Reusing a POTS Handset

October 9, 2021 11:00 AM

I’ve got an old phone that a dearly departed friend got me as a birthday present when we were in high school. Google hasn’t been much help with so I’m not holding out much hope, but is there a way to use this as a VoIP handset? My company uses Jabber, and it would be awesome if it could be used as a phone again in my home office.
posted by hwyengr to Computers & Internet (5 answers total)

By "using it as a VOIP handset", I presume you mean somehow make it connect to a USB port on your PC, or some sort of external box making it another network device?
posted by kschang at 11:33 AM on October 9, 2021

There are POTS to VOIP adapters. Jabber uses SIP so it might be possible to make one of them work. I'm long out of the VOIP world so I have no idea how big of a headache this would be.

There's also FXO to USB adapters that would let your phone appear like it was a USB audio device. Some are specific to a particular VOIP client so make sure that anything you consider is universal.
posted by Candleman at 11:58 AM on October 9, 2021 [6 favorites]

Yes, if you are really using VoIP (SIP), you are looking for an Analog Telephone Adapter. If your office is already using Jabber with SIP phones (ask your Jabber admin), it might not be too much of a stretch to substitute in an FXO ATA. If you are using the PC for Jabber, then you may not be using SIP, and the problem is likely to be a bit more difficult.
posted by jgreco at 1:00 PM on October 9, 2021 [4 favorites]

Response by poster: If you are using the PC for Jabber, then you may not be using SIP, and the problem is likely to be a bit more difficult.

Should have clarified initially, but yes. I'm accessing Jabber through my PC at home, and don't have any other VoIP equipment in the house.
posted by hwyengr at 2:19 PM on October 9, 2021

You might also be able to use something like this with an audio input/output device.
posted by Candleman at 2:43 PM on October 9, 2021