hellerst@husc8.HARVARD.EDU (Joe Hellerstein) (03/10/88)
Is there such a thing as a modem, and/or terminal emulation software, that could recognize call waiting, and buffer data while you answer the phone (or some such system?) If not, why not? Seems like a reasonable idea, providing that the call waiting beep could be made understandable and uniform around the country. Sure is cheaper than getting another phone line. I'm particularly interested in such a device for the Mac. I've never heard of any such system at all, however. Perhaps because the call waiting beep comes over phone transmission, rather than interrupting it. But you'd think Bell (or whatever the phone companies are now) could work around that. Joe Hellerstein
dkovar@bbn.com (David C. Kovar) (03/10/88)
In article <4201@husc6.harvard.edu> hellerst@husc8.UUCP (Joe Hellerstein) writes: >Is there such a thing as a modem, and/or terminal emulation software, that could >recognize call waiting, and buffer data while you answer the phone (or >some such system?) If not, why not? Seems like a reasonable idea, providing >that the call waiting beep could be made understandable and uniform around >the country. Sure is cheaper than getting another phone line. > >Joe Hellerstein One you accept your second call, the only information coming over the line is the voice transmission for that call. No carrier, no data, no nothing. One could probably set up one's Mac to ignore the loss of carrier and the like, but you'd also have to arrange for the modem on the other end to do the same thing. Buffering data and handling the call waiting only on your own end will not work. The problem that I used to have with call waiting, when I had call waiting, was that the tone indicating a second call would come in, disrupt the carrier and the modem would drop the connection. Very annoying. The solution? DOV modems. Data Over Voice. Back when I was working for CMU in Pittsburgh I had a 9600 baud modem sitting on my desk that would connect with a matching one at CMU. Nice, clean, high speed data connections. And the phone still operated normally. I could place and receive calls even while typing at the terminal. The 9600 baud was also going to be raised to 19.2 at some point, if I recall correctly. Someone at CMU or Pitt would have to answer that one. Take your Sun workstation home and hook it up over the modem .... -David Kovar DKovar@BBN.COM
levin@bbn.com (Joel B Levin) (03/11/88)
I don't know if it is universal, but if what you want to do is
eliminate call waiting tones during a data call, New England Telephone
provides a special code: Dial *70 (yes, star not pound); you will
hear a confirmation of some sort; then dial the number. That should
prevent call waiting tones for the duration of the call. (I just
checked with the NET operator.)
/JBL
UUCP: {harvard, husc6, etc.}!bbn!levin
ARPA: levin@bbn.comtedj@hpcilzb.HP.COM (Ted Johnson) (03/16/88)
>companies have an alternative though, you can disable call waiting to >make a telephone call to a data network. Call waiting will be disabled >for one phone call. When you hang up call waiting is reenabled. Check with >your local little bell for details. Unfortunately this doesn't work if the computer system you are calling has a call-back system (i.e., you call and give it a password, and it hangs up and calls you back). -Ted
pablo@polygen.uucp (Pablo Halpern) (03/17/88)
In article <4201@husc6.harvard.edu> hellerst@husc8.UUCP (Joe Hellerstein) writes: >Is there such a thing as a modem, and/or terminal emulation software, that could >recognize call waiting, and buffer data while you answer the phone (or >some such system?) If not, why not? Seems like a reasonable idea, providing Since no data or carrier passes through the line while you talk on the second, call waiting line, the hardware and software on both ends would have to agree to suspend the "data conversation" until you returned to the data line (most modems will drop the line on loss of carrier). Even if you could get the correct hardware/software combination, there is a serious problem with allowing the modems to remain off-hook during loss of carrier. That problem is that the modem might confuse a real hangup with a call waiting interruption (the remote end does not get the beep, only a momentary interuption of signal). If the computer leaves you logged-in after a real loss of the line it would leave a serious security hole. Modern phone exchanges give an unambiguous hang-up signal so the problem isn't as bad as I make it out to be, but it is worth mentioning. Also, the computer could prompt you for your password on re-connect. Modern phone exchanges also let you turn off call waiting for a single phone call (better than getting disconnected, anyway). David Kovar mentioned Data Over Voice (DOV) modems as a solution. I wonder how they work? Pablo Halpern | mit-eddie \ Polygen Corp. | princeton \ !polygen!pablo (UUCP) 200 Fifth Ave. | bu-cs / Waltham, MA 02254 | stellar /