dam@mtqua.att.com (Daniel A Margolis) (02/08/91)
>>I've seen AT&T answering machines which say on the box that they >>work with pulse phones (at the remote end, for checking one's >>messages). I haven't played with them. Does anyone know how they >>work, or how reliable the detection is? >Not too reliable I would guess. I bought my girlfriend one of these. If you are at a touch-tone phone, you just dial touch-tones in response to voice prompts like any answering machine. If you are on a rotary phone and you leave no message (silence for a few seconds), it figures you have a pulse phone and goes into voice response mode. It gives you prompts and you respond by saying simple words. For example the conversation might go: Machine: Entering first digit of remote access password now. Enter 0... Enter 1...Enter 2...Enter 3...Enter 4... Person: Enter. Machine: Enter second digit...Enter 0...Enter 1...Enter2... Person: Enter. Machine having accepted 42 as your password plays message 1. Machine: Repeat? Person: Repeat. Machine repeats message. Machine: Repeat?... No response from person, machine plays 2nd message. And so on. Dan Margolis