[comp.sys.mac] modems in France

cole@silver.bacs.indiana.edu (Robert Cole) (12/06/88)

Net-landers...

Can anyone tell me about modems for use in France?  I have a Macintosh SE
and would like to have a modem to take to France.  Can I utilize a standard
US 3/12/2400 baud modem or are there differences I need to know about?

Thanks for any help you can give me.

Bob Cole
Indiana University
cole@gold.bacs.indiana.edu

cander@unisoft.UUCP (Charles Anderson) (12/09/88)

From article <2802@silver.bacs.indiana.edu>, by cole@silver.bacs.indiana.edu (Robert Cole):
> Can anyone tell me about modems for use in France?  I have a Macintosh SE
> and would like to have a modem to take to France.  Can I utilize a standard
> US 3/12/2400 baud modem or are there differences I need to know about?

Being that the French are the only true descenants of God, one must
realize that they have own special requirements for computer equipment
that attaches to the phones.  Because of this, there very few modems
that are qualified for use in France.  Even the Telebit, which is
usable in almost every county in the world, isn't qualified for use in
France (or at least it wasn't when they first came out).  A friend of
mine who's lived in France for a couple of years, told me that among
other things, computer driven phone equipment must be capable of
recognizing a voice at the other end of the line and then must be able
to appologize in French for having called a real person instead of a
computer.

Thus, your run of the mill Hayes compatible isn't legal in France, but
then again it's illegal to use an English word in France, if there is
an offical French word for it.  You could try it and see what happens.
Don't blame me if it turns out to be "Midnight Express II".

-- 

Charles.
{sun, amdahl, ucbvax, pyramid, uunet}!unisoft!cander