samperi@dasys1.UUCP (Dominick Samperi) (10/19/87)
Does anyone know of a touch tone-controled modem and/or answering
machine that can be used with a PC? What I have in mind is an
answering machine that answers the phone and waits for a touch
tone; if no tone is detected in xx seconds, the machine operates
like an ordinary answering machine, inviting the caller to leave
a voice message on tape. On the other hand, if a tone is detected
within xx seconds, the machine operates like a modem, issuing a
carrier signal, and going into data mode.
--
Dominick Samperi, Manhattan College, New York, NY
...!ihnp4!cmcl2!phri!dasys1!samperi
...!ihnp4!cmcl2!manhat!samperi
...!ihnp4!{pur-ee|iuvax}!bsu-cs!zoo-hq!magpie!samperibonnie@felix.UUCP (Bonnie Zemon) (10/21/87)
In article <1702@dasys1.UUCP> samperi@dasys1.UUCP (Dominick Samperi) writes: > >Does anyone know of a touch tone-controled modem and/or answering >machine that can be used with a PC? What I have in mind is an >answering machine that answers the phone and waits for a touch >tone; if no tone is detected in xx seconds, the machine operates >like an ordinary answering machine, inviting the caller to leave >a voice message on tape. On the other hand, if a tone is detected >within xx seconds, the machine operates like a modem, issuing a >carrier signal, and going into data mode. >-- > Dominick Samperi, Manhattan College, New York, NY > ...!ihnp4!cmcl2!phri!dasys1!samperi > ...!ihnp4!cmcl2!manhat!samperi > ...!ihnp4!{pur-ee|iuvax}!bsu-cs!zoo-hq!magpie!samperi Yup. We have had one operating in our Zenith PC-clone for a few years now and love it. It is called Watson and is manufactured by Natural Microsystems. Their address is 6 Mercer Road Natick, MA 01760 and their phone number is (617)655-0700 It was quite expensive (~$500) when we bought it, but I believe the price has come down quite a bit. We keep intending to call them and find out if 1) it is now available with a 2400 baud modem (ours is a 1200 baud) and 2) if it will work with an AT or not, but haven't gotten around to it yet. By the way, they have an 800 number (or used to, anyhow) for a demo of the product - quite impressive. It is (800)6WATSON. Among its features are: 1) a card file for your phonebook, which it can dial from, of course 2) a card file for the incoming messages 3) a card file for outgoing messages, with codes for pickup What this means is that you can assign friends, relatives, salesmen, or whoever code numbers. When they call your phone number and Watson answers they use their touch-tone phone to enter their code. Watson then not only gives them any message you have left them, but records any message they leave with their name and phone number already filled in on the incoming message card. We also have two messages. One is for the general public that calls and is the general "hi, I'm sorry we can't come to the phone now" type and the other is for people with codes who call, and that message tells them where we really are. Then if we need to leave a specific message for someone we can leave that also. Anyhow, it is a nice toy, but also a useful business tool. If you want to get very specific on how messages are handled, you can even (for more $$$) implement a complete mail order business using Watson and never have to answer the phone yourself. If you decide to go for it, please send mail and let me know what you think. -- Bonnie Z.
pre1@sphinx.uchicago.edu (Grant Prellwitz) (10/26/87)
In article <10096@felix.UUCP> bonnie@felix.UUCP (Bonnie Zemon) writes: >In article <1702@dasys1.UUCP> samperi@dasys1.UUCP (Dominick Samperi) writes: >> >>Does anyone know of a touch tone-controled modem and/or answering >>machine that can be used with a PC? What I have in mind is an >>answering machine that answers the phone and waits for a touch >>tone; if no tone is detected in xx seconds, the machine operates >>like an ordinary answering machine, inviting the caller to leave >>a voice message on tape. On the other hand, if a tone is detected >>within xx seconds, the machine operates like a modem, issuing a >>carrier signal, and going into data mode. >>-- >> Dominick Samperi, Manhattan College, New York, NY >> ...!ihnp4!cmcl2!phri!dasys1!samperi >> ...!ihnp4!cmcl2!manhat!samperi >> ...!ihnp4!{pur-ee|iuvax}!bsu-cs!zoo-hq!magpie!samperi > >Yup. We have had one operating in our Zenith PC-clone for a few years >now and love it. It is called Watson and is manufactured by Natural >Microsystems. Their address is > 6 Mercer Road > Natick, MA 01760 >and their phone number is > (617)655-0700 >It was quite expensive (~$500) when we bought it, but I believe the >price has come down quite a bit. We keep intending to call them and >find out if 1) it is now available with a 2400 baud modem (ours is a >1200 baud) and 2) if it will work with an AT or not, but haven't >gotten around to it yet. By the way, they have an 800 number (or >used to, anyhow) for a demo of the product - quite impressive. It is >(800)6WATSON. [...] >-- Bonnie Z. We just received a promo sheet regarding Watson. It listed a price of $199 and mentioned that it can operate as a Hayes compatible 1200bps modem. It is possible, however, that this was an old version that they are trying to dump before bringing a 2400bps model to market. There was another package available to go along with it that brought the price up to about $500. All they gave was a name (I don't remember it, but it was 3 letters), no idea what it does. They do apparently still have a demo running, I dont remember if the above is the correct number. I hope this is of help. On a slightly different note, Zoom Telephonics in MA has a Zoom modem (both 1200 and 2400bps models) that will decode touchtones. You should be able to use that to program your own system that will pass a message along to an answering machine if you can find a way of activating tha answering machine without any ringing. I'd guess that you would need to find a way to raise the ring indicator; in effect simulating a ring. A good place to ask about this possibility might be comp.dcom.modems p o s t i n g k i l l e r -- =====================Grant Prellwitz========================== !ihnp4!gargoyle!sphinx!pre1 pre1@sphinx.UChicago.UUCP 76474,2121 (CIS) pre1 (BIX) The DOCTOR didn't need a funny line, why do I?
alang@masscomp.UUCP (10/29/87)
Sorry I don't have an address, but look into Zoom Telephonics in Boston. Their XL series modems (1200XL & 2400XL) will not only detect touchtones, but the modem can be set to look for a particular 1-3 digit touchtone password. The Zoom modems also appear to be the most noise resistant of the modems I've tried, which is important with the crummy phone lines I have in Nashua, NH. BTW, the my 2400XL also have a host of other "cute but probably useless" features you might find interesting. Alan Groupe