What it is-
Instant Answer (IA) is an incredibly
useful tool for answering AOL Instant Messages when
you're away from your computer. At the very basic
level, Instant Answer is an answering machine for
Instant Messages. When you are logged on to America
Online, other people think that you're sitting at
your computer. But if you're not at your computer,
people who send you instant messages have no way
of figuring that out. What often happens is a situation
like this:
With Instant Answer, you will never
have that problem again. When you leave your computer
unattended, simply turn IA on, and messages will
be answered automatically. IA can even turn itself
on automatically, so if you forget to turn it on,
your messages will still be answered automatically.
Here's how the previous situation would be addressed
by IA:
But that is just one of IA's many features. Not
only can you change what message is sent by IA,
but you can create different messages for different
people. Leave one message that only friends will
get, leave another for family, and even ignore certain
people.
Using IA-
When IA is installed, it puts up a blue and red
icon in the menubar when AOL is running:
Select the IA menu, and this is what you'll see:
The different features are explained here:
Activate IA: Toggles
IA on or off. When IA is on, you'll see a checkmark
next to this item and the IA icon will look like
this:
The lightning bolt indicates that IA is active.
Load set...: IA has
the ability to store differents "sets"
of preferences. This feature will be explained later,
in the section about the preferences dialog.
Preferences: Access
IA's set of preferences.
Answer Old IMs: This preference determines
whether IA should respond to IMs that were received
before IA was activated. Suppose that you have 10
IMs on your screen, and each one needs a response.
If you turn IA on, and this feature is activated,
all of them will be answered. If you turn this feature
off, then none of them will be answered; only new
IMs (i.e. IMs received after IA is activated) will
be answered.
UK Version: Turn
this on if you live in the UK and are using the
UK version of AOL.
Include IA Info:
Append a "Sent by Instant Answer" message
to every response that IA sends out. This feature
cannot be deactivated in the trial version; once
you purchase IA, you can turn this off.
Enter Code: Once
you have purchased IA, you will receive a registration
code. Enter it here to fully enable Instant Answer.
Preferences-
IA's preferences dialog is shown below:
Here's a brief overview of the IA preferences.
A more detailed set of directions will be coming
soon.
- There can be an unlimited number of "sets"
of preferences. You can have a set called "Lunch
Break"; when you select that set and turn
IA on, your lunch break message will go out. You
can have a vacation set, a dinner set, etc. But
a set is more than just a message; it's an entire
set of preferences.
- In each set, you can create different groups
of people. Each group will have its own set of
preferences. You can define different messages
(first message and subsequent messages) that should
be sent out to members of a certain group. Or
you can have the members of a group ignored. Any
person who writes you and who is not in any specific
group will receive the default message.
- You can choose amongst sets from the IA menu.
There is now a submenu in the IA menu, called
"Load set...". All available sets appear
here; simply choose the one you want from the
menu, and it will be active (once you activate
IA).
- There are so-called "global" preferences
for each set; these prefs apply to all groups
in the set. All other preferences---such as "Respond
to first message only" or "Ignore messages"
are group specific. (Of course, these preferences
can cover everything if you don't define any groups,
and you apply preferences to the default group)
How to create a new set:
Open the IA prefs application by choosing "Preferences"
from the IA menu. The current set that will show
up will be the default set; this is the set that
IA is currently using. If you'd like to make a new
set, choose "Sets..." from the File menu
or hit Command-K. Simply hit the "New..."
button to create a new set. You can make a certain
set "active" (i.e. its prefs will be used
by IA) by choosing "Make Active" in the
sets window, or by choosing it from the IA menu.
How to create groups, and how
to add people:
You cannot add anybody to the Default group. The
Default group is only for "everybody else"---in
case the sender of an IM is not in any group. So
in order to add people to a group, you'll need to
create a new one. To do this, click the Groups menu.
Again, hit "New..." and name the new group,
clicking OK when done.
Now you can select this group from the "Groups"
menu. (It's in the main prefs window...it's a pull-down
menu that follows after the text "Preferences
for". To add names, simply click the "Add"
button. You can enter as many screennames as you
want, separated by commas. To remove names, click
the "Remove" button.
The preferences underneath the text "Preferences
for" apply to the selected group ONLY.
Use of this software is governed by the clauses
of the LICENSE AGREEMENT
