[comp.dcom.telecom] Is There a Selective Ringing Blocker?

mpd@anomaly.sbs.com (Michael P. Deignan) (03/26/91)

Okay, we've all heard of those nice devices which allow you to split a
Selective Ringing line into a fax-line, modem-line, etc., by the
addition of a little device obtainable from Hello Direct or other
telephone equipment suppliers.

But, here is a one which I haven't seen: A Selective Ring blocker.

For example, say I have Selective Ringing, and use it for the
following:

	Normal:		Voice Line
	Two Short: 	Fax line

Now, with one of those little gems from Hello Direct, I can
successfully split the line so my fax will pick up when I get two
short rings.

However, in both cases, regardless of which line the call is destined
for, my "normal" line will ring - somewhat of a pain-in-the-you-know-
what if someone in Singapore is sending me a fax at two in the
morning, when I really don't want to hear the "normal" line ring, even
two short rings.

Is there a device which will "block" the normal line from ringing when
someone calls in on one of the alternate "selective" numbers? This
way, emergency client phone calls can get "thru", but the occassional
fax-at-2-am will not cause the phone to ring, awakening the household?


Michael P. Deignan     Domain: mpd@anomaly.sbs.com         
UUCP: ..!uunet!rayssd!anomaly!mpd   Telebit: +1 401 455 0347            

tad@ssc.UUCP (Tad Cook) (04/02/91)

In article <telecom11.242.6@eecs.nwu.edu>, mpd@anomaly.sbs.com
(Michael P. Deignan) writes:

> Okay, we've all heard of those nice devices which allow you to split a
> Selective Ringing line into a fax-line, modem-line, etc., by the
> addition of a little device obtainable from Hello Direct or other
> telephone equipment suppliers.

> But, here is a one which I haven't seen: A Selective Ring blocker.

> For example, say I have Selective Ringing, and use it for the
> following:

> 	Normal:		Voice Line
> 	Two Short: 	Fax line

> Now, with one of those little gems from Hello Direct, I can
> successfully split the line so my fax will pick up when I get two
> short rings.

> However, in both cases, regardless of which line the call is destined
> for, my "normal" line will ring - somewhat of a pain-in-the-you-know-
> what if someone in Singapore is sending me a fax at two in the
> morning, when I really don't want to hear the "normal" line ring, even
> two short rings.

Why would this happen?  If this is true, why does the box separate the
calls into two outputs?

 From the Hello Direct catalog:

"Our Ring Director automatically connects each call to the phone
or device associated with that phone number."

> Is there a device which will "block" the normal line from ringing when
> someone calls in on one of the alternate "selective" numbers? This
> way, emergency client phone calls can get "thru", but the occassional
> fax-at-2-am will not cause the phone to ring, awakening the household?

Sure!  Its EASY!  Just install the device ahead of everything, just
like the instructions for these units always show.  The only way you
could ever hear the calls to your fax machine is if you left a
telephone wired to the incoming line BEFORE it reaches this device.

This is why there is a "normal" output ... that is the one you
hook your telephone to, and it only rings when someone dials
your "normal" phone number.


Tad Cook   Seattle, WA   Packet: KT7H @ N7ENT.#WWA.WA.USA.NA
Phone: 206/527-4089    MCI Mail: 3288544   Telex: 6503288544 MCI UW  
USENET:...uw-beaver!sumax!amc-gw!ssc!tad   or, tad@ssc.UUCP

"Michael P. Deignan" <mpd@anomaly.sbs.com> (04/09/91)

tad@ssc.UUCP (Tad Cook) writes:

> This is why there is a "normal" output ... that is the one you
> hook your telephone to, and it only rings when someone dials
> your "normal" phone number.

Maybe I'm confusing the issue here. In my area, you can have three
phone numbers ring at the same locale:


	NET Gives Me:		I use it for:
	--------------------	---------------
	a. Short-Short ring	-> fax
	b. Normal ring 		-> dial-in modem
	c. Long ring 		-> voice


Of course, I can switch the [b] and [c] usage around if need be.
However, Hello's device only allows you to split [a] and [b]. Now,
I've also got [c] ringing ... But, since Hello only splits the line
twice, I have to split the line coming from the wall ... ie:

						    /-- fax (short-short)
			 /----> hello direct box ---
wall -- 2-in-one splitter			    \-- modem (normal)
			 \----> voice phone (long)


So ... regardless of which ring I'm actually getting, the phone will
ring.  Very annoying, especially if it is three in the morning, and
it is just a fax.

What I need to do is "block" the phone from ringing unless its a
"long" ring.

Or, I could use a three-way call director, if anyone has one of those.

The above setup is tenative, so I can always play around with it more
(ie: make the "voice" the short-short if I really had to.) But, that
in itself makes more problems.

I COULD switch the modem and the voice phone, but then the modem will
"answer" the phone unless I get to the phone in time, since the modem
just detects a ring and picks up as needed. That's why I've got the
fax and modem on the ring detector, so the wrong device won't pick up.

Clearer, or did I just make it more confusing?


Michael P. Deignan          Domain: mpd@anomaly.sbs.com          
UUCP: ...!uunet!rayssd!anomaly!mpd    Telebit: +1 401 455 0347