instructions:
    • You need to get hold of v2.25 or later and install this on your machine.
    • You need to go to Tools|Options and turn on the "Give Me Admin Rights" option, then set the Max Instances option to the number of maximum instances that will run on one box. For Fast User Switching you'll probably want 2 to 5. For Citrix or Terminal Services, you'll need to set this to the maximum number of folk that connect through one Citrix or Terminal Server machine. Click OK.
    • Restart your Office Messenger.
    • Then you need to send around a message to everyone (this will send out your Max Instance value to everyone else (unless they already have a higher number). In the message it will be worth asking people to shutdown their Office Messenger (File | Exit) and then to restart it again (Start | All Programs | StartUp | CapeSoft Office Messenger).
    • All installations must be installed as a Computer Administrator (not a Limited User account).
    • Once everyone else has restarted their Office Messenger they should be able to see multiple instances of Office Messenger on the same machine.
  8. Question: I am getting "CapeSoft Office Messenger is already running on this machine. Press Ignore to allow this program to run (but you won't be able to send or receive messages), or press Cancel to quit the program now" messages, what should I do?

    Answer: You can get these messages when you are doing either of two things:
    • You have run the application twice on the same machine, and it's giving you the chance to cancel this if you don't want to run it twice.
    • lf you are purposely trying to run multiple copies (for instance you have fast user switched to another account, or you are using Terminal Services or Citrix). Then you'll need to do the following:
    • Press Ignore - to allow the application to run (although it can't send or receive messages yet)
    • Go to Tools | Options and turn on the "Give Me Admin Rights" option, then set the Max Instances option to the number of maximum instances that will run on one box. For Fast User Switching you'll probably want 2 to 5. For Citrix or Terminal Services, you'll need to set this to the maximum number of folk that connect through one Citrix or Terminal Server machine. Click OK.
    • Restart your Office Messenger.


    • Tip: Also have a look at FAQ 6.

Contact Information

CapeSoft Support
Email
Telephone +27 21 715 4000
Fax +27 21 715 2535
Post PO Box 511, Plumstead, 7801, Cape Town, South Africa

CapeSoft Sales
Web www.capesoft.com
Email sales at capesoft dot com
Telephone +27 21 715 4000
Fax +27 21 715 2535
Post PO Box 511, Plumstead, 7801, Cape Town, South Africa

Download

Click here to Download Office Messenger (Full version and Trial version)

Once you have downloaded the file, please run the executable file and the install program will guide you through the installation. For further information please consult the Installation section in this documentation.

The same setup program installs the full version, the free 30 day trial version and upgrades older installations to the latest version.

Version History

Office Messenger 4.12 (16 March 2011)

New in this release Office Messenger 4.11 (16 March 2011)

New in this release Fixes Office Messenger 4.07 (26 September 2008)

New in this release Changes Fixes
Office Messenger 3.02 (19 September 2005) Office Messenger 3.01 (12 September 2005) Office Messenger 3.00 (11 August 2005)

Messenger General Register Window Documentation Main Window Multiple Recipient Selection History Window Group Editor Remote Shutdown Options window Address book
Previous Version of Office Messenger

Version 2.22 (12 October 2004) Version 2.21 (1 October 2004) Version 2.20 (30 June 2004) Version 2.14 (19 May 2004) Version 2.13 (18 May 2004) Version 2.12 (8 September 2003) Version 2.11 (2 September 2003) Version 2.10 (28 August 2003) Version 2.08 (20 May 2003) Version 2.07 (14 May 2003) Version 2.06 (28 March 2003) Version 2.05 (18 March 2003) Version 2.04 (13 February 2003) Version 2.03 (11 February 2003) Version 2.02 (7 February 2003) Version 2.01 (22 January 2003) Version 2.0 (7 January 2003) Version 1.7 (2 August 2002) Version 1.6b (12 July 2002) Version 1.6 (2 May 2002) Version 1.5 (18 April 2002) Version 1.4f (14 March 2002) Version 1.4e (3 January 2002) Version 1.4d (28 December 2001) Version 1.4c (18 December 2001) Version 1.4b (27 September 2001) Version 1.4a (26 June 2001) Version 1.4 (19 June 2001) Version 1.3a (14 June 2001) Version 1.3 (7 June 2001) Version 1.2c (18 Jan 2001) Version 1.1 (23 Nov 2000) Version 1.0 (9 Nov 2000)