gaarder@tcgould.tn.cornell.edu (Steve Gaarder) (07/24/90)
>Related question: anybody know how to deal with phones in a noisy >environment like a machine room ..... >The problem is room noise picked up in >the mouthpiece and heard through my earpiece (is sidetone the right term >for that?)[yes] If I cup my hand over the mouthpiece, I can hear fine, but >that's a real drag. I think what I want is a push-to-talk handset, but >havn't been able to fine any. Any suggestions? What you really want is a "push-to-listen" phone. The button disables the mike. Many fancy phones have this, usually called a "mute" button. My ATT cordless has one, and it's even placed where I can push it using the hand holding the handset. It has come in real handy when trying to have a conversation with a screaming baby in my lap (talk about noisy environments..). A good old 500 set can be modified pretty easily - just install a normally open pushbutton so it shorts the mike, or a normally closed so that it opens one of the wires to the mike. I even have a couple of 500 handsets with built-in buttons that I think could be wired as mute buttons. If you want one, let me know - I'll swap it for a standard 500 handset. Steve Gaarder gaarder@batcomputer.tn.cornell.edu ...!cornell!batcomputer!gaarder