Incoming Telephone Notification

October 14, 2005 4:27 PM

When using a Dial Up Internet Service, naturally, I am tying up my telephone. I am seeking a software package (preferably a freeware download) that will notify me of any incoming telephone calls while I am online. I can remember watching a TV ad for such a program, but have not been able to locate this program/service. PS> My Dial Up serivce is no more than a back up for my regular high speed internet. However, as long as I am subscribing to this dial up service, I might as well also use it during the day as a news service, ect.
posted by Mckoan1 to Computers & Internet (9 answers total)

The question is whether both your modem as well as your provider support the modem-on-hold feature of the v.92 standard. If you have an old v.90/X2/k56flex 56k modem, you're pretty much out of luck. If your ISP uses old v.90/X2/k56flex modems, you're pretty much out of luck. If your ISP uses v.92 modems but doesn't support modem-on-hold, you're *also* pretty much out of luck. In short, you're most likely out of luck... but there's a chance . This list shows which ISPs support modem-on-hold, but don't go in expecting it.

Also -- news service? Huh? Why not just use your broadband for that as well?
posted by eschatfische at 4:50 PM on October 14, 2005

Pagoo does this, but it's $5/month. I used it some years ago and it was fine. Basically, you set up your phone line to "Call Forward When Busy" to an 800 number. Pagoo does a Caller ID to see where the call is coming from, then answers the phone and plays your greeting and takes a message. An alert pops up on your desktop and plays a .WAV of the message.

(Callwave is similar, but I have no personal experience.)
posted by Vidiot at 5:02 PM on October 14, 2005

Not exactly...

Back when I had dial-up (prehistory, I know), we tried a couple different software programs called "internet answering machines" or "internet call waiting". One I remember using is CallWave, which is still around for about $5 a month.

The way it works, or at least used to -- different from traditional call-waiting or whatever that modem-on-hold thing is -- is that you call your phone company and have them activate "busy line call forward" (which is like $1 a month) and then forward it to CallWave or whoever's 1-800 number. If you're online, it then lets the caller leave a message which then plays thru your computer.

My guess is that you could bypass these software programs and have your telco forward-on-busy to your cell phone or something. If that's something you're interested in.

I also would like to know what you mean by using dial-up as a news service... can you elaborate?
posted by SuperNova at 5:03 PM on October 14, 2005

Damn... beat to it ;-)
posted by SuperNova at 5:04 PM on October 14, 2005

I had a v.92 Zoom Usb modem a while back and with call waiting I was able to take phone calls for I think 5 minutes before it hung up the connection. It worked great, it was called Netwaiting.

Here's the link to the software on the Zoom download page. Just scroll down to where it says 3090 drive and netwaiting. Unfortunately I think it will install a driver for a Zoom faxmodem as well. You can see if you can find an unbundled version of Netwaiting somewhere on the web or if you know how to do it you can install the driver and Netwaiting and then uninstall the Zoom driver. I was a big fan of it until work forced me to go with a cable modem.
posted by any major dude at 8:38 PM on October 14, 2005

Oh the horrors of being forced to upgrade from dialup to cable modem ;-)
posted by autojack at 4:40 AM on October 15, 2005

My parents -- not at all technically savvy -- have been using CallWave for a while now. Seems to work just fine, even on their relatively old computer. A call comes in, CallWave pops up to tell you who's calling, and after it finishes recording the message it plays it back to you.
posted by schoolgirl report at 6:17 AM on October 15, 2005

I also would like to know what you mean by using dial-up as a news service...

I don't get it either. To me this is like saying that I finally got the chauffeured limo, but I have to keep using my subway pass to not waste it.
posted by StickyCarpet at 7:31 AM on October 15, 2005

as long as I am subscribing to this dial up service

Are you paying separately for dialup? Many, if not most, broadband services include a free dialup number for emergencies.
posted by sageleaf at 9:01 AM on October 15, 2005