Chapter 1

Introduction

The NMS TAPI Installation and Developer's Manual explains how to install NMS TAPI software for use by TAPI applications. It also provides information developers need in order to use the following three standard APIs in a TAPI application with NMS telephony hardware: TAPI, WAVE, NaturalFax.
This manual is targeted to application developers who are developing TAPI applications with the Microsoft Platform SDK. It assumes developers are familiar with the TAPI and Windows Multimedia System APIs documented in the Microsoft Platform SDK documentation.
It is also targeted to developers of fax applications who are using NaturalFax for TAPI. The manual defines terms where applicable, but assumes that the reader is familiar with basic telephony concepts and with the C programming language.

NMS TAPI is a collection of software modules that allow applications using Microsoft's Telephony API (TAPI) to perform telephony operations on Natural MicroSystems hardware. These components include: A TAPI service provider (NMS TSP) for implementing call control A waveform audio driver (NMS WAVE) for playing and recording NaturalFax for TAPI for sending and receiving faxes on a connected call
The NMS TAPI configuration applet (the NMS Configurator) can be used to configure the following line interface boards for use by TAPI applications: AG 2000 AG Quad E AG Quad T AG 4000 E AG 4000 T AG 4000 Dual E AG 4000 Dual T AG 4000 Quad E AG 4000 Quad T QX 2000
The TSP and wave driver are plug-in components to Microsoft's Windows Open System Architecture (WOSA). WOSA provides a set of application programming interfaces (APIs) and service provider interfaces (SPIs). Applications obtain access to WOSA services through APIs, while hardware vendors write drivers or service providers that conform to WOSA SPIs. In this way, an application written to the API can work with any hardware that supplies an SPI-compliant driver. Microsoft's telephony API (TAPI) and Waveform API fall within the framework of the WOSA architecture.
Figure 1 shows where the NMS TSP and wave driver fit into the Microsoft architecture. Figure 1. NMS TAPI Components in the Windows Open Service Architecture

NMS TAPI 1.4 supports Microsoft TAPI 2.2. Microsoft TAPI is a set of functions that enables programs to control telephony devices. It supports the abstraction of line devices and telephone devices. Under TAPI, lines correspond to physical connections to telephone networks. NMS TAPI provides a Telephony Service Provider (NMS TSP) that allows applications to control lines on NMS hardware by using TAPI functions. NMS TAPI does not provide support for the telephone device abstraction.
For more information about the Microsoft TAPI API, refer to the Microsoft Platform SDK documentation.

The Microsoft WAVE API is an audio service API that applications use to communicate with audio devices. The WAVE API consists of functions for opening and closing audio devices, playing and recording audio data, and controlling the pitch and volume of the data.
NMS TAPI provides a WAVE driver (NMS WAVE) which allows applications to play and record audio data on TAPI lines that have been opened on NMS hardware.

NMS TAPI 1.4 includes NaturalFax for TAPI 1.0, a TAPI-compatible device and API that allows TAPI applications to send and receive faxes on NMS hardware. NaturalFax for TAPI is only distributed with NMS TAPI and is not available separately.

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