ESP Help Index
 Hayes ESP Monitor Help

The Hayes ESP Monitor is a passive communications monitor that reflects activity of your Hayes ESP ports.  The ESP Monitor is designed to be displayed on you desktop, and show such information as the state of the ESP port (open or closed), the current ESP Speed Multiplier, and the maximum data rate of the port.  The ESP Monitor can display information for all ESP ports installed in your computer simultaneously.

The menus for the ESP Monitor can be reached by two different methods.  The first method is to click the right mouse button while in the ESP Monitor window.  A pop-up menu will appear providing you with a variety of ESP Monitor options.  The second method is to click on the [image] (system menu) in the corner of the ESP Monitor window.  Here, you will find all the normal menu options, and the ESP Monitor menus will be available as well.

At any time, the title-bar of the ESP Monitor window can be hidden by double-clicking in the ESP Monitor window, or selecting Hide Title Bar from the Monitor Preferences... menu.  You can show the title-bar by once again double-clicking in the window, or selecting Show Title Bar from the Monitor Preferences... menu.

The Hayes ESP Monitor help is divided into the following categories:

The Hayes ESP Monitor Display

The Hayes ESP Monitor Menu


The Monitor Display
The Hayes ESP Monitor Display

The Hayes ESP Monitor can be displayed as either a normal window that looks like the figure above, or as a minimized window icon.  Depending upon the state of the ESP Monitors window, you will receive different information.

Normal Window

The normal-sized window displays the current status of the port, the current Speed Multiplier setting, the maximum data transfer rate of the Hayes ESP port, the status of the modem connection, and the average throughput of the port.

The status of the port is reported as Closed (inactive) or Open (active), and also indicates which port is currently being monitored.

The Multiplier value indicates the current Speed Multiplier setting.  This is the value that is multiplied by your communication applications data transfer rate to produce the actual data transfer rate of the Hayes ESP port. Sometimes the highest data transfer rate you can select with your software is lower than what your modem actually supports.  When this is the case, you can use the Hayes ESP control panel utility to multiply the transfer rate the software selects.  To set the Multiplier, access the Windows control panel, and start up the Hayes ESP configuration program.

The Bit Rate indicates the maximum rate at which data is being transferred in terms of bits per second.  This value is calculated by determining the communication applications data transfer rate and multiplying it by the Speed Multiplier setting.

In addition, the Hayes ESP Monitor has two active displays that are updated on a regular basis.  The first of these are the modem indicator lights (or LEDs).  These lights are similar to those you might find on a modem, and report these conditions when they are lit:

TR means Terminal Ready.  This indicates that the modem is active and the computer is ready to communicate.

CD means Carrier Detect.  This means that a carrier signal from a remote modem is detected.  A carrier signal is the background signal on the line that carries the data.  When carrier is detected, this means that a remote modem is detected, and that a communication session is either being initiated or is ongoing.

RD means Receive Data and SD means Send Data.  These light when data is being exchanged between your computer and the remote system.

The Throughput bar displays an estimate of the amount of information being exchanged per second as a percentage of the maximum data transfer rate shown by the Bit Rate.  As this exchange rate changes, the display is updated dynamically. When the Hayes ESP Monitor detects an open port, a small black line will appear on the throughput bar indicating the communication applications selected data transfer rate.  If the ESP Speed Multiplier is active,  the actual throughput will likely exceed the applications selected data transfer rate.

The actual throughput is typically different than the Bit Rate, depending on the data compressibility.  The Throughput bar can also act as an indicator of the compressibility of the data (for modems with built-in data compression) being transferred, since the throughput will approach the maximum when data is highly compressible.

Minimized Window

When the Hayes ESP Monitor is minimized, it still displays some of the information available when the ESP Monitor window is normal size.  The minimized window indicates the current status of the port, the status of the modem connection and the throughput on a much smaller scale.

The status of the Hayes ESP port is indicated by the color of the modem icons that appear.  If the modem appears grayed, then that Hayes ESP port is currently Closed (inactive).  If the modem appears black (much like the normal Hayes ESP Monitor window), then the ESP port is Open (active).

The modem connection status indicators represent the same information as the normal Hayes ESP Monitor window.  They are, in order from left to right, terminal ready (TR), carrier detect (CD), receive data (RD), and send data (SD).

The Throughput bar is simply a scaled down version of the throughput bar found in the normal Hayes ESP Monitor window.


The Monitor Menu
The Hayes ESP Monitor Menu

To display the Hayes ESP Monitor's menu, click with the right mouse button in the ESP Monitors window, or click on the [image] (system menu) button.

ESP Ports

This option selects the Hayes ESP ports you wish to monitor.  Click on this menu item, and then select the appropriate COM port.  Check one or all of the ports displayed to monitor one or multiple installed Hayes ESP ports.

Monitor Preferences

This menu item selects how you want the Hayes ESP Monitor to work.  Click on this selection to display the options:

Monitor Accuracy selects how finely you want the ESP Monitor to track and report Hayes ESP port activity.  Click on this menu item to display the options.  You can select from four levels of accuracy, from Least Accurate to Most Accurate.  The advantage of increased accuracy is the refinement of its measurements and reporting.
The advantage of less accuracy is that it does not demand as much of the computer's processor.  Very fine monitoring can cause some reduction in the efficiency of the communications process.  While not as exact, the less accurate settings permit the computer's processor to concentrate more fully on the data transfer activities.

Hide Title Bar removes the title from the Hayes ESP Monitor window (shortcut: double-click inside the window).  To restore it, double-click inside the window.

Always Keep On Top maintains the Hayes ESP Monitor display on top of any other application display.  Uncheck the box to disable this function.  Check it when you want the ESP Monitor always visible.

Save Settings On Exit preserves your selections automatically when you quit the Hayes ESP Monitor.  The next time you start the ESP Monitor, the same settings that were in place when you left it are restored.  To disable this automatic settings save, click on the menu option to uncheck it.

Save Current Settings preserves your current ESP Monitor settings.  This is especially useful when you have Save Settings On Exit unchecked, but you still want to manually preserve your current settings.

About ESP Monitor

Indicates the version and copyright information for the Hayes ESP Monitor.

ESP Monitor Help

Displays this information.

Exit

Terminates the Hayes ESP Monitor application.