Description

NCIDpop is a network Caller ID client for Mac OS X and Windows 2000/XP based on John L. Chmielewski’s NCID package. It is a background application that displays pop-up Caller ID information when information about an incoming call is received over the network.

Screen shots

NCIDpop on Mac OS X
NCIDpop on Windows XP

Download

Documentation

Requirements

  • Mac: Mac OS X 10.2 or later
  • Windows: Windows 2000 or Windows XP
  • NCID server: ncidd 0.6 or later

Installation

Mac OS X

Copy the NCIDpop application to your hard drive. Double-click to launch it. There will be no visual indication, but you can verify that it is running by looking for “NCIDpop” in Process Viewer. NCIDpop will automatically quit when you log out or shut down your Mac.

To launch NCIDpop automatically when you log in to Mac OS X, add it to the Login Items panel in System Preferences.

To change the NCID server, hold down the command key while double-clicking NCIDpop.

Windows

Download ncidpop.exe to your hard drive. Double-click to launch NCIDpop. The NCIDpop status icon will be installed in your task bar’s notification option. You can quit NCIDpop by right-clicking its icon and choosing “Remove Icon” from the context menu.

To launch NCIDpop automatically when you log in to Windows, copy ncidpop.exe to the Startup folder in your Start menu.

To change the NCID server host, choose “Set NCID Server…” from the context menu. You will need to quit and re-launch NCIDpop for the change to take effect.

Running a NCID Server

Before you can use NCIDpop, you will need to be running a Network Caller ID server. NCIDpop is designed for use with ncidd. When NCIDpop first starts, you will need to enter the hostname or IP address of the server running ncidd. If the server is running on the local computer (currently possible only with Mac OS X), enter “localhost”. If you make a mistake, see the directions above to change the NCIDpop server setting for your operating system.

If you are running ncidd on a non-default port (i.e., not 3333), enter the server name followed by a colon and the port number, e.g., callerid.domain.name:1234.

Version History

0.9.5 (May 5, 2003)

  • No longer requires patched ncidd; uses TCP to connect to a specified Network Caller ID server.
  • Added dialog to set caller ID server host.

0.9

  • Initial release

Known Bugs

  • The Mac OS X client provides no way to immediately hide the caller information; it will remove itself after 30 seconds.
  • Neither client provides a way to show the caller ID log. Use the NCID TCL client.

Contact the Author

Please send any comments or suggestions to Alexei Kosut at akosut@cs.stanford.edu or comment below.

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