Peter_Warren_Lee@cup.portal.com (07/19/89)
I'm looking for some technical info for a project I'm working on (or thinking about working on anyway). What I'd like to do is set up a computer to automatically answer a phone and if it hears a remote beeper (like those telephone answering machine beepers),perform some preset actions. The things I need to know are: 1. Would it be possible to use an existing answering machine to do the job. 2. What frequencies do those beepers operate at (just a general idea). 3. Has anyone already tried it?
bill@videovax.tv.Tek.com (William K. McFadden) (07/22/89)
In article <20592@cup.portal.com> Peter_Warren_Lee@cup.portal.com writes: >What I'd like to do is set up a >computer to automatically answer a phone and if it hears a remote beeper >(like those telephone answering machine beepers),perform some preset >actions. The things I need to know are: >1. Would it be possible to use an existing answering machine to do the job. Sounds reasonable. >2. What frequencies do those beepers operate at (just a general idea). Not sure, but they're easy to imitate. Security can be a problem. >3. Has anyone already tried it? I haven't personally, but I have heard of people hooking up touch-tone decoder chips and having the computer respond to a "secret code." This would reduce or eliminate the security problem because the code can be as many digits as needed. Two other advantages: no beeper required, multiple codes for multiple actions. Two disadvantages: rotary phones (requiring a handheld touch-tone "beeper"), forgetting the code. Radio Shack has a touch-tone decoder chip that would probably work. -- Bill McFadden Tektronix, Inc. P.O. Box 500 MS 58-639 Beaverton, OR 97077 UUCP: bill@videovax.Tek.com, {hplabs,uw-beaver,decvax}!tektronix!videovax!bill GTE: (503) 627-6920 "The biggest difference between developing a missle component and a toy is the 'cost constraint.'" -- John Anderson, Engineer, TI