Kenneth_R_Jongsma@cup.portal.com (09/27/89)
In a recent issue of the digest, someone mentioned that they wanted a phone that you could locate by the sound of it's ring. If you don't work in an office where this is a problem, you can't imagine how annoying it is. My office is in a large room with about 30 other offices. We all have Steelcase moveable wall type offices with the fabric finish. We also all have the traditional AT&T 2500 telephones on our desks. Unfortunately, they are the new electronic ringer style. With the traditional bell, it is possible to be in any one else's office and tell if your phone is ringing based on the volume and direction of the bell. With these new ringers, it is impossible to tell where the "warble" is coming from, even though you are only one office away. There seems to be no way the ear can attribute direction to the "warble". Hence, every time a phone rings, everyone runs to their office to see if it is for them. Several of us got tired of this and wired up a neon flasher. It's quite easy to make: You get a standard neon bulb (NE-2?) and a 10K resistor. Solder the resistor in line (not across) with the neon bulb. Remove the eraser from a Jet Eraser (or use a pen casing) and mount the bulb in the casing. Run the wiring to your phone tip and ring lines. When the phone rings, the neon light flashes. It does not interfere with the operation of the phone. Note that this only works with traditional phone systems. It probably will not work with the new electronic systems. Now when the phone rings, we look and see who's phone is flashing. Not a perfect solution, but better than before.... ken@cup.portal.com
doug@letni.uucp (Doug Davis) (09/28/89)
In article <telecom-v09i0414m03@vector.dallas.tx.us> Kenneth_R_Jongsma@cup. portal.com writes: >Several of us got tired of this and wired up a neon flasher. It's >quite easy to make: You get a standard neon bulb (NE-2?) and a 10K >resistor. Solder the resistor in line (not across) with the neon bulb. >Remove the eraser from a Jet Eraser (or use a pen casing) and mount >the bulb in the casing. Run the wiring to your phone tip and ring >lines. When the phone rings, the neon light flashes. It does not >interfere with the operation of the phone. Note that this only works >with traditional phone systems. It probably will not work with the new >electronic systems. >Now when the phone rings, we look and see who's phone is flashing. Not >a perfect solution, but better than before.... Good idea, but not exactly FCC spec ;-) I have a commercial product from Radio Shack called the "Phone Flasher" it's basically the same thing as what you described only it's a real live consumer product. Cost was 7.95 a year or so ago. I have also seen these little critters in Target so I suspect that they are pretty widespread. There are several variants of them as well one that has a Xenon lamp in it, instead of Neon, another with a "tunable pitch" noise-maker in it, and lastly one that provides you a 120VAC outlet that comes on when the phone rings and goes off a few seconds after it stops. I guess if the Neon or the Xenon version wasn't enough light you could always connect that one to your Bat-Signal(tm). Oh yeah, I have one of those in my garage connected to a 12vdc transformer attached to a car horn, never miss a call when making lots of racket out there anymore ;-) If its of interest I can dig up and post RS catalog numbers for all of them. Doug Davis/1030 Pleasant Valley Lane/Arlington/Texas/76015/817-467-3740 {sys1.tandy.com, motown!sys1, uiucuxc!sys1 lawnet, attctc, texbell} letni!doug "Everything in this article is a Jolt Cola hallucination and in no way exhibits any signs of being remotely connection to any reality."
johnl@esegue.segue.boston.ma.us (John R. Levine) (09/29/89)
In article <telecom-v09i0414m03@vector.dallas.tx.us> Kenneth_R_Jongsma@cup. portal.com writes: >In a recent issue of the digest, someone mentioned that they wanted a >phone that you could locate by the sound of its ring. .... We also >all have the traditional AT&T 2500 telephones on our desks. Unfortunately, >they are the new electronic ringer style [and all sound the same.] ROLM phones have for years had the option to set the ringing sound to any of eight different warbles ranging from high and squeaky to fairly deep. This feature is specifically intended for the situation where there are several phones within hearing distance of each other. I find that it works quite nicely, at least until some joker sneaks into your office and changes your ring. I am astonished that considering all of the ergonomic work that AT&T at least used to do on their phones, they haven't provided this simple feature. John R. Levine, Segue Software, POB 349, Cambridge MA 02238, +1 617 492 3869 johnl@esegue.segue.boston.ma.us, {ima|lotus}!esegue!johnl, Levine@YALE.edu Massachusetts has 64 licensed drivers who are over 100 years old. -The Globe
ijk@violin.att.com (Ihor J Kinal) (09/29/89)
In article <telecom-v09i0414m03@vector.dallas.tx.us>, Kenneth_R_Jongsma@cup. portal.com writes: > Several of us got tired of this and wired up a neon flasher. It's > quite easy to make: You get a standard neon bulb (NE-2?) and a 10K ... > When the phone rings, the neon light flashes. It does not > interfere with the operation of the phone. Note that this only works > with traditional phone systems. It probably will not work with the new > electronic systems. If you don't want to build your own, you can pick one up from your local Radio Shack. Cost is about $9.00. It works with my phone, which is attached to an ATT System 85. Ringer equivalent is 0.4 B. Ihor Kinal cbnewsh!ijk <standard disclaimer on Radio Shack, ATT, Bell Labs, etc>
geek@media-lab.media.mit.edu (Chris Schmandt) (09/30/89)
In article <telecom-v09i0417m08@vector.dallas.tx.us> johnl@esegue.segue. boston.ma.us writes: >I am astonished that considering all of the ergonomic work that AT&T at >least used to do on their phones, they haven't provided this simple feature. (referring to distinctive rings). Our AT&T 7506 sets (running basic rate ISDN off a 5ESS) offer 8 distinctive rings. Although you have to listen fairly hard to hear the differences when you're down the hall, it is a feature growing in popularity here. chris
tad@ssc.UUCP (Tad Cook) (09/30/89)
For distinguishing ringers in an open office, try coded ringers like the ones from Proctor & Associates of Redmond, WA. Their phone number is 206-881-7000. Tad Cook tad@ssc.UUCP
campbell@redsox.bsw.com (Larry Campbell) (09/30/89)
We have AT&T Merlin phones and they support selection of one of eight different ring tones. The Merlin system is quite nice and featureful, but I'd love to chuck it (and will next time we need to expand) because it's completely proprietary and nonstandard -- you can't even plug a modem into the damn thing. Can anyone tell me why we shouldn't switch to Centrex? Larry Campbell The Boston Software Works, Inc. campbell@bsw.com 120 Fulton Street wjh12!redsox!campbell Boston, MA 02146
tjr@ihnet.att.com (Thomas J Roberts) (10/01/89)
From article <telecom-v09i0417m08@vector.dallas.tx.us>, by johnl@esegue. segue.boston.ma.us (John R. Levine): > In article <telecom-v09i0414m03@vector.dallas.tx.us> Kenneth_R_Jongsma@cup. > portal.com writes: >>In a recent issue of the digest, someone mentioned that they wanted a >>phone that you could locate by the sound of its ring. .... > I am astonished that considering all of the ergonomic work that AT&T at > least used to do on their phones, they haven't provided this simple feature. The phone on my desk (AT&T 7507 ISDN phone) has 8 different ring sequences, selectable by the user. While the pitch of the ringer is not changable, it has 3 tones, and 8 sequences of hi-med-low to choose from. It also has a liquid-crystal display that displays the incoming call number (when possible), and about a million buttons programmable for features (conference, transfer, call-forward, auto call-back, priority call, leave word calling, program speed call, etc.) and/or speed calling numbers. Tom Roberts AT&T Bell Laboratories att!ihnet!tjr
tel@hound.att.com (Thomas E Lowe) (10/02/89)
In article <telecom-v09i0417m08@vector.dallas.tx.us> johnl@esegue.segue. boston.ma.us writes: >ROLM phones have for years had the option to set the ringing sound to >any of eight different warbles ranging from high and squeaky to fairly >deep. >I am astonished that considering all of the ergonomic work that AT&T at >least used to do on their phones, they haven't provided this simple feature. They have in the System 85 (maybe 75 and 25 also) digital voice terminals. One can select one of 8 different styles of rings. 2 are single pitch, 2 have two pitches one after the other, 2 have three, and 2 have four. It works quite well until your neighbor changes his to match yours. Tom Lowe tel@hound.ATT.COM or att!hound!tel 201-949-0428 AT&T Bell Laboratories, Room 2E-637A Crawfords Corner Road, Holmdel, NJ 07733 (R) UNIX is a registered trademark of AT&T (keep them lawyers happy!!)
kent@husc6.harvard.edu (Kent Borg) (10/03/89)
In article <telecom-v09i0414m03@vector.dallas.tx.us> Kenneth_R_Jongsma@cup. portal.com writes: >With the traditional bell, it is possible to be in any one else's >office and tell if your phone is ringing based on the volume and >direction of the bell. With these new ringers, it is impossible to >tell where the "warble" is coming from, even though you are only one >office away. There seems to be no way the ear can attribute direction >to the "warble". Hence, every time a phone rings, everyone runs to >their office to see if it is for them. I remember the old Bell Telephone exhibit in the Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago had en explanation of the how they chose the ring of the phone. All I remember was that is it could be heard by most everybody because it had a rich set of harmonics. They showed a scope trace of the machanical bell, a jumble of lines, and the trace of a sin wave, which was just a clean up-down pattern (couldn't see the curves at their horz timing). I don't remember whether they mentioned is was easy to find in a crowded office. Too bad all new phones seem to have gone backwards in this aspect. Kent Borg "Then again I could be foolish kent@lloyd.uucp not to quit while I'm ahead..." or -from Evita (sung by Juan Peron) ...!husc6!lloyd!kent
dave@uunet.uu.net (Dave Levenson) (10/03/89)
In article <telecom-v09i0417m08@vector.dallas.tx.us>, johnl@esegue.segue. boston.ma.us (John R. Levine) writes: ... > ROLM phones have for years had the option to set the ringing sound to > any of eight different warbles ranging from high and squeaky to fairly > deep. This feature is specifically intended for the situation where there > are several phones within hearing distance of each other. I find that it > works quite nicely, at least until some joker sneaks into your office and > changes your ring. > I am astonished that considering all of the ergonomic work that AT&T at > least used to do on their phones, they haven't provided this simple feature. AT&T offers this feature on Merlin(tm) multi-button sets, allowing the user to program multiple cadence and frequency sequences. Anything from a simple RING to an elaborate DOOOOWEEEPDEDEDAH can be programmed from the keyboard. On mechanical ringers (in 500 or 2500 equipment) two rings can be made by swapping the left gong in one tel set with the right gong in the other. I'm not sure about other AT&T product families. Dave Levenson Voice: (201) 647 0900 Westmark, Inc. Internet: dave@westmark.uu.net Warren, NJ, USA UUCP: {uunet | rutgers | att}!westmark!dave [The Man in the Mooney] AT&T Mail: !westmark!dave [Moderator's Note: The way we fixed this problem in our office (we use all 2500 sets, several years old) was to open the case on each phone, get inside and adjust the clappers so they produced different results every third or fourth phone. The phones sit maybe 10-15 feet apart from each other. One of three or four will just go 'click-click-click', another makes a very feeble ring, still another has a good hearty ring, etc. How far away the ringing sound comes from is the first clue; the second are the distinctions mentioned above for phones within a small area. We have call pickup using *4 plus extension, however 'universal pickup' using *433 is more widely used. It does help to know whose phone you are answering, though! PT]
shri%ccs1@cs.umass.edu (H.Shrikumar{shri@ncst.in}) (10/05/89)
>In article <telecom-v09i0414m03@vector.dallas.tx.us> Kenneth_R_Jongsma@ cup.portal.com writes: >In a recent issue of the digest, someone mentioned that they wanted a >phone that you could locate by the sound of its ring. .... We also >all have the traditional AT&T 2500 telephones on our desks. Unfortunately, >they are the new electronic ringer style [and all sound the same.] Most ringers today give rather steady tones, which is what makes location rather difficult. (By steady I mean not-much-swept-freqeuncy ). Birds and animals in the wild use such noises to signal "DANGER, SCRAM" So they are heard but they themselves cant be located easily. Now what do the birds do when they want to say "I AM HERE !" .... they emit a sweep of frequencies, or many chirps at different and steadily varying pitch and loudness. That helps location. Ergo - the solution to this problem in ergonomics ! ( Comments Anyone ? ) shrikumar ( shri@ccs1.cs.umass.edu, shri@ncst.in ) Disclaimer: I know where I got this idea, ... in the wild !