Lianna Posted February 15, 2003 Posted February 15, 2003 Folks, again I find myself at the end of my (single) wit. If anyone can help me resolve this with a proven and cost effective solution, please do: Scenario: 4 Field offices in rural Missouri. Locations on dialup ISP services. Single phone line. Absolutely MUST be able to accept incoming calls (service organization that schedules/provides transportation for the elderly and disabled) while on the internet. Running Win2K on pc's. Tried: a. 2nd line prohibitive cost-wise as our grand government has seen it fit to allow the phone companies to charge non-profits business phone rates (>35$/mo each additional line). b. SWBell (tel provider) offers Internet Caller ID, but will only provide software to work with Win95 and Win98. Yep, we run Win2K. And it requires a nifty set of add-on features (CW,CID, etc.) for a grand total of ~35$/month each line.....now a second line is cheaper than that! c. Broadband (DSL/Cable) not available in these rural areas. Sat cost prohibitive for multiple locations. What I need is: a. Software OR hardware that will be cost effective. Of course FREE would be incredible. b. Ability for the field offices to send/receive email and do some other inet stuff without interupting service to incoming transportation requests. c. A proven solution. I have seen several hardwares available that claim they will do exactly as I need. Best Case: Some sort of alert to the user that there is an incoming call and then let them easily choose to pick up that call thus disconnecting internet. Anybody have input here? Thanks! Lianna Quote
KevinW Posted February 15, 2003 Posted February 15, 2003 Possible alternatives: 1. Smoke signals 2. Morse Code 3. Web phone -kw Quote
Junior Posted February 17, 2003 Posted February 17, 2003 I know there is a device (not sure of the name), but Wal-Mart sells it that you connect to your phone line. You can plug your modem, fax, another phone line, and whatever else you have that might need a phone line. The only additional feature you need on the phone line is call-waiting. When you are on the internet, and you have a call coming in (on call waiting), it signals you, and you can place your internet connection 'on hold' and take the incoming call on call waiting. When you are thru, you can resume your surfing. I tried this device with my fax, but it did not work as expected. Don't get me wrong, the device DOES work, but in order to receive a fax using it, I had to manually start the fax, which was not what I wanted. I believe the device costs about $40, and if I remember correctly, has a MASSIVE 30 day warranty. It is also advertised on alot of infomercials. That is the best thing that I can think of that will solve your issue. Hope this helps. Quote
Lianna Posted February 17, 2003 Author Posted February 17, 2003 Thanks. I had not actually tried the 'on-hold' box that you're talking about but had seen it advertised. I wondered if anyone had tried it and if so what their feedback was. Lianna Quote
shammer Posted February 17, 2003 Posted February 17, 2003 doesn't the new MSN have the ability to tell you when an incoming call is taking place? It's been so long since I used dialup I can't think of anything else. Quote
Larry Posted February 17, 2003 Posted February 17, 2003 I set one of them 'Catch-A-Call' boxes up for my Aunt. It works fairly well.. The one thing I noticed, which is listed in the instruction book is that if you pick up a call, you will usually get disconnected from the internet. It's worth it if you only have 1 phone line, and need to be able to recieve calls no matter what. Quote
curtis Posted February 18, 2003 Posted February 18, 2003 Lianna, the newer v92 modems have a Modem-On-Hold feature The Modem-on-Hold feature allows modems to stay connected "on-hold" while you take an incoming call waiting call, or initiate an outgoing voice call (works only if V.92 server modem is configured to allow this feature). The amount of time you can place your Internet connection on hold while taking another call will be up to your Internet Service Provider (ISP).The V.92 recommendation permits ISPs to set their modems to wait for 0 to 16 minutes, or, to wait indefinitely. V.92 client modems may include software that will warn the user when the ISP determined timeout approaches, as well as to display call waiting caller ID info (requires telco call waiting/caller ID service). ISPs have an incentive to limit the use of this feature: when a call is placed on hold, the ISP modem remains unavailable to take other calls. You would simply change the old 56k v90 modem in the computer with the newer. curtis Quote
Lianna Posted February 18, 2003 Author Posted February 18, 2003 Hey cool. How much does one of those dandies cost? And are they specifically Win2K compatible? Lianna Quote
curtis Posted February 18, 2003 Posted February 18, 2003 Here is a link to Tiger Direct with 2 v92 modems,internal and external. Tiger Direct Price are quite reasonable. curtis Quote
Lianna Posted February 18, 2003 Author Posted February 18, 2003 Thank you very much! Looks like that might just be the ticket I've been looking for. Will delve into USR's site tonight and TechTV site for the yep's-n-nope's, but sure sounds like a winner. Happy Girl. Lianna Quote
KevinW Posted February 19, 2003 Posted February 19, 2003 whatever you do or get, be sure it's not one of those "win modems" - which are strictly software controlled modems. they are the ultra cheap modems, and do not ever (in my experience) provide the thruput and performance that a valid real modem provides. Read: Winmodems are not modems: http://www.idir.net/~gromitkc/winmodem.html Beware soft modems: http://www.56k.com/reports/winmodem.shtml -kw Quote
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