
 DataCom Shareware Review

 Telemate v4.12

 Telemate is one of the most interesting of all shareware telecommunications
 packages, and also one of the most feature rich and best executed.

 Telemate's distinguishing feature is its ability to perform multithreading,
 or internal multitasking.  A built-in editor, viewer, clipboard, and back
 scroll buffer permit the user to compose messages or browse other material
 while dialing or downloading files.  This can represent quite a time savings.
 All these activities can be carried on and viewed simultaneously, in
 resizable windows.  Text may also be transferred between windows using the
 clipboard feature.

 Telemate has three other very unusual features.  The program can be
 configured to produce either a more or less normal "beep" alarm upon
 connection or upon completion of a file transfer, or a few bars from any one
 of nineteen well known tunes in lieu of the "beep" or buzzer sound.   On the
 more serious side, Telemate writes call completion data to a usage log file.
 The Telemate package contains a utility that summarizes this data and
 calculates the expected amount of the user's long distance telephone bill for
 a specified period of time.  It also creates a nice bar graph showing average
 program usage and on-line time versus time of day.  This is a very handy
 feature.

 The third of Telemate's unique features is GifLink.  GifLink is an external
 file transfer protocol which permits viewing GIF (graphics) files while they
 are being downloaded or uploaded.  GifLink is fully compatible with
 traditional ZModem, and may be attached to any telecommunications program
 that permits the use of external protocols.  That is, GifLink does not
 require Telemate in order to work.  GifLink may also be used to transfer
 conventinal Zip files.

 Telemate supports six terminal emulations (ANSI, Avatar, Prism, TTY, VT-52,
 and VT-102) plus thirteen built-in and eight external file transfer
 protocols.  In addition, eighty key combinations are available for assignment
 to macros, and an extensive script language is also available.  Telemate
 supports 16550 UART, COM ports 1-8, transmission rates up to 115,200 baud,
 and swapping to disk, extended memory, or expanded memory.

 The previous version, v4.11, added several important new features to
 Telemate.  Probably the most important is the capability for the user to
 configure multiple upload and download directories.  In addition, batch
 upload and download capabilities are enhanced by the addition of batch status
 bars to the file transfer windows.  A third interesting change was the
 addition of a "remaining transfer time" notation to the screen saver massage.
 This can be very informative when the screen saver is invoked during a file
 transfer.  These are just the high spots.  Several other new features are
 included which are less apparent to the user.  Of course, GifLink has also
 been updated to support Telemate's new features.  Version 4.12 fixes several
 bugs that were related primarily to new features added with v4.11.

 Installation is very easy, consisting only of copying (or unZIPping) the
 files comprising the distribution package into a subdirectory and running the
 configuration program TMINST.EXE.  As soon as TMINST.EXE has been run,
 Telemate is ready to go, requiring only dialing directory entries to do its
 thing.

 Telemate's multitasking capabilities create a need for memory swapping, and
 this can be a little tricky at times.  It is strongly suggested that the user
 carefully digest the sections of the documentation that discuss swapping.  It
 would also be helpful to become fairly familiar with the memory setup of any
 computer on which Telemate is to be installed.  A little extra effort up
 front could save a lot of troubleshooting later on.

 Telemate is fully compatible with QEMM/386, DESQView/386, and Windows 3.x, in
 addition to being fully mouseable.

 Registration of the present version automatically covers all future versions
 at no additional cost.  The GifLink file transfer protocol, however, requires
 an additional reqistration fee.

 Telemate v4.12
 Filenames:  TM412-1.ZIP, TM412-2.ZIP, TM412-3.ZIP, TM412-4.ZIP
 Registration Fee $$
 GifLink v1.12
 Filename:  GIFLK112.ZIP
 Registration Fee $
 Note:  GifLink is included with the Telemate package, but may also be
        downloaded separately.
 White River Software
 P.O. Box 73031
 Limeridge Mall Postal Outlet
 Hamilton, Ontario
 L9A 5H7 Canada
