I need an analog phone that my PC can control (dial) (eg:Skype) possible?

P

Pen

Veteran XV
So I lost my job. Our agency was losing money most of the year so our division made cuts: Got a better job a week later.

Now I am working at home as a recruiter. Making phone calls.

I just had a landline put in and I dont even have an analog phone in the house.

I want to buy a (PTSN / regular) phone that connects to my PC and hopefully lets the PC dial out. The Skype software does this awesomely but Skype is unreliable and not suitable for what I do.

Does anyone know of a reasonable way to do this? I don't mind buying a nice phone or software - $200-350 would be ok. It seems like all there is out there is Skype and some kind of industrial strength call-center solution.

I am looking at the Gigaset phones from Seimens but they are all marketing and no useful info. They imply they will do what I need, but they tease.

Halp!
 
Analogue voice modem with suitable TAPI software, there is tons out there, google it.
 
anomaly said:
im sure you could pay like $10 a month for comcast to install a phone line
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Yeah, I have the phone line.

I need a phone. I want to be able to use my PC and if I am in our Salesforce database or looking at a resume, I want the PC to be able to parse the phone number, let me click it and the PC starts dialing.

You can do this with skype and it's awesome, but Skype is not adequate for my use. I want this functionality on a normal analog phone.

Microsoft made a cordless phone with a USB connection years ago - it was a normal phone, but the PC could control it somehow. I want something like this, but all searches kind of assume that any "PC phone" means VOIP.
 
USB-P1K Skype Certified USB Phone for Windows & Mac

USB-P1K.jpg


?
 
Dude, I gave you the honest answer. Get a voice modem, plug in a headset to your PC and it does the dialing/answering of the phone for you. Some of the good programs even allow recording of the phone calls etc. The modem should install with a WAV device. Alternatively get a voice modem with the line in/out ports already onboard and plug the headset into those ports.

I was using this shit back in the 90s, but with modern internet, VOIP and VOIP PABX's I havent needed an analogue phone for years.
 
reZolut said:
and what is the issue with voip?
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I have not had a consistent experience with most VOIP systems - mainly skype but even in some offices, it was not the best. Of course, my "land line" is technically a VOIP line so meh. My main issue is that I love the PC integration of Skype, but Skype is not suitable for my job. It works, it doesnt work, you get lag, you drop, you have echo, etc.

Kiint said:
Dude, I gave you the honest answer. Get a voice modem, plug in a headset to your PC and it does the dialing/answering of the phone for you. Some of the good programs even allow recording of the phone calls etc. The modem should install with a WAV device. Alternatively get a voice modem with the line in/out ports already onboard and plug the headset into those ports.

I was using this shit back in the 90s, but with modern internet, VOIP and VOIP PABX's I havent needed an analogue phone for years.
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I honestly forgot you could do this. I am going to check this out first - it does seem like the best idea.

So far, the only product that looks like it would work is this:

Jabra GN9350e USB headset:
Jabra GN9350e Wireless Headsets, Wireless, Office Headsets, Headsets, Hello Direct

NoFiX said:
everyone on tw that loses their job gets a better job less than a week later.
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Crazy isn't it?

I am making over twice as much too. Problem is - it's a contract of indeterminate length. So far it looks like at least 3 months, could go longer but as with anything in this economy, there is no certainty.
 
Hobo Wino said:
I am confused, $10 Modem + $10 Headset = Profit? why would you spend $300?
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The Jabra is wireless with a long lasting battery. It connects to a lifter so you can integrate it with any phone. If I go back to an office, I can take it with me and use it - a lot of recruiters do that.

That model has USB so it allows you to connect your PC to any phone, not just an analog home phone.

It might be overkill, but I am not sure about using a modem.


DMAUL said:
do you not understand what a modem does
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I have been using modems since the Carter administration.

I remember when the "voice modems" came out. I guess all of the modems do that now but they dont mention it.

A modem might work, but I don't know what the experience would be like:

I have not tried this in like 10 years and I seem to remember it not being real smooth - like trying to get the modem to open the line, dial and hand off to the phone...?

Does your PC recognize the modem as it's own sound device or do you need some kind of interface between your sound card and the modem? (that would suck)

Assuming I connect my headphones to my PC, does the Windows TAPI software just bridge the modem and the sound card?

Hooking up headphones to my PC can be a pain, I like to just leave the speakers on. Is there a smooth way to make the modem dial a number and hand off to the phone? Do I have to pick up the phone and then make the modem dial? This seems like it would slow you down.

I want the ability to make like 30-60 calls per day with minimal BS - just click some dudes number in his record and it starts dialing, no coordinating picking up the phone or listening to a damn modem dial DTMF tones all loud and annoying.

For fast, smooth, low BS integration, I will pay.

There are very few resources on the web for using a modem to dial out - most people think you want to spam faxes or spam out robo calls.
 
MC Hamster said:
wtf?

seriously, 56k VOICE MODEM.. hell, any voice modem. I got one in a drawer that has 3.5mm jacks on the side you can plug in a mic and headphones (/headset) and there ya go.

Your biggest problem would be the software, but even that shouldn't be too hard.

look:
Newegg.com - 33.6Kbps, 56Kbps, Modems, Wired Networking, Networking
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I was originally looking for a voice modem but I was not finding any current products (modems and POTS are dying, no surprise) but I kept running into a lot of weird stuff like "Modem with Voicemail".

The only modem on Newegg that seems to be a voice modem is the bluetooth Zoom modem and it implies that it has to be connected directly with RS232 for that to work - and it does not mention 3.5mm plugs.

I have found some other devices that will work - some actual voice modems and they also make "TAPI cards" but they are several hundred dollars.

The 3.5mm headphones might be OK, but I want to be able to use like a Plantronics headset or something as part of the phone and I am still not sure how a modem coordinates with a telephone but whatever, I am going to have to try a few things...

Thanks for the input.
 
IMO, ideally, you want an FXO (not FXS) to SIP gateway, then use a client like Xlite to connect to that gateway to make and receive calls.
 
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