by Greetings,
Obviously, this software makes periodic checks to see if it can
contact the uls server on which the user is logged. I presume this is
something like a PING. If it gets a response, all is good. If,
however, it does not get a response in a set time limit, it displays a
message saying there was a problem with the ULS. From then on, whenever
you try to do anything with that server, such as log on or refresh, you
get the same error message again as though it did attempt to make the
connection but the error message pops up immediately telling me that it
didn't even try.
Here are some suggestions. If it is true that the software
periodically tries to contact the server, then lets make the interval
something the user can modify or set through the Tools/Options. Also,
let's make the timeout interval something the user can set too. Because
the server acts differently depending upon the time of day and the
number of users, these values should be adjustable in order to
compensate.
Another suggestion would be to increase the amount of information
shown to the user in the speeddial screen. You should include
everything that is captured and put into the speeddial .cnf file.
The NetMeeting program does not seem to be as robust as it should be
in allowing other actions to take place while using it. Windows 95 and
Windows NT are multi-tasking operating systems and each program running
should allow other things to happen while using it. With the problem
noted above, if the user merely uses the browser to surf the net while
waiting on a call NetMeeting will surely kill the connection to the ULS
server because of the program bug.
Because of the above flaw, this program should NOT be released until
it is fixed.
regards,
Bruce Butler
