PCI Modem as a Phone?

Is it possible to install a PCI modem in my computer, plug my phone line into it, and when ever the phone rings, I can use my computer to answer it?

 

dialer.exe

Comes with Windows (including 7)

 

My dad did that back in 1989 and it was fun.
I maybe want to do something like that, be aware that some modems support things like this and some dont, not even after a few hardware and software hacks. depends on you hardware.

 

So if I do this, I can talk through say, a microphone to the person I call and hear them through my speakers?

 

What else would you talk into for someone else to hear?

And what else would you hear them through?

Microphone and speakers

 

lolk. Just checking... Thanks for the help. I will give it a go soon and post back with the results.

 

Holy christ I used to do this all the time in 1995.

Thanks for making me feel ancient.

 

ah memories of Win95

 

Just commenting, you need the modem to be an certain type of modem called "voice modem". It can ever work as an answering machine with the right software ... :thumbsup:


Funny enough I do not own a single Voice modem yet I have a ton of data only US Robotics Sportster modems... :lol:

 

Yeah - Voice Modems:

But for software there are Industrial Strength options now!

http://www.asterisk.org

You'll need a FXO Adapter.

 

Who uses regular phones?

 

Well I finally got around to installing a modem I had laying around.



Now for the problems... lol

First of all...
...it wont dial out.

If I pick up my handsfree, wait for a tone and then proceed to dial in 'dialer.exe' to my mobile phone (extension 04) for Windows 7, I can hear it pick up or tap into the line as I get a static spike.
So the modem is installed and working correctly.

I am using Tone dialing because that is what Australian exchanges use. Some support Pulse, but Tone is the standard.
My area code is 02.


You say it must be a Voice Modem.
The modem I have installed is one I took out of a Windows XP based P4 computer (HP A1160A) from 2005.
'Agere Systems PCI Soft Modem' is what it finds in Device Manager, and this is 100% correct as it matches the cards PCB silkscreening.


What is exactly a Voice Modem, and how will I know if I have one or not?


*EDIT*
I got it to work.
Well, what I did was when I ran dialer.exe and then proceeded to dial, it popped up with a message.
However this time, I did nothing. I just let the message sit there.
Before, I would click the 'Talk' option.

However, the message would say:
'Lift the receiver to Talk'
'To disconnect, click Hang Up and replace the receiver'.
[TALK] [HANG UP]

What is it on about?
How can I lift a receiver when there is no real phone?!

How do I now use my microphone and speakers as a transmitter and receiver?

 

Talk about a flashback, I haven't used a dialup modem or the dialer in a long time. Correct me if I'm wrong, but I think the whole point of the dialer was to make storing and dialing phone numbers easily over landlines. Without some kind of software to allow use of a microphone/headset, I don't think it's possible to use a computer with dialup modem for talking over a phone line. The PC's I had in the past had a pass through connector that allowed the computer modem and a physical phone to connect to a phone jack.

 

x

 

It is not possible with my modem.
It does not have a Mic and Audio jack on it.

I do have a Voice Modem, but it is so old (the very early Windows 98 era), Windows 7 does not like the drivers.
If the drivers did work, then it is possible to build your own circuit to control it, because it has a LINE and PHONE socket (two sockets).
Something I really dont want to do.
http://www.colinfahey.com/phone_interface/phone_interface_en.html

I would rather spend $10.00 AUD and get a Voice Modem with the audio jacks like this that should work with Windows 7.
http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/SWANN-SM...t=AU_Modems&hash=item337289e5d9#ht_515wt_1163

 

I wondered what those modems with the audio jacks were for... I threw A lot of them away because I thought they were useless proprietary hardware :suspicion: Oh well...

BTW welcome back Haunted

 

Could this be used with dial up so you can use the internet and phone at the same time?

 

No. When you use the Internet over a standard PC modem, it is dialing out through that line, and the computer is communicating over it.
Thats why you hear these sounds: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BdtXjRPF2DI

You will need a separate phone line to make calls, and one for the Internet.

 

I understand how dial up works but back in the day it would've been possible to make phone calls (not via mobile phone) while using the internet if you had the two seperate phone lines? Just trying to prove a point to somebody who is arguing to the death It was absolutely impossible to make phone calls while surfing the internet.